The "dreadful gloves" drill

**Lights Out** · Posted On: 1/12/2006 9:27am

Inspired by albert´s thread, I tought it was time I tried to be usueful to this site, so I´m gonna try to post something I hope, at least, won´t be a total waste of bandwidth.

I´ll talk about "the dreadful gloves" drill.

It is not uncommon in spanish full-contact sports classes (boxing/kickboxing/MT...) for this kind of drill to be the core of the class, at least the core of the technical part of the class. The objetive of this drill is to focus on the technique first, and speed and endurance second. More or less, it goes like this.

First off, the instructor has to explain the technique. For beginners class, it has to start simple. Using kickboxing as an example, let´s say that we start with this combo: straigth left (stepping to close the distance), right hook, left leg roundhouse to the middle section or head, depending on the executioner´s flexibility.

The people at the class pair themselves, facing each other, while one holds the gloves in the proper position for the technique to be executed. For this combo, and assuming both are on a right-handed guard (left side of the body forwarded) the partner who would be on the "receiving end" of the technique should hold his hands as the following:

-Left hand as next as possible to his head, palm facing his partner, where the hipotetically target of the opunch should be.
-Right hand as next to his head as possible, with the thumb facing himself (for the hook), same as above.
-At the time of the kick his hands should cover whichever part the partner is hitting, similar to a regular block.

This drill starts slow, to get the technique straight, progressively increasing the speed. The one executing the technique should keep his guard up at any moment, and his partner should jab him ramdomly, specially if he opens his guard, thus enforcing him to be always aware of incoming counters.

Now, when to switch roles? At some schools the instructor checks the time and yells "switch" when he considers it adecuate, in other schools they prefer to perform the technique for a set number of times, i.e. 5 or 10, and then switch, and others prefer one time each. At my old gym, we used the three.

For beginners class I´d go with one time each, so they can get a try of the technique as soon as possible, but once one has the grasp of the technique, I´d go with a high set number (no less than ten) or a set time (1, 2 or 3 minutes, no more).

The techniques should be executed as fast as possible, and with power, but having in mind that this is, basically, a technical drill. We´re not trying to break our partner´s arms. Also, we shouldn´t be doing this static, that is, if available, we should be moving around, working the footwork, as if we were sparring. The partner holding the gloves should have his hands down or in a regular guard, as we circle each other, and, all of a sudden, put them into place. At this time we should execute the combo as fast as possible, and with enough power.

After the drill has been fullfilled by both partners, it´s time to add something more into the combo.

An example, following the aforementioned drill, would be a counter by the partner holding the gloves. Let´s say a low kick that we should block. Thus, the drill would be straight left, right hook, left leg high kick, low kick block.

And so on we can continue to develpo the combos, making sure that:

-The attacks are not performed by just one of the partners, that is, no long combos in which one does nothing but attack, never defending himself from counters.
-We should try, in different classes, different combos, so we´re not training one-dimensional fighters (always starting with a left, and always finishing with a high kick).

The possibilities are almost infinite. Enjoy!

FURTHER ANOTATION: This type of drilling can, and should, be combined with other types of training. After if has been fullfilled, we can train the same drill with the pads and the heavy bag, alternating each other if there is not enough equipment for everybody. Also, we should try to execute it in sparring, which is usually done at the end of class.

**j416to** · Posted On: 1/12/2006 10:36pm

Lights Out

I'm curious, other than allowing the partners to switch back and forth between offence and defense, what are the preceived benefits of doing this drill with gloves, rather than pads?

I can understand why you would do this if your class was full of beginners who were not quite ready to hold the pads, or if your club didn't own enough pads for everyone to use, or if your class time was too short to allow each student enough time to drill, on their own, against someone holding the pads for them. But for an advanced class, with enough time and pads for everyone to use, what technical advantage is there to doing this drill with gloves and not with pads?

And how often are people hurt during these drills? I've seen people hurt their arms/wrists while they were holding Muay Thai pads, during round house kick drills. I would think that the chances are high that someone would eventually hurt themselves preforming these drills, over and over again, with just gloves.

**Torakaka** · Posted On: 1/12/2006 10:44pm

one of the benefits I've seen of it in my class is the ability to react (as a pad feeder) in a more realistic manner to the attacker, making for a more realistic drill over all. Being able to go back and forth and keep everything up beat makes the drills just that much closer to actual fighting.

When doing these drills in class I am generally able to hit with solid contact on my punches though I tend to control my kicks. Being able to hit pads, and hit them hard is good too, but I think they're both valid and useful exercises, and not just for beginners.

**j416to** · Posted On: 1/12/2006 11:03pm

Kidspatula

Do you just wear your normal sparring gloves when you perform these drills? Or do you wear those special focus mitt boxing gloves?

And have you fought yet, with 10 oz fight gloves? I'm curious to know how you compare the feel of these drills to throwing punches with 10 oz gloves. Wearing 16 oz gloves when you spar makes good sense because you don't want to hurt your partner. But I'm assuming these drills aren't full contact, and are meant to be as close to sparring as possible. But I'm guessing that you still do these drills with 16 oz gloves? Or maybe you don't?

**Torakaka** · Posted On: 1/12/2006 11:06pm