When I say jump, I mean .. like hop around.. sorta. I've read that it's better not to and what not.. but I see that in the olympics they hop around (I just figured it would be best to watch them since.. it's better than anything else..). Also, it's better to keep your hands up while fighting and during kicks right? it's just that sometimes I watch sparring matches to learn from them.. but they keep their guards down and stuff..
Thanks
I don't mean to ruffle anyone's feathers, but the question here has only been partly, and vaguely answered. Those who have said that the answer depends on certain factors are correct in that you must take into consideration the venue, and the rules for competition. Even in the street, every scenario is different, and movement about, or up and down can be useful in certain circumstances.
When you are referring to tournament fighting (whether WTF, ITF, ATA, or Karate matches) you have common factors. One factor pertains to what movements are prohibited by the rules (eg: grabbing, pushing, tackling, sweeps, throws, take-downs, low kicks, face punches, etc.). In the street, there are no rules (other than punishment after the fact for unlawful use of force), however an attacker will often display a certain skill-set and fighting-approach early on (boxer, wrestler, brawler, Martial Artist, etc). It is within the scope of your defenses to respond accordingly which might include a "sparring like atmosphere" where you are more mobile to avoid contact, and then close in for your counter.
The bouncing that you see in Olympic competition is very effective, and smart strategy in most cases. Most of the comments I read in many threads about this topic appear to come from a perspective of those who have never been trained in this type of fighting, nor have they ever competed in the Olympics, so most of their criticism is based on conjecture.
The topic of "movement" while sparring is an important one, just as "distance" is (I'll get to that in a moment). Excessive movements (eg: jumping high off the feet or lunging in and out and from side to side), are usually uncontrolled actions by unskilled beginners. They are a waste of energy, and often trap the person in an awkward position for counter attack.
Conversely, the light bouncing on the balls of the feet is not done constantly, but at more regular intervals than standing still. The fighter does not completely leave the ground for the most part, but remains on the balls of their feet with an up and down rhythm. The bounce is fast, and not high enough for an opponent to "wait till they are on the way down" then attack.
Any amount of movement during a match can expend energy, and wear you down, but a skilled tournament fighter has trained their endurance to last several times longer than the regulation match with constant attacking and defense. Thus, they are actually toning it down during a tournament match.
There are several good reasons for the light bounce. One is based on Isaac Newton's law of motion as it relates to inertia (paraphrased: A body at rest tends to stay at rest, and a body in motion tends to stay in motion). "Superfoot" Bill Wallace teaches the same basic strategy, and used it quite successfully for many years. When you strike out at an opponent, if you are at rest (standing still), you have to over come inertia and propel your body into motion. If you are in motion (light bouncing) all you have to do is to rapidly accelerate the muscle contractions and enhance upon the movement that is already there. In addition, your opponent will recognize the "change" from a stationary fighter who suddenly launches into action, as opposed to the disguised attack which comes from a body already in motion.
Finally, the point about the guards is one that is quite often misunderstood, and criticized incorrectly. There is a good reason why many fighters in Martial Art tournaments (not just Taekwondo or WTF), as well as boxers in some cases, allow their guards to hang down. First of all, putting your guards up for protection is a basic skill taught to all beginners. It is important to learn this skill, and use it
when appropriate. However, to think that an advanced Black Belt, or Olympic fighter is vulnerable because their guards are down is rather naive.
The subject of "distance," that I mentioned earlier, is the key here. First of all, if I am just out of range of my opponent's strike (hand or foot), then they must advance to make contact. A good fighter can read this movement and know when the opponent is coming. My options then would be to a). distance further to avoid impact [no blocking necessary], b.) move forward and jam [no blocking needed - just cover] c.) side step and evade [no blocking required, but guards are adjusted as needed]. The only other option is to remain stationary and get hit, or hope they misjudged and miss you. On any of these options you could choose to raise your guards and block, and you will have plenty of time to do so (believe it or not).
Fighting toe-to-toe (like boxers often do) requires that you keep your guards up, otherwise the opponent can hit before you can react, but rather than blocking, you are putting up more of a shield. Even very skilled boxers like Ali, and Sugar Ray Leonard would back off, dance around their opponent, and lower both guards for a time. However, boxers like Mike Tysen fight different than Ali, and tend to put up a "peek-a-boo" shield to move in close and swing hard, hoping for that big knock-out punch.
Keeping your guards up through most of a fight is tiring on your arms. The muscles in the biceps and triceps become fatigued, and by the end of a match you might have difficulty responding when you really do need to block something. Your movements will become much slower as the lactic acid builds up. Instead, Olympic fighters keep their arms down because they don't intend to block. Not because they are relying on the "tournament rules," but because they understand the nature of their opponent's attack. A slight movement of my body can prevent contact, spoil the impact, or jam the movement without ever blocking. It is actually a smart defense, because I don't get hit hard by my opponent's kick or punch, and my hands are still free if I wanted block or strike.
Also, a slight lean of the body away from an attacker can utilize the shoulder as a natural obstruction to head kicks and/or punches without blocking with the forearms. Therefore, it does not matter if face punches are allowed. If my opponent can not reach my head, I don't need to block, thus I don't need my guards up. Any attempt to close that distance places them within range of my kicks as well as my hands.
The reason Olympic fighters don't raise the arms in bent postitions to block kicks is because you can not cover every open target on your body, thus "spoiling" the attack is a better strategy. To stop a kick from reaching the head, the arms are extended forward like the wings of a fighter jet to impede the path of the leg on the way up, before it gets to the head, rather than bending the elbows, and trying to block the kick near the ankle and risk missing the block, or getting your elbows smacked.
Believe it or not, in specific street fighting scenarios, this same strategy works very well. When attacked by an opponent upon whom it would not work well, the smart fighter knows not to use it, and reverts to other tools in their repertoire.
CM D.J. Eisenhart
into sets of combat-ready movement subsequences. The link is
