What do you do if someone runs at you with punches?

MorzMP

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Hello! I´ve been doing Martial Arts for around 3-4 Years and for the past few months I´ve been doing Muay Thai. What I´ve never learned is what you do if someone comes at you with swinging, wild punches. I´ve tried to google and youtube it but nothing seems to work the way it should. What do you guys think is the best things to do? I told my friend to come at me with swinging punches (with gloves obv) I tried to clinch but that didn't work out so well. What I think is the best thing to do it step to the side if you have enough space and attack. What do you think you can do more?
 

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Bart Simpson style?

I think that there are a number of things that you could do, you try and train many of them so that you're comfortable with more than one answer.

Getting out of the way is a good idea, but probably way more difficult than it sounds.

Your Muay Thai front kick should outreach his arms. If you plant it in his sternum you could stop that momentum and regain control of the range. At this point, knowing that he's a wild swinger (by the way, if you google "wild swinger", I'm not responsible for your search results), you probably want to fight from very close, otherwise he's just going to come back at you again.

If you were a BJJ/Shootfighter type, which it sounds like you are not, I think you would want to bait him with a high target and then shoot in and take him down from the legs. Then you'd have to be ready to deal with him on the ground, though.

As a striker though, keep in mind that if he's swinging wildly (again..) he is almost definitely leaving himself wide open for your strikes.

There are techniques from a variety of places, but they all require training for that scenario, just like anything else.
 

Bill Mattocks

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Hello! I´ve been doing Martial Arts for around 3-4 Years and for the past few months I´ve been doing Muay Thai. What I´ve never learned is what you do if someone comes at you with swinging, wild punches. I´ve tried to google and youtube it but nothing seems to work the way it should. What do you guys think is the best things to do? I told my friend to come at me with swinging punches (with gloves obv) I tried to clinch but that didn't work out so well. What I think is the best thing to do it step to the side if you have enough space and attack. What do you think you can do more?

That works. Also, run away. Create space. Etc.

The idea is that you don't stand and wait for the person charging you to do what they want to do. They have to cover distance and that takes time. In that time, change the circumstances of the attack. Their wild charge also commits them to a direction and a velocity. It is hard to change speed and direction if you're running full-tilt. So take advantage of that.
 

kuniggety

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As a BJJ guy, if I can't deescalate the situation, my go to move would be to shoot and do a double leg take down (or single depending on his leg location). From there you have a few options: 1. if it's a hard surface and the take down is nicely done/they don't know how to take it, that might be enough to finish the encounter 2. they're still angry and so you take mount, control, and submit them (joint lock or choke with a choke being preferable against a belligerent person) or 3. mount and rain hell on them with strikes..ie ground and pound.
 
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MorzMP

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Morote-gari is your friend.
Bart Simpson style?

I think that there are a number of things that you could do, you try and train many of them so that you're comfortable with more than one answer.

Getting out of the way is a good idea, but probably way more difficult than it sounds.

Your Muay Thai front kick should outreach his arms. If you plant it in his sternum you could stop that momentum and regain control of the range. At this point, knowing that he's a wild swinger (by the way, if you google "wild swinger", I'm not responsible for your search results), you probably want to fight from very close, otherwise he's just going to come back at you again.

If you were a BJJ/Shootfighter type, which it sounds like you are not, I think you would want to bait him with a high target and then shoot in and take him down from the legs. Then you'd have to be ready to deal with him on the ground, though.

As a striker though, keep in mind that if he's swinging wildly (again..) he is almost definitely leaving himself wide open for your strikes.

There are techniques from a variety of places, but they all require training for that scenario, just like anything else.

Yeah the front kick actually never came to my mind :eek: The only problem I have with kicks is that I never can get far enough from my target to actually throw the kick since he constantly runs at me.
 
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MorzMP

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Try stepping out to the side, towards the persons back, make sure you keep yourself covered when you move and try to counter where you see an opening.
Yeah that´s what I plan to do if I get in such a situation :)
 
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MorzMP

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That works. Also, run away. Create space. Etc.

The idea is that you don't stand and wait for the person charging you to do what they want to do. They have to cover distance and that takes time. In that time, change the circumstances of the attack. Their wild charge also commits them to a direction and a velocity. It is hard to change speed and direction if you're running full-tilt. So take advantage of that.
Sounds intressting, do you think that you could explain a bit more of what you mean with changing the circumstances etc?
 
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MorzMP

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As a BJJ guy, if I can't deescalate the situation, my go to move would be to shoot and do a double leg take down (or single depending on his leg location). From there you have a few options: 1. if it's a hard surface and the take down is nicely done/they don't know how to take it, that might be enough to finish the encounter 2. they're still angry and so you take mount, control, and submit them (joint lock or choke with a choke being preferable against a belligerent person) or 3. mount and rain hell on them with strikes..ie ground and pound.
Yeah that actually sounds really good, the thing is that I´m not confident in my BJJ skills so I would prefer to use Muay Thai or something similar :)
 

marques

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Hello! I´ve been doing Martial Arts for around 3-4 Years and for the past few months I´ve been doing Muay Thai. What I´ve never learned is what you do if someone comes at you with swinging, wild punches. I´ve tried to google and youtube it but nothing seems to work the way it should. What do you guys think is the best things to do? I told my friend to come at me with swinging punches (with gloves obv) I tried to clinch but that didn't work out so well. What I think is the best thing to do it step to the side if you have enough space and attack. What do you think you can do more?
Leg kicks, front kicks or step aside and follow up.

Not easy, but if the timing is quite perfect, stop kicks (knee level) and teep (push kick) are enough to stop the guy. Then you finish as you want. I am not very good at punching, so I will avoid to box against a (wild) boxer. Of course, other people may prefer a different strategy.
 
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Tony Dismukes

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Lots of options, depending on your skill set, relative sizes, the attackers exact angles, how far away he starts from, etc.

If you're a solid striker, a stop-hit down the center should do the job nicely. Wild swinging punches from long range means a straight shot should hit him first, with your combined momentum adding to the impact.

Clinching should be easy when someone attacks that way. Heck, it should be almost automatic. From the clinch you can work, knees, elbows, dirty boxing, and takedowns.

Evading will probably require some skill with bobbing and weaving, otherwise a sidestep may take you into the path of a circular punch.

What is happening when you experiment with your friend? Why is clinching not working for you?
 

Gerry Seymour

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Yeah the front kick actually never came to my mind :eek: The only problem I have with kicks is that I never can get far enough from my target to actually throw the kick since he constantly runs at me.
If he starts a couple of steps away, you get the kick in before he makes it in the first time. Once he closes, you can't use it, unless you create new space.
 

ShortBridge

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Yeah the front kick actually never came to my mind :eek: The only problem I have with kicks is that I never can get far enough from my target to actually throw the kick since he constantly runs at me.

Systems are generally not the techniques that people think they are. They are timing, range, application, experience.

I suspect that you have room, but not time. Keep working on it.
 

Gerry Seymour

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Leg kicks, front kicks or step aside and follow up.

Not easy, but if the timing is quite perfect, stop kicks (knee level) and teep (push kick) are enough to stop the guy. Then you finish as you want. I am not very good at punching, so I will avoid to box a (wild) boxer. Of course, other people may prefer a different strategy.
The stop kick to the knee is one of my favorites, though I admit to questioning its reliability on unpredictable surfaces.
 

Gerry Seymour

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In NGA, we have a technique called the "Body Block", which works quite well against this sort of insane attack. If the attacker commits that much forward momentum, the Body Block throws our body at their legs (around knee level) to cut them out from under them. It's surprisingly effective - and effectively surprising - for something that looks like a playground technique.
 

Buka

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Welcome to MT, MorzMP

They're coming to you. It's like pizza delivery and you don't even have to tip.
The punches are wild, swinging. It's like Christmas and you don't even have to wrap presents.

You can bob and weave, slip, sidestep, intercept - maybe throw that bomb of a right cross that you almost killed so and so with.
You can time it, and blast that head butt into his chops as you grab him.
If you're a good body puncher - you might even have a little mercy as you weave.....nah, F him.
If you're a skilled kicker - you're probably going to get charged later, call your lawyer.
Double leg, tackle, whatever. Zen the bastard, make him "one with ground".

Wild, swinging punches means that God loves you.
 

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