Entry Movement

[Rakenmaru]

I just finished a lesson where my instructor desrcibed three basic types of entry to strike:

Straight Forward:
Move straight in to strike retreat at a 45 degree angle

Angled Entry:
Move in at a 45 degree angle and retreat straight back from the new angle.

Circular:
A decending spiral getting closer to your opponent.

The idea was none was better or worse than the other, but each would be better against a different opponent style. For instance: Angled beats Straight, Circular beats Angled, Straight beats Circular. Of course this is all very simplistic, but the idea is to identify what style of entry your opponent is favoring and adapt your attack to have the best chance of success. In the case of our lesson, it was hands only western boxing but I can imagine that it could be applicable for kickboxing as well.

What do you guys think of this?

Thats pretty interesting i never really thought much of the entry.

[Khun Kao]

When you step in at a 45 degree angle you are now angeled on the side of the guy. So retreating back it not a bad idea. When he adjusts to close the angle, I am ready to angle in again (either side) and strike. The first angle in makes the straight back retreat safe. Also I am not talking about really stepping back here. We are staying in strking distance, just resetting from a strike or combination. So I do not think that your reach would matter too much. In that training session we were really focusing on creating angles where you can hit him but he can not hit you. Much easier said than done, but thats why I pay for instruction and gym time. :-)

I gotta admit that your "retreat straight back" description had me momentarily going "WTF?!?", too, until I realized that what you really meant was just resetting your range.