There are lots of techniques out there to defend against a single punch or kick.
Personally that reminds me of the old-fashioned one-step sparring in Karate; stilted, mechanical, and completely unrealistic.
The sad reality is that if someone is sufficiently motivated to attack you then they’re probably NOT just going to throw a single punch. And if they’ve done any formal training in boxing or MMA there may be a whole flurry of punches coming your way!
Well, you could try to stay in the pocket and deal counter each punch individually: blocking some, catching others, bobbing and weaving around the rest…
MMA great Anderson Silva used to do in his prime, but it requires an incredibly high level of awareness and reflexes.
Unless you’ve got the genetic gifts and intense training of an Anderson Silva or Muhammad Ali then you’re NOT going to be able to deal with multiple punches this way.
If you stay in pocket then the sad truth is that you’re going to get hit. And once you’re dazed from the first punch that lands then there will be a whole lot more pain on the way soon!
So if you’re facing a flurry of punches what should you do?
Conceptually you should either 1) close the distance, or 2) increase the distance.
That might sound simple, but the devil is always in the details – there are right and wrong ways to get closer, and right and wrong ways to get further away.
To show you exactly how to do it we shot the video below on surviving a blitz of punches. Hopefully it has a few answers for you…
Here at Self Defense Tutorials we’re planning on putting out a lot more articles and videos dealing with every aspect of self defense, including weaponry, striking, grappling and the psychology of confrontation and survival.
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Sincerely,
Stephan Kesting