The Clinch

[arnisador]

First rule of getting out of a clinch is not getting yourself into one.

Though, some people do like the clinch--that's their strategy. It can be a good place to be if you know how to use it.

 

[Marvin]

Hi all, I look at the clinch as standing grappling or wrestling for position. If one is rolling with a good clincher it is very difficult to go straight to the "hug" (body lock). The first obstacle is the wrists, then the elbows then the under or over hook on the shoulder. Anyone who works in this area a lot i.e. freestyle or GR wrestlers are certainly not going let you go right for the body lock. As for the clinch being the result of a bad shoot, yes sometimes... But sometimes you may just want to work that range. It is a very good way to gas your opponent. And sometimes you just have to fight standing up, one of our guys was an all state wrestler, if he decides it’s going to be a stand up fight, its going to take a lot of clinch work to get him down to the mat
As to working strikes on soft targets, that would mean you have at least one hand free and not controlling your partner's/ opponent's upper body. Unless you had an awesome underhook and could hold that position, having one arm free allows them to duck under your loose arm and work for a body lock, wizzer, takedown etc.
Marvin

 

[Kenpojujitsu3]

There is good book that address this quite a bit. It's called Mastering JuJitsu by Renzo Gracie. In it he describes his three phases of fighting rule and how one might use each one. His three phases are (1) free-movement (stand-up striking), (2) the clinch, and (3) the ground. He also uses noted MMA fighters as examples of how each phase can be used with great success in different ways dependig on the training of the person.

Examples:
Free-Movement -- Chuck Lidell, Pedro Rizzo, Bas Rutten, Mirko Cro Cop
Clinch Phase -- Randy Couture (grappling clinch), Vanderlei Silva (striking clinch), Pedro Rizzo (clinch, break and counter)
Ground Phase -- Mark Coleman (ground-n-pound), "Minotauro" (Submission)

Definitely good reading just for different uses of the clinch alone but also for other stuff as well. The clinch is an often overlooked yet crucial part of fighting to understand. The philosophy of "don't go there if you don't want to be there" against someone skilled in grappling just doesn't cut it as it isn't always an option. That's like facing a good striker and saying "just don't get hit if you don't want to". If it were that easy most of the world's "self defense" systems wouldn't be in use today.

 

[arnisador]

I agree--that's a good book. He outlines the "big picture" very well.

 

[NotQuiteDead]

Mastering Jujitsu is a very good book, not much in the way of techniques but it helped me out a lot when I was just starting to train in mixed martial arts. I just don't understand why it's called "mastering jujitsu" when the book is mostly about mma. The history section is supposed to be one of the less biased accounts from a book by a Gracie as well.

 

[Kenpojujitsu3]

Mastering Jujitsu is a very good book, not much in the way of techniques but it helped me out a lot when I was just starting to train in mixed martial arts. I just don't understand why it's called "mastering jujitsu" when the book is mostly about mma. The history section is supposed to be one of the less biased accounts from a book by a Gracie as well.

The book is entitled Mastering Ju Jitsu because it's about ju jitsu strategy. The main difference between the good and the not so good in ju jitsu is strategy and tactics. And the book is not really about MMA as much as it's about using Ju Jitsu in a real fight. MMA fighters are just used as examples of strategies because people can relate to that as most of this books readers have probably seen an MMA fight. Also alot of the moves (actually the vast majority of them) in the book are Sport Ju Jitsu/Submission Grappling moves and leave you open for very severe strikes. That's why the ground phase part of the book makes very little mention of striking. It's just trying to show Ju Jitsu strategy in the simplest way possible and strikes complicate things immensely.