Keep Your Guard Up!

[Mike1962]

Hi, I've been learning self defence since February, and a big feature of each session is my Sensei saying "Keep Your Guard Up!" I totally get why it is essential, and one thing I have found that makes it easier to remember to do is to keep the guard hand actually in contact with my chin (when boxing, anyway). I've tried imagining holding a cloth in place with the guard hand, but I'm not sure that helped really. Any other tips for never dropping my guard would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Mike

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Have people tag you when you drop your arm. That's the easiest way for your body to remember.

 

[Buka]

As much as I hate them and wouldn’t allow them in my dojo, if you have access to a speed bag and have someone to teach you how to use it, it can help a great deal in learning to keep your hands up. It also works the shoulder muscles needed to do so.

A word of caution, do not overdo it at the beginning. (First six months using it)

It’s also beneficial to hand eye coordination, learning to blink less, footwork and timing. Some say it’s good for learning punching combinations, but I disagree with that.

 

[isshinryuronin]

Have people tag you when you drop your arm. That's the easiest way for your body to remember.

As a student in class, if I didn't have my lead elbow covering my ribs, Sensei would fire a side kick to the open target. It was a very effective teaching method. Later, having my own school, I'd also use a shinai (kendo type sword of bundled split bamboo) to strike open areas. That worked almost as well. Never had any complaints.

 

[drop bear]

Don't hold your hands up. Hold your elbows in.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

- You only need guard up when you are in punching range.
- Don't hold guard too close to your head.
- If you use left-right guard, your opponent will punch between your arms. If you use forward-backward guard, your opponent will punch around your arm.
- When your opponent pulls down your guard, you spin your arm and hook punch back to his head.
- It's better to force your opponent to guard his head than for you to guard your head.
- Drop your guard bait for punch. Raise your guard bait for kick.
- ...

Example of drop your guard to bait for punch (if you think you are fast enough).

 

[Mike1962]

Have people tag you when you drop your arm. That's the easiest way for your body to remember.

thanks, good idea

 

[Mike1962]

As much as I hate them and wouldn’t allow them in my dojo, if you have access to a speed bag and have someone to teach you how to use it, it can help a great deal in learning to keep your hands up. It also works the shoulder muscles needed to do so.

A word of caution, do not overdo it at the beginning. (First six months using it)

It’s also beneficial to hand eye coordination, learning to blink less, footwork and timing. Some say it’s good for learning punching combinations, but I disagree with that.

that's very interesting - thanks!

 

[Mike1962]

As a student in class, if I didn't have my lead elbow covering my ribs, Sensei would fire a side kick to the open target. It was a very effective teaching method. Later, having my own school, I'd also use a shinai (kendo type sword of bundled split bamboo) to strike open areas. That worked almost as well. Never had any complaints.

Right... so really, that's exactly the kind of thing I'm trying to avoid happening...

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

- You only need guard up when you are in punching range.
- Don't hold guard too close to your head.
- If you use left-right guard, your opponent will punch between your arms. If you use forward-backward guard, your opponent will punch around your arm.
- When your opponent pulls down your guard, you spin your arm and hook punch back to his head.
- It's better to force your opponent to guard his head than for you to guard your head.
- Drop your guard bait for punch. Raise your guard bait for kick.
- ...

Example of drop your guard to bait for punch (if you think you are fast enough).

Good strategy, but not for a beginner still learning to hold his guard up to begin with. It's very different to purposefully drop your guard because you're out of range, or to bait someone (both can still be risky), then it is to not remember to put your guard up.

 

[Mike1962]

- You only need guard up when you are in punching range.
- Don't hold guard too close to your head.
- If you use left-right guard, your opponent will punch between your arms. If you use forward-backward guard, your opponent will punch around your arm.
- When your opponent pulls down your guard, you spin your arm and hook punch back to his head.
- It's better to force your opponent to guard his head than for you to guard your head.
- Drop your guard bait for punch. Raise your guard bait for kick.
- ...

Example of drop your guard to bait for punch (if you think you are fast enough).

Thanks, that's really interesting and a very different idea to what I previously understood of what guarding is all about.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

a very different idea to what I previously understood of what guarding is all about.

If your guard is too

- far apart, your opponent may punch between your arms.
- close, your opponent's hook punch may knock down your arm along with your head. You opponent can also head lock your head along with both of your arms.

Also,

- A short guard is good for offense.
- A long guard is good for defense.

There is no perfect guard that exist. No matter how good your guard can be, you are still put yourself in defense mode. Again, it's better to put your opponent in defense mode instead.

A: Do you teach self-defense?
B: I teach my students how to make their opponents to defense themselves.

 

[Mike1962]

Don't hold your hands up. Hold your elbows in.

That's a great tip, thanks, I do try to keep them in, but more as a secondary thing, so that may well help if I focus more on them

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

That's a great tip, thanks, I do try to keep them in, but more as a secondary thing, so that may well help if I focus more on them

Practice with shadowboxing holding a tennis ball during shadowboxing either: under your chin (to keep your chin down), in your elbow crook (to hold a guard, not punching with that arm), or throwing short, tight hooks with it under your armpit. All 3 will help you learn to keep your guard tight.

 

[marvin8]

Hi, I've been learning self defence since February, and a big feature of each session is my Sensei saying "Keep Your Guard Up!" I totally get why it is essential, and one thing I have found that makes it easier to remember to do is to keep the guard hand actually in contact with my chin (when boxing, anyway). I've tried imagining holding a cloth in place with the guard hand, but I'm not sure that helped really. Any other tips for never dropping my guard would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Mike

Pool noodle...

Jeff Chan MMAShredded
Sep 11, 2021

In this video, I test out 4 different types of guards. In each round, I specifically use only one guard to show and talk about the pros and cons!

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Hi, I've been learning self defence since February, and a big feature of each session is my Sensei saying "Keep Your Guard Up!" I totally get why it is essential, and one thing I have found that makes it easier to remember to do is to keep the guard hand actually in contact with my chin (when boxing, anyway). I've tried imagining holding a cloth in place with the guard hand, but I'm not sure that helped really. Any other tips for never dropping my guard would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Mike

Getting punched helps. Well, it helps some people.

 

[drop bear]

That's a great tip, thanks, I do try to keep them in, but more as a secondary thing, so that may well help if I focus more on them

If they rest forward on your torso. They will basically sit there with no effort.

 

[isshinryuronin]

Hold your elbows in

This is key in many karate techniques for both defensive and offensive reasons.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Hold your elbows in.

The WC Bong Shou violates that principle.

 

[drop bear]

The WC Bong Shou violates that principle.

View attachment 32121

Yes it does.