Blocking punches in Muay Thai

**Lu Tze** · Posted On: 2/08/2008 4:47am

You can count the number of proper street fights I've had on a thalidomide's fingers, but in my limited experience boxing covers/blocks work fine without gloves.

Really, when you're covering the glove should ideally be on the top of your head anyway (maybe not top, forehead maybe), so they hit your forearm (and you can tuck your chin behind your shoulder too). If they're hitting your glove chances are, sooner or later you'll end up punching yourself in the face like a tard.

Here, let Eubank explain (about 2 minutes in).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7jJgQw6i2M

The rest of that documentary is good to watch too actually (Watson, Benn and Eubank were all amazing boxers)

***WhiteShark*** · Posted On: 2/08/2008 4:31pm

Originally Posted by DreadSkin

theres alot of talk bout what would actually work in a street fight. has nobody actually been in a street confrontion or is all this just based on theory and youtube 'research? (apart from omega the big bad killa man of course)

All the people that told the OP to STFU and learn instead of deciding Muay Thai doesn't work in < 6 classes probably have.

Also, in general "Street Fights" are not deadly and not particularly skilled. In fact every street fight I've ever been in has ended with me saying "Oh **** I didn't realize he was that drunk."

**selfcritical** · Posted On: 2/08/2008 8:57pm

Originally Posted by DreadSkin

theres alot of talk bout what would actually work in a street fight. has nobody actually been in a street confrontion or is all this just based on theory and youtube 'research? (apart from omega the big bad killa man of course)

I imagine plenty of people have sparred with MMA gloves, which is functionally identical to bareknuckle in terms of defense.

**Domite** · Posted On: 2/09/2008 1:30am

Most people who don't train MA have at least gotten in a fight, so I don't really see the need to speculate. Of course you can block punches without gloves. Of course it doesn't work as well and hurts like a bitch.

**socratic** · Posted On: 2/13/2008 4:30am

Originally Posted by Domite

Most people who don't train MA have at least gotten in a fight, so I don't really see the need to speculate. Of course you can block punches without gloves. Of course it doesn't work as well and hurts like a bitch.

I don't currently train and I haven't.

I always figured covering and slipping was pretty much one of the few/only means of realistically blocking. I mean- are there really that many alternatives in styles that compete and spar hard?

**selfcritical** · Posted On: 2/13/2008 12:50pm

Forearm blocks and shoulder/bicep stops, but that's all I can really think of.

**tyciol** · Posted On: 3/03/2008 11:09am

OP has a valid concern about the smaller fists, as to objecters saying in real fights you're less accurate. Still, I'd want to learn the blocks. Learning them toughens you up, and even if they're less effective in real fights, there's still a chance of stopping hits, or at least deflecting them (wouldn't that injure the guy's fist if only one knuckle or his thumb hit your forearm?) and if you're twisting or moving while covered up that momentum might help throw it aside as some kind of parry.

I'm not sure since I don't have any fight experience, but are karate-style parries/blocks and boxing-style covers/guards completely different? I know in principle they are, but do people who know how to do both ever switch between using the two, like moving from covering into a parry, or doing an outside parry then raising up into guard or something? I would think if you had a looser guard then you could move your arms a bit more to do blocks or move the opponents' hand out of the way if you're stepping in to hit him or something.

Originally Posted by AAAhmed46

Read some of jack dempsey's stuff. Especially the whale punch ranks first and aggressive defense thing(i forgot what this book was called, it's a e-book)

For real? I didn't even know Dempsey wrote, does he talk about his dempsey roll technique? I'm crazy for that thing ever since watching Hajime no Ippo, if I try boxing I'll probably try it out and get my ass kicked or something. Oddly enough, it worked pretty well in Wii Boxing against the computer and my cousins.

Anyway, when I watch boxing fights, I never even noticed the glove palm being pressed against the head, I'm going to watch for that from now on. It seems pretty cool, probably spreads out the force between your neck and your shoulders a bit better, not to mention maybe easier on the elbows?

Originally Posted by Domite

Most people who don't train MA have at least gotten in a fight, so I don't really see the need to speculate. Of course you can block punches without gloves. Of course it doesn't work as well and hurts like a bitch.

Yeah knuckles are small things that leave welts. Sometimes I wonder what it'd be like to wear long-sleeved shirts wearing this type of thing underneath it:

Only without the part covering your hand because that'd be too obvious and it'd interfere with everyday tasks. I imagine the padding would help spread out the impact and make it not hurt as much.

**MSphinx** · Posted On: 3/07/2008 7:04am

Tyciol, Jack Dempsey's book can be found here for all to enjoy:

http://www.freecirclefighting.com/jdbook.pdf

It was previously discussed in Bullshido too.

***WhiteShark*** · Posted On: 3/07/2008 9:36pm

This thread has gotten so off track and so crappy I can't stand it anymore. Since I can't figure out what to prune and what to keep I'm locking this piece of garbage.

AS USUAL: GO TRAIN!