Academy of Combat: Christchurch Martial Arts

Over the years I have learned, drilled and taught numerous combinations. The majority of which, begin with the Jab.

This is the most important tool, together with footwork, in your Muay Thai technique arsenal.

This applies both, when on the offensive and the defensive.

If you have not got a Jab, then you had better spend the time and effort to develop one, as its versatility is unmatched by any other strike in martial arts fighting systems. This is something I discuss in detail in my Online Thai Boxing Course which can be found here.

With that point made, I would like to make the point that a single jab, used as the set up strike in a combination, is of very limited value.

I would like you to think for a moment about how many single jabs have you ever landed, as an attack and particularly as the set up strike of a combination.

One instance, in which a single jab does work well, is when it is used as a stop hit which interrupts the opponent’s movement forward and/or committed attack.

When setting up an opponent with a jab, as the opening strike of a Boxing or Muay Thai combination, or using the Jab to interrupt the opponent’s attack, and then setting up a counter-attack; using a single Jab will usually result in the opponent moving back or stopping at a range, that an immediate follow-up strike will require another set-up strike

In order to make this a fluid part of your fight game you need to drill multiple Jabs.

Here are some tips on developing more successful setups with your jab:

• When training your combinations, work them with multiple jabs and fluid footwork.
• Train them to flow from the jab/ footwork setup.
• Practice varying the speed, length and tempo of the jab, so that it is difficult for the opponent to time it.
• Certainly, when first learning and developing your combination repertoire, train the combination with it’s basic sequence.
• Then, once the combination is learned and you can perform it fluidly, add multiple jabs, with footwork, to improve your setup execution and consequent success.
• Utilize the jab both on the set up and during the recovery, once the attack has been completed; this is where the retreating Jab is of value.
• Spend a lot of time honing the timing, speed, precision and fluidity of your Jab.
• Develop the ability to use it, while moving in any direction.
• Train it so that your body maintains a well balanced posture, that will allow you to immediately follow up with a combination, if the set up is successful and puts the opponent in a vulnerable position, or allows you to retreat or move on an angle should the opponent counterattack and force you on to the defense.

In summary:

If you want a complete fight game in whatever striking martial art you practice then you must develop a good jab.

Single jabs have limited value except as a stop hit to interrupt an opponent with a committed intent to attack and/or move forward.

Train your jabs with footwork moving, forward, back and sideways.

Throw multiple jabs and train to vary the speed, rhythm and length as they are thrown.

For a detailed breakdown of the jab and for the best online Thai boxing instruction available check out my Online Thai Boxing Course at http://www.muaythaitrainingsite.com/. Available now at a special price for Academy of Combat members.

We live in a fast paced age with a huge amount of information available to us, in which the majority of the population wants something, that they desire, now, and the long hours of drilling to develop efficacy in anything is avoided.

One of the main problems many aspiring Muay Thai and MMA fighters have is keeping their focus on the development of the basic elements of their various techniques.

When the technique is first learned it is novel and drilling to develop a level of efficacy, which will allow them to use it against opponents who are unfamiliar with the technique or who do not have a high level of skill, is not too difficult.

They will get away with making small mistakes in the execution of the maneuvers and settle for a less than optimal execution.

As the level of competition gets harder, and more experienced opponents are encountered, the techniques that have not been drilled with a focus on the essential elements of execution will fail.

I recently noted such an error with one of my MMA fighters and his shooting technique during his last match.

In my match analysis and debriefing I pointed this out – that we had to work on improving his entry and execution of the shoot for his takedowns – and that we would address this in the upcoming MMA fighter’s classes.

I was alarmed when, a couple of days later, he told me that the way to get his takedowns better was to spar rounds to the takedown, then start again.

While this is certainly true, if you have your shooting and takedown technique correct, it is not the case if there are flaws in your basic technique, which was the case here.

Skill development in any discipline, not only martial arts, requires a breakdown of the technique into its basic elements and drilling of each of those elements; then bringing those elements together, at a progressively increasing rate and degree of complexity.

Then the technique is drilled with a cooperative opponent, at first, who then gradually increases the level of trying to stop the technique.

Finally, the technique is put into the sparring situation – this is the final step, not the first step in correcting a basic flaw.

Research has found that when we learn a technique the motor neuron pathways are set up and are set. The more we drill the technique the stronger the connections in the pathway become.

The only way we can do the technique differently is by learning it again in the correct manner. Then reinforce that pathway so that it dominates the execution of the intended technique. In time the old way of doing the technique fades.

Again research suggests that it takes 10,0000 hours  of training and practice to master a discipline.

What is often missed, when contemplating this finding, is that it is 10,00 hours of quality training and practice to master the technique.

If we have a basic flaw, in our MMA or Muay Thai technique’s execution, all that we are going to do is reinforce and master poor execution.

The message is simple; slow down, take your time and work at drilling a little at a time until you have mastered it to a level that you can perform it well. Then proceed to add another technique, increasing your available techniques a little at a time.

Focus on a few elements at a time, not a large number.

The road to mastery is a slow step by step procedure, drilling with repetition, in a manner that progressively increases the complexity, speed and level of risk.

It is a combined mental and physical effort and must involve both working together at a pace that allows you to develop the correct technique. The brain requires time to process the incredibly complex muscle firing patterns that are required for complex technique. This is especially true with martial arts techniques in MMA and Muay Thai used in real fighting as the components of timing and distance must be integrated at a high level when fighting a skilled opponent.

An Olympic gymnast does not work on the whole routine if they have a flaw in one maneuver. They work on improving that maneuver with a series of drills to get it right.

A sprinter will spend hours just developing the take-off from the blocks without running any more steps, other than what is required to slow down.

A boxer will spend many hours just perfecting each punch before using them in sparring, if there is a fault.

Summary:

Take your time, make every practice count, and you will benefit in the long run.

Perfect practice = perfect performance.

Chunk the technique down and develop drills for each chunk.

Then fit them all together in a progressive manner.

The more advanced that you are in your development, provided that you have learned the technique correctly, it is more likely that it is only a part of your technique that is flawed, not the whole thing. However, that flaw is upsetting your whole technique.

Just training the end goal of the particular technique, whether in martial arts or any other discipline, will not correct this flaw. It will just exacerbate it and make it more difficult to correct in the long term.