Alright, at my gym, I'm normally put up against a variety of fighters.

There is one particular fighter who stands at about 6"2 or so, give or take a little. He's probably 190 pounds.

Meanwhile, I am 5"10, and 160 pounds.

Anyhow, we were kickboxing, and I was having serious trouble with my approach. He would basically rely on three moves:

The Jab
When I tried to approach directly at him and jab at him, he would use his superior reach to get me with his jab first.

The Lead Uppercut
Other times, when I started catching on to his jab, he would dip down a little and throw a lead uppercut, which I would occasionally dodge and occasionally fall for.

The Teep
Other times, I would try to rush in or lead with my cross instead, or even throw a high roundhouse, and he would throw a quick, teep to stop my movement.

When ever I tried to circle towards his front leg (away from his power leg and hand), he would do a lunging front hook, which wouldn't catch me usually, but would stop my movement.

I am having a tough time figuring out how to approach him. My coach told me to go in and out to trick him, along with relying more on straight boxing and low kicks because he is taller.

However, I was wondering if anyone here had any additional suggestions for the approach -- I get stopped a frustrating amount of times. Does it just boil down to training more, or are there some good ways to get around his fast teep, his uppercut, and his jab? He plays a more of a peekaboo style, relying mostly on his hands. I don't want to put my hands down to block the teep.

I'm sorry for not posting a video... I will be trying to tighten my game for next week so that I am not throwing stupid haymakers and high kicks, so perhaps it is possible I can get a video for next week.

Anyhow, are there any suggestions on how to approach this person?

Sorry in advance if this is posted in the wrong section; feel free to move it if necessary.

Thank you all for taking the time to read this,
GK

Until a video is up i can only offer you the standard answer which you won't even understand until you are already doing it - use angles to close the distance instead of going straight in.

Out of interest where are you training? Seems a bit strange to be sparring muay thai rules in CMA.

I write CMA in my profile because technically, it is a school that teaches chinese kung fu (Bajiquan, Baguazhang, Piguazhang, and Seven Harmony Mantis), but we mostly focus on sparring and simple kickboxing techniques, especially for the less-experienced. We normally fight kickboxing style, and most of the coaches also have experience with grappling/wrestling, so we incorporate that into training when we have the mats out.

In short, this CMA school is more concerned with practical fighting then it is with pretty forms and the like. We will do forms, and I have learned a couple kung-fu techniques to implement into my kickboxing, though. Just take it as you will.

Maybe it's obvious, but slipping the jab and countering works well for me against tall people. Once you can make him second guess his jab, it gets easier to mix things up.

Ah yes, I have tried to incorporate slipping. That has worked with moderate success. Unfortunately, sometimes he switches up very quickly and manages to catch me with an uppercut from a sort of 45 degree angle.

Out of interest where are you training? Seems a bit strange to be sparring muay thai rules in CMA.

This is completely normal at any Chinese kickboxing gym.

---------- Post added at 12:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:12 AM ----------

gallantknight, is this straight MT or do you have the SanDa throwing rules available to you?

It's not exactly Sanda that I'm learning, they've been trying to do a more standard kickboxing + BJJ deal. I've had a bit of experience elsewhere with a reputable BJJ place.

For now, we mostly just do kickboxing because we train on a gym floor. We have mats that we bring out. When we do that, we play MMA style... though with very light G&P.

Catch the push kicks

Thats what i mean by needing to see a video of him first elbowtko, if he's at the skill level i think he is then telling him to catch the pushkicks is just going to result in him getting punched/kicked in the head twice as much and even when he does catch one he won't know what to do with it.

War Wheel: Thats awesome, in my city of 2 million or so people there isn't a single cma school which spars with 20% of the contact we do at our MT gym.

Catch the push kicks

Hehe, hell yea. Do that.

Circle around to his left (your right), if he is not a southpaw, and throw leg kicks and HARD left hooks while he is adapting his position. This will make his footwork less effective and the hooks should scare him because they will be coming at a funny angle. Eventually when you get the balls, move to your right again or feint moving to your right, and throw a jab/overhand right 1-2. If you've caught him with a few hooks, his defence should be a little discombobulated at this point and you have a decent chance of landing the overhand right.

Or just catch the leg.

Really guys? These are your suggestions?
Budo and elbow, seriously you don't have enough information to be given that advice. Sang is right; need video and more information to lend advice. I'm used to fighting tall fighters. Been doing it most of my pro career. There is no 100% way of doing it without knowing more about the other fighter.

Orthodox, southpaw or switch (doubtful switch fighter)?
The advice given to you is based of cuing off the front leg. If he's assuming the stance I think he's using you need to switch to a modified side stance and work his inside.

could try a leading leg low roundhouse/ankle sweep followed up with a straight right, if the kick comes off right he might be off balance enough that it comes off.. works for me n i'm short as ****, also you could try high jab then straight right to the body.. but that one is dangerous if they see it coming i've been caught with a knee doing that before

sorry guys I forgot to tell you something rather important -- I am a southpaw, he is an orthodox fighter. He likes to bob around and move his body around a lot.

sorry guys I forgot to tell you something rather important -- I am a southpaw, he is an orthodox fighter. He likes to bob around and move his body around a lot.

If you are a southpaw, you *should* be naturally circling out of his comfort zone and out of his power zone.
And you *should* be at the advantage as you *should* be circling up to his backside.
You *should* be having him on his heels more then you are.
And you *should* have good access to back of the leg kicks and kidney shots.



But:


Really guys? These are your suggestions?
Budo and elbow, seriously you don't have enough information to be given that advice. Sang is right; need video and more information to lend advice. I'm used to fighting tall fighters. Been doing it most of my pro career. There is no 100% way of doing it without knowing more about the other fighter.

Orthodox, southpaw or switch (doubtful switch fighter)?
The advice given to you is based of cuing off the front leg. If he's assuming the stance I think he's using you need to switch to a modified side stance and work his inside.

You always got to listen to Big O.

Keep your arms in tight. Your right hand should be able to deflect incoming lead hand punches, and you can parry the push kick by moving your forearm across your body while still keeping your hands up. Keep your weight towards the back and your head out of the way and uppercuts and jabs shouldn't be too much trouble. Are you sparring in a ring? If so, as long as you can make your way through the long range defense then you can cut off the ring and get in close where these tactics won't be effective anymore. If you're not sparring in a ring... well your gym sucks. Make sure you're not staying at his range and always keeping the gap to where you can hit him at will and not the other way around. Time his push kicks so that you can parry and move in whenever he's going to throw one. Unless he's just tremendously faster than you, a little bit of aggressive maneuvering should get you in a better position to do some damage.

Ahh. I see noone suggested taking steroids and hiding a sharpened toothbrush in your pocket.

To each their own.