Breaking Guards

[Razznik]

Hello! I have a question for you guys because I have been experiencing some difficulties breaking my opponent's guard recently. I always spar with a few close friends and one of them has such a tight guard that I can't break and only attacks with his jabs. I can't react to his jabs in time or even predict them so I always end up losing due to exhaustion. Are there any techniques on how to break his guard because I have tried getting closer and crossing him or even shoulder rolling him but that doesn't work.
Thanks!

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Try to use your hook punch to grab your opponent's wrist. You then guide his arm away from your attacking path. You may use downward parry without grabbing if you have gloves on.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Time his cross and shift to the side with a hook when it comes. That requires good timing though. Slightly easier timing is sway and body shots while he's got guard. It gets tougher to hold guard as you get more damage to your core.

 

[Buka]

Razznik, what kind of rule set are you guys sparring with?

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

a tight guard that I can't break and only attacks with his jabs.

Can you use

- groin kick,
- waist level roundhouse kick,
- foot sweep,
- head level hook kick (or inside crescent kick),
- ...

to force your opponent to drop his guard?

 

[Razznik]

Razznik, what kind of rule set are you guys sparring with?

No head forearm or elbow strikes
Only closed fist strikes
No tripping, biting, pinching, pushing (etc.) opponents.
No kidney strikes
No kicking (boxing)

Can you use

- groin kick,
- waist level roundhouse kick,
- foot sweep,
- head level hook kick (or inside crescent kick),
- ...

to force your opponent to drop his guard?

It's boxing

 

[Buka]

No head forearm or elbow strikes
Only closed fist strikes
No tripping, biting, pinching, pushing (etc.) opponents.
No kidney strikes
No kicking (boxing)

It's boxing

First of all, hang in there, brother, it gets easier.

So boxing, okay. Are you and your friends in a gym where there are coaches, or are you guys meeting on your own?

Your friend with the tight guard, is he far more experienced than you? When one person has a lot more experience in boxing than another person it's usually going to be one sided. Or are you two equally experienced?

If you're getting exhausted you're either out of boxing shape or you're too tight/tense/intense. You have to stay really relaxed when you box.

How much boxing training have you and your buddies had?

 

[Damien]

Hello! I have a question for you guys because I have been experiencing some difficulties breaking my opponent's guard recently. I always spar with a few close friends and one of them has such a tight guard that I can't break and only attacks with his jabs. I can't react to his jabs in time or even predict them so I always end up losing due to exhaustion. Are there any techniques on how to break his guard because I have tried getting closer and crossing him or even shoulder rolling him but that doesn't work.
Thanks!

Three possible approaches, guard manipulation, changing sides and levels, and taking angles.

1- See if you can knock his guard down or to the side, it doesn't have to be a punch it can just be a push or a pull. Slip a hand into his elbow, push his gloves, slap down on the top of them, all are good options. Just be ready to follow up with a strike straight away. You can even just place your fist on his guard and try and push through any gap, whilst they work to stop that punch an opening that is created, or look to see how they tend to counter and prepare for that.

2- Mix up your targets, go high low high, or low high low, or high low low etc. Keep him guessing. You can't cover the body and the head fully at the same time, so make him move and eventually an opening will appear. If you can be unpredictable, even better. Change the sequence of high vs low, and don't always punch left right left right etc. Throw two or even three shots from the same side and they may end up going to block the wrong direction.

3- If you can use footwork to get an angle on your opponent they can't cover everything. You can't guard behind you or to the side, so openings appear. This is the hardest to execute, really good footwork takes a lot of practice, but it's the most effective. Lomachenko is a great example of this:

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

You can separate your opponent's arms in 4 different ways.

- both arms upward.
- both arms downward.
- left arm upward, right arm downward.
- left arm downward, right arm upward.

In order to do so, you need to drill your both arms through your opponent's guard (such as by using rhino guard).

 

[Razznik]

First of all, hang in there, brother, it gets easier.

So boxing, okay. Are you and your friends in a gym where there are coaches, or are you guys meeting on your own?

Your friend with the tight guard, is he far more experienced than you? When one person has a lot more experience in boxing than another person it's usually going to be one sided. Or are you two equally experienced?

If you're getting exhausted you're either out of boxing shape or you're too tight/tense/intense. You have to stay really relaxed when you box.

How much boxing training have you and your buddies had?

I'm pretty new to boxing with around 2 months of experience.
My friend (the one I've been sparring against) has around 4 months of experience (so a bit more).
We've both been introduced to boxing by a friend who has already boxed for a long time who I'm not even able to touch when sparring.
What is the ideal boxing shape? I'll try to loosen up a bit, I'll see if that helps.
We are sometimes at a boxing gym but most of the time we just meet up on our own after school

 

[Buka]

I'm pretty new to boxing with around 2 months of experience.
My friend (the one I've been sparring against) has around 4 months of experience (so a bit more).
We've both been introduced to boxing by a friend who has already boxed for a long time who I'm not even able to touch when sparring.
What is the ideal boxing shape? I'll try to loosen up a bit, I'll see if that helps.
We are sometimes at a boxing gym but most of the time we just meet up on our own after school

Two most important things - have fun, and be careful you don't hurt each other.

I know how you feel about not being able to touch your opponent when sparring. I remember those days well.
Keep this in mind - years from now there's a good chance you will be the one a newbie won't be able to touch.

When you can box pretty well, it's easy not to let a less experienced person get anywhere. You more than likely have a lot of "tells". We all did.

Switch up the way you box. Sometimes, go all defensive. But go defensive by movement rather than by trying to block or parry your partner's punches. A good way to do this is the age old adage - "when he moves, you move." (Just don't move the same way every time or you'll run into hook punches)

By moving when he does - it will give you an opportunity to study, and mentally record by repetition, the way the body moves when it's boxing. You'll be surprised what you can pick up.

Your friend who's boxed for a long time, is he helping you with your footwork, movement etc? If so, give it time.

It would help if your buddy can teach you how to bob and weave. And duck - not from bending at the waist, but by bending the knees. I would also help a lot if you guys could work with focus mitts.

If there's a decent boxing gym near you, signing up for just a few months will change everything for you. It will teach you how to train on your own, you and your buddies. NOTHING beats proper instruction, though. It's how you learn the basics.

Are you guys wearing mouthpieces when you spar?

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

I'm pretty new to boxing with around 2 months of experience.
My friend (the one I've been sparring against) has around 4 months of experience (so a bit more).
We've both been introduced to boxing by a friend who has already boxed for a long time who I'm not even able to touch when sparring.
What is the ideal boxing shape? I'll try to loosen up a bit, I'll see if that helps.
We are sometimes at a boxing gym but most of the time we just meet up on our own after school

So, none of the advice I gave earlier I'll go back on. But gonna back up some of what Buka said as that's more important with your experience level. Learn footwork and weaving, and be patient. Work on your stamina, experiment yourself with holding a tight guard and see what you're (more) experienced friend does to handle it.

 

[Damien]

What is the ideal boxing shape? I'll try to loosen up a bit, I'll see if that helps.

That's mostly personal preference. The standard position is generally quite side on. Not completely like in TKD, so you can still throw with the rear side, but pretty angled to have a smaller target area and get in and out. But then you have others who will box almost square. This gives you almost equal access to each hand so you can get off faster more powerful combos, but it puts you at more risk of getting hit. If you've got the movement and blocking skills to do it it can be very effective though. Think Mike Tyson, though there are plenty of others with different styles.

I prefer a square stance myself after years of Sanda, but when boxing I go for a more side on position as that's what the coaches where I'm training teach. Over time you can develop your own style, and you might use both.

I concur that some time with a good coach would be time well spent.

It's also worth your more experienced friends knowing that sometimes deliberately sparring worse than they are capable of is good training for them too. Sure you can avoid everything a less experienced person throws at you just fine, but if you let yourself be more open, take a few risks, you can try some new techniques, and get some experience of what to do when you do get hit.

I was doing some gentle sparring with a far less experienced guy just yesterday and I let him get his kicks on me, just worked on body movement to avoid punches, then occasionally put the pressure on him to see how he'd react, see if he could defend, counter and be ready for that. I'm sure he got more out of it than I did, but it was still an opportunity for me to move, play around a little bit etc.

 

[drop bear]

Right hand. Step right, left rip.