HEAVY ASSAULT! - Circle and Chop, or Haymaker and Hammer

HEAVY ASSAULT - Go heavy, or go home! This striking combination, plucked right from the catalog of Mantis Boxing techniques passed down for centuries, is to overwhelm the opponent with big, destructive, blows. 

Connecting with the first one is ideal and effective, but if they duck, or move back, the second strike, by design, takes advantage of the built up energy from the first strike to fell them with the second. 

Advance with the Circle Punch, aka Haymaker (see video on Circle & Hook) to attack from the side door. Try to connect with your partners Effective Strike targets to increase your targeting accuracy. Use your footwork and body torque to maximize power (on pads).

Have your partner duck, or shuffle back to counter the first strike. This is where the Chopping Fist comes in. Now unwind that transverse core rotation, and hip torque, and unleash it back where it came from. 

The Chopping Fist will come over the top and downward, again looking for Effective Strike targets to practice with on our partner. With pad drills, ramp up the power to work your speed, and might in your technique.

As you get the striking combination down, start paying close attention to your guard hand. I have seen this combination used twice in the UFC over the past couple of years, to amazing effect. Unfortunately, one fighter Roy 'Big Country' Nelson, didn't use his guard hand and his opponent connected with an uppercut in between. 

Timestamps:

00:40 - Technique Explained
1:33 - Watch the Counter-Strike!
2:46 - Footwork
3:14 - Pad Drills

Gear

You can find some of the items we use in the video by following our affiliate links:

Assassin Pads 
Punching Bag 
Gloves

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Hook vs Circle Punch - What's the Difference?

What's the difference between a Hook Punch and a Circle Punch? Are they really that different? Yes, and yes. 

The Hook Punch is used at a closer range, similar to an uppercut. It works well when you are striking in tight, or engaged in a Clinch (Lǒu 摟). In here, a long range strike will extend beyond my opponent. We position the arm in a tighter hook shape to help land on our targets such as the temple, kidney, liver, ribs, stomach, and jaw.

The technical position when throwing a hook punch is critical. When bare knuckle striking, there are no wraps to support the wrist, so technique has to be spot on in order to prevent breaks, sprains, and fractures in our own hands/wrist. 

The wrist is held in a straight line, and we use the transverse core rotation of the upper torso to connect the punch, versus extending the arm and bending the wrist which is dangerous to our own hand. Thumb position is up.

When the range to our opponent is further out, and we are still throwing straight punches, this is where the Circle Punch really shines. It allows us to attack the side doors as well as down the middle; utilizing the principle of - Randomized Striking. 

Connecting with a Circle Punch has the added benefit of increased power generation through a looser whipping action. The punch is thrown relaxed; the arm builds up speed before connecting. If this impacts the temple, jaw, occipital lobe, bracchial nerve, or ear, it can have devastating consequences.

Because of this, when our opponent sees a Circle Punch steaming for the side of their head, they are more likely to open the center doors trying to defend; thereby allowing our other punches to land. 

The hand position for the Circle Punch is wrist straight, thumb pointing down. 

Timestamps:
0:42 - Technique
4:12 - Pad Drills - Hook Punch
5:29 - Pad Drills - Circle Punch
6:12 - Bag Drills
6:44 - Bag Drills - Circle Punch
7:10 - Bag Drills - Hook Punch

Gear

You can find some of the items we use in the video by following our affiliate links:

Assassin Pads
Punching Bag
Gloves

The Scraping Fist

The Scraping Fist - like a low uppercut, or body shot. One of the advantages of this punch, is the fact that unlike throwing a straight punch toward the body which comes in from a high angle, this punch comes from underneath by dropping the elbow, making it harder to block. 

It's a great punch to sneak in shots to the body, especially when using the principle of Changing Levels/Varying Targets. . But it can be dangerous trying to pull it off at the wrong place/time. 

Here are some tips along with pads drills, and bag drills later in the video for practicing the scraping fist on your own, or with a partner.

1:20 - Technique
4:56 - Pad Drills for Focus Mitt, Thai Pad training
7:24 - Bag Drills for Punching Bags

Gear

You can find some of the items we use in the video by following our affiliate links:
Assassin Pads 

Punching Bag

Gloves
 

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The Straight Punch - Throwing the Forward and Reverse Punch

The Straight Punch - devastating and destructive! Forward and Reverse punch are a good place to start when learning to punch in Mantis Boxing, or other striking arts. They are destructive, and can easily be modified to open hand strikes if necessary. 

The following video shows the in's and out's of starting to punch with these two strikes and some of the pitfalls to watch out for. 

Using footwork with punches, increases the power, improves range, and helps keep us mobile instead of fixed. Check out pad drills, and blocking drills, or use these on a heavy bag to train on your own.
 

How to Throw a Punch...Safely

Having an improper structure, leaving a finger misplaced, or snapping our elbow, can all cause lasting damage, injuring ourselves more than the object we are trying to hit.

Whether we are hitting bags, pads, mitts, makiwara boards, or sparring partners, it's important to keep these tips in mind to keep us punching without injury for years to come.