Striking Fluidity for MMA: A crucial tool in the armoury of another MMA fighter is striking. All MMA battles begin with both competitors facing each other, despite grappling being a potent tactic. Even a seasoned, experienced grappler needs to be able to strike to make their grappling effective in MMA. By employing their punches to keep a safe distance and deter opponents from aiming takedowns, skilled strikers can stay out of the clinch and grappling range. Today, we are happy to present a tutorial on practising striking fluidity for MMA.
Striking Style
The best outcomes for you as a boxer will come from developing your striking technique around your unique physical characteristics and capabilities. This doesn’t imply you must adopt a fighting style you detest; rather, enhancing your natural skills while strengthening any shortcomings will enable you to use your striking to the fullest. When creating your distinctive style, numerous factors must be taken into account. Your height-to-weight class ratio comes first.
1) Tall Physique
In order to force your opponents to punch up at you, you should preferably stand a little taller if you are a taller fighter for your weight class. As it is harder to hit upward than at your own head level, this may lessen their strength. Your stance will naturally be narrower than a fighter who is shorter and stockier as a result.
Boxer Corey Sandhagen, for example, has a body like this. He fights from the outside and changes positions while creating angles with his height.
2) Short stature
A somewhat broader stance works nicely with a shorter, more compact body shape. With a lower stance, you can move your head more easily and burst more with your footwork and attacks. A shorter fighter’s wingspan is frequently less than a taller fighter’s, which makes it difficult for them to fight successfully from the outside. However, they are considerably more potent while fighting in the pocket. They differ from taller boxers in terms of their footwork as well.
Shorter fighters close the distance into their preferred range by moving their heads and stepping quickly. Petr Yan is a fantastic example of a shorter fighter who uses their stature to their advantage. He closes the distance and moves into boxing range, where he has the edge, using his high guard, head movement, and switching footwork.
3) Strength And Cardio
Your aerobic and physical capabilities are crucial in developing your individual, powerful style. If you lack the one-punch knockout power of Nate Diaz or Max Holloway but possess elite cardio, you might want to adopt some of their striking techniques. Your opponents can be defeated by using volume and flurry-style light punches.
Fighters like Francis Ngannou or Derrick Lewis, who land blows that are significantly more powerful than those made by high-volume strikers, do not have the same cardiac capacities. They would be better served employing fewer strikes and to search for weaknesses in their adversary’s defences to land their deadly punches. Boxer Corey Sandhagen, for example, has a body like this. He fights from the outside and changes positions while creating angles with his height.
You might also be interested in reading this: Most One-Sided Title Fights in the History of Boxing
Distance Control
Once you have selected your battle style, the following step is to hone your distance management abilities. For a taller, lankier combatant, fighting at a medium to long range will be more favourable. However, a fighter who is shorter and stockier will typically do better in close quarters. A taller opponent has the capacity for long-range kicks and mid-range set-ups. A good example of this would be to punch repeatedly after launching long-range teens or low kicks. The initial kick brings the battle within striking distance and allows the taller fighter to engage without taking a counterpunch.
The taller fighters should be able to attack their opponent from a distance where their opponent’s blows won’t quite connect because of their longer limbs.
The same strategies may be used by a shorter fighter, but they will need to be slightly modified to fit their build and fighting style. A shorter fighter can enter punching range with a teep or low kick, but they must close the gap more quickly. The shorter fighter now has the upper hand once they are inside the taller combatant’s reach. They may use hooks and uppercuts to the body and head with more leverage. Of course, the taller fighter will try to shift laterally or backwards to get back within their favoured range. The shorter fighter can finish off their opponent with a roundhouse to the torso or legs to stay in their own favoured range.
Balance
Your strength and speed when hitting are both influenced by your balance, which is a crucial component. Maintaining equilibrium will enable you to combine many blows. Never allow your head to pass your lead knee when striking, especially with your rear hand. This helps you evade any counterpunches your opponent may throw by making sure you aren’t “stuck” after delivering a hard punch.
Gaining better balance will also enable you to kick more forcefully and quickly while consuming less energy every kick. When you toss your lead teep, practise keeping your back foot firmly planted with the heel down. This puts you largely on your back foot and makes it easier for you to deliver a strong teep to your opponent’s body. Try to maintain your head precisely over your back leg as you throw the teep to further improve your balance. To experience the difference in power and quickness, try using this technique while shadowboxing and on a heavy bag.
Striking Variety
Once you have mastered balance in each hit, it’s time to combine them all to overwhelm your adversaries. Before leaving the pocket or beginning a clinch, use kicks and feints to get closer to the opponent’s point of attack. You may construct traps for your opponent by striking patterns frequently and accurately, then disrupting the pattern to strike your opponent from an unexpected direction. A body jab during a fight or sparring session is a common example of this. Fake once more and land a rear overhand to the opponent’s head after they have lowered their guard to evade the body jab. Another cunning trick is to make your opponent acclimated to your lead teep.
Within the context of MMA, striking is a fairly complex subject. Even though we have only touched the surface of hitting, we believe that these pointers will enable you to refine the striking fluidity for MMA. To raise your striking level, do these in your solo training on the heavy bag and in shadowboxing.
This is how you can improve your striking fluidity for MMA. Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
