Quote:
Originally Posted by Soul Rebel
Since CM requires you to raise your elbows to block wouldnt it make you more subject to body shots? Is there any way to get around this?
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Hey Soul Rebel
The two main things for dealing with the body shot are:
1) the lockdown of the core and
2) a level change to stop shots hitting you at the bottom of (or below) your ribs.
These work so well and are so simple that it is pretty much the best response to body shots I've ever tried.
Fundamentally there are two ways to throw a body shot -
a) as an arm punch where you just wing it in under someone's guard or
b) by level changing to throw the shot with power behind it. (Same with uppercuts, without dipping so you can drive back up again you lose a lot of power.)
The two defences deal with the two types of shot. Your lockdown (1) should pretty much negate the arm-only punch (a) and if some one level changes to throw a solid body shot you level change with them, so (2) defends (b). If you develop the habit of always matching someone's level change then you take away the risk of solid body shots almost immediately - and it gives you a head start on defending shoots.
The key to the lockdown is to use your core muscles to pull your ribs down
without leaning forward. If you lean forward then you stretch out your intercostal muscles and a body shot will go through to some degree.
Also that you can defend a body shot without opening up to a follow up to the head. A swung headshot that is only an arm punch can still do damage because your head is small. An arm-only punch to the body is much easier to take because of the size of your body. So body-head combinations are more dangerous than head-body ones.
Your last point about people trying to anticipate your movement. If you keep your hands moving all the time (not just for when someone is throwing something) and keep constant small level changes in your movement it is very, very hard for someone to read and time your movement. When you keep in a locked down structure the opportunity for the body shot (a good body shot, that is) rarely presents itself.
The arm motion in CM isn't just done when people are hitting you. I keep my hands moving all the time I am in range to be hit. If I only move my hands when someone is already punching I have to be faster than they are - too big a risk.
If I see something coming I increase the motion (but if I don't I still have structure, high hands and some movement). Importantly I don't have to open my body up to move my arm so even if I mis-read the body shot or don't spot the level change then I still have one of my levels of defence available (my locked down structure). If I do see the body shot coming I level change a few inches and take the shot on a combination of solid ribs, arm and lats.
The key is that there are numerous levels of defence:
1) At the core is your locked down structure
2) Next is your guard and head movement
3) Your own punches - if someone goes for a body shot on me, I'm trying to hit them in the head while they've dropped their hand
4) My movement and distance control
All these add up to form my defensive game - the fact that my offensive game is thoroughly embedded in there means that I am rarely letting someone have an unanswered turn at hitting me.
Hope that answers your question.
I think the most important thing here is that these are problems I have worked on a lot at my gym and I know the other CM trainers have too. If you have a play with the stuff I've discussed here I think you'll find a huge difference, I know we did. The defence to bodyshots was actually the thing I saw in Rodney's very first video that made me stop and go "That's really smart!"
I love body shots, they are one of my better punches and I struggle to catch them on the guys with tight CM structure. It isn't that in the five years I've been working this stuff I have been avoiding them. They are by far my biggest test that someone is doing things right - if the body shot bounces off and I can't follow up to the head then I know my guys have got it right.
Phil
