What is the best way to defend a Haymaker Punch on the street

[lowkicksensei]

Most of the people on the street throw right hooks / right overhand / right weird straight punch.. what is the best way to counter this punch?
pull counter cross?
Duck under?
Slip left and throw a lead hook? What if the guy is skinny and fast and he got a lucky hit..? So how you deal with that punch?
Never let the guy to close and teep to the balls? What would you do?

 

[drop bear]

Cover, then left hook as they retract their arm.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

What drop bear said or cover/duck to double leg takedown. Depending on the situation.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Most of the people on the street throw right hooks / right overhand / right weird straight punch.. what is the best way to counter this punch?

Kick should always be your 1st line defense. Kick your opponent's belly - leg is longer than the arm.

 

[lowkicksensei]

What drop bear said or cover/duck to double leg takedown. Depending on the situation.

Cover, then left hook as they retract their arm.

cover???? With no gloves?

 

[JowGaWolf]

Most of the people on the street throw right hooks / right overhand / right weird straight punch.. what is the best way to counter this punch?
pull counter cross?
Duck under?
Slip left and throw a lead hook? What if the guy is skinny and fast and he got a lucky hit..? So how you deal with that punch?
Never let the guy to close and teep to the balls? What would you do?

Depends on the distance that that the punch is thrown at and whether or not you see it. There are some punches that travel outside your field of vision so if the punch is doing that, then there's very little that you can do but hope it grazes or that the person misses. Sometimes you can move in while covering if you see it coming.

I would probably try to control the distance in which a specific punch would land. I would probably face open stance if I'm worried about a cross. An open stance would have increase my field of vision for anything coming from his right. I would make sure that my stance is always positioned so that I can make it more difficult for him to throw a specific punch. If I make it difficult then his actions become easier to see as he tries to set it up.. Its much easier to detect this way than to detect it when his in the stance that he wants and can throw the punch with little adjustment.

 

[marvin8]

From open stance, white shirt (southpaw) is in guard position not double weighted. His opponent controls the lead hand and throws a punch. White shirt pull-counters.

 

[drop bear]

cover???? With no gloves?

Yep.

 

[Oily Dragon]

Most of the people on the street

Walk right on by.

Where do you get these "most of the people" stuff.

Reddit? Quora? OnlyFans??

 

[O'Malley]

Most of the people on the street throw right hooks / right overhand / right weird straight punch.. what is the best way to counter this punch?

No be there.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Most of the people on the street throw right hooks / right overhand / right weird straight punch.. what is the best way to counter this punch?

There is no best way. There is only what works for you. What would I do? I don't know. It depends. My body will move in accordance with time and motion, as I trained it. Or it won't, and I'll get hit.

But let's play 'what if'. Let's say I see the punch coming and I'm for whatever reason squared up with the person. A right haymaker is a short-distance attack. We have to be nearly in each other's grills for it to connect. There is one target - my noggin. The attacker throwing a haymaker has committed their power and balance to the throw, meaning they will end the motion leaning slightly forward. At the moment they throw the haymaker, they cannot kick me, advance or retreat, evade, or punch with the other hand. After the haymaker, sure. But at the frozen-in-time moment, they cannot do any of those things. A haymaker is a power punch, and that's where their focus is.

If I can react quickly enough, all I have to do is move my head (or entire body) to avoid the haymaker connecting with it. Rule one of karate is don't get hit. So a slip can work. Coupled with a counter-attack, it could end the encounter. What counter-attack? A right uppercut punch to the face would be nice. After all, he's feeding his face to you if he's throwing a right haymaker and misses. His throat would also be open. Or the nerve cluster in and around his right armpit. You could kick the leading leg when he plants it, as he'll have most of his weight on it as he lands or attempts to land his punch. In Isshinryu, we'd call it a shoba konate.

I don't think I would attempt a kick to the groin; distance is wrong. A knee might work, but I don't think I'd try that personally.

I'd avoid all fancy high kicks, as I can't do them. If I could, a wheel kick to that nice fat leading face could be very satisfying; he's hanging it out there for you after all.

Remember, this guy is American. We know this because haymaker, and because I'm in America and not likely to ever by anywhere else. Guys who throw haymakers throw reverse punch style, so he stepped left to throw right. All his weight, as I said, is on that planted left leg. Get offline and kick that leg out from under him and that punch will never land. But you have to be able to see that (probably telegraphed) punch coming from last Tuesday. If that's how he throws, then yeah, that would work.

Another option would be to try to block the haymaker. Very do-able, but with a looping punch, there's always the chance you would still get hit. Move in and throw an upper body block and it could wrap around your block and hit you in the side or back of the head. You'd probably want to combine the block with a counter, such as an uppercut or elbow to his face as you move in.

Assuming he's not some kind of power bruiser, you could take the punch with an upper body block using a soft technique and pull his arm down to your waist, which throws him further off balance in the direction he was already going anyway and jams his chin forward for you to punch. This requires that you be adept enough to have the necessary speed, coordination, and body mechanics. Beginners could probably not pull this off.

I've seen people using the upper body block to move into an arm lock, but although I've practiced it some, I'm not adept and not really a fan; it ties up both my arms to immobilize one of his. If I don't immediately throw him to the ground, he's going to pummel me with his free arm.

One of my instructors has a basic philosophy that I like a lot. He's been a bouncer, he's been in many 'street fights' in his life, and he believes in 'block 'em and clock 'em.' In other words, throw the upper body block and knock them out with your counter.

There are a lot of grappling techniques that would work very well for this; I've seen some of them. But I'm not a grappler and couldn't do any of them, so I'd avoid that.

It should also be mentioned that often, a haymaker is a sucker punch. So I may not see it coming; I'd just get hit.

 

[Buka]

Like most things, it depends on the circumstances and what skill sets each party has in the use of their art or arts. I imagine a good BJJ fighter would respond differently than a Kung Fu fighter etc.

I used to like closing distance as quickly as I could - charge right into them and fight “in the kitchen,” or just bowl them over.

And yes, there is the chance of running right into something. There’s always that chance in a fight.

Some guys I know are what we used to call “janitors.” They live to sweep. Man, they would just take the legs out from under a puncher so fast it was funny to watch.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Like most things, it depends on the circumstances and what skill sets each party has in the use of their art or arts. I imagine a good BJJ fighter would respond differently than a Kung Fu fighter etc.

I used to like closing distance as quickly as I could - charge right into them and fight “in the kitchen,” or just bowl them over.

And yes, there is the chance of running right into something. There’s always that chance in a fight.

Some guys I know are what we used to call “janitors.” They live to sweep. Man, they would just take the legs out from under a puncher so fast it was funny to watch.

I'm not that good at sweeping or kicking out the leading leg that I'd depend on it. Agree it's fun to watch. When I was imagining how I'd defend myself, I had to remind myself that about the only way I'd be on the receiving end of a roundhouse/haymaker would be if we were squared up; otherwise I would not be in range unless he was planning to charge me and then throw.

I was being overwhelmed in a sparring match with a student who had grown to be much larger, faster, and stronger than me; dude was tearing me up. I lowered my head and charged. Took him into the corner and worked him over but good; but it was a Hail Mary; if I hadn't hit him like a bulldozer, he'd have stopped me, and that trick would not have worked on him a second time.

 

[Buka]

I'm not that good at sweeping or kicking out the leading leg that I'd depend on it. Agree it's fun to watch. When I was imagining how I'd defend myself, I had to remind myself that about the only way I'd be on the receiving end of a roundhouse/haymaker would be if we were squared up; otherwise I would not be in range unless he was planning to charge me and then throw.

I was being overwhelmed in a sparring match with a student who had grown to be much larger, faster, and stronger than me; dude was tearing me up. I lowered my head and charged. Took him into the corner and worked him over but good; but it was a Hail Mary; if I hadn't hit him like a bulldozer, he'd have stopped me, and that trick would not have worked on him a second time.

Well said, brother.
Keep in mind, though, if it was an actual fight it probably wouldn’t have been necessary for it to work on him a second time.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Well said, brother.
Keep in mind, though, if it was an actual fight it probably wouldn’t have been necessary for it to work on him a second time.

I've got a few moves in my kit that I love. They pretty much always work the first time I use them. Then a bit in, they start losing effectiveness and eventually I'll get punched in the face. But unless I'm entering a competition, that first time is what matters.

 

[Hanshi]

My attitude has nearly always been to never let an immanent attacker get close enough to me without his taking a step forward. If he does there's little doubt about intent. This would offer me the first attack which is as it should be. Waiting for someone to throw an attack puts one a step behind and gives the aggressor an important advantage. If it is obvious what is to come I was trained to "go through him, turn around and come back through him". An attack does NOT begin when an attacker throws a first blow; it begins with him deciding that he will.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

My attitude has nearly always been to never let an immanent attacker get close enough to me without his taking a step forward. If he does there's little doubt about intent. This would offer me the first attack which is as it should be. Waiting for someone to throw an attack puts one a step behind and gives the aggressor an important advantage. If it is obvious what is to come I was trained to "go through him, turn around and come back through him". An attack does NOT begin when an attacker throws a first blow; it begins with him deciding that he will.

Of course. But I had to imagine the scenario in order to answer the question. My real answer is I don't drink and I don't go to bars, and I distance myself from aggressive drunks and disturbed people, so this scenario is exceedingly unlikely to happen to me. I got old and my brain started doing the thinking instead of my gonads. Fighting is chaotic and stupid and I avoid it.

 

[dennisnorton]

The best way to defend against a haymaker punch, commonly thrown as a right hook or overhand, is to stay calm, keep your guard up, and maintain a safe distance. You can counter it by slipping to the left and throwing a lead hook or using a pull counter cross to exploit the opponent’s momentum.

If the puncher is fast and gets a lucky hit, your goal should be to quickly recover and reset your position. To prevent the opponent from closing in, use a teep (front kick) to create space or target vulnerable areas like the groin if necessary for self-defense. Always prioritize keeping your distance and controlling the situation to avoid getting hit.

 

[Prince_Alarming]

Basically, if he's throwing a haymaker at you, straight up, he doesn't know what he's doing and you can proceed to humiliate him however you please. My favourite way is to block with a knife hand (shuto uke) and move straight into an outer reap (o soto gari), depositing him on the pavement.

 

[Balrog]

Most of the people on the street throw right hooks / right overhand / right weird straight punch.. what is the best way to counter this punch?
pull counter cross?
Duck under?
Slip left and throw a lead hook? What if the guy is skinny and fast and he got a lucky hit..? So how you deal with that punch?
Never let the guy to close and teep to the balls? What would you do?

My preference would be to run away. Failing that, cover and pass, then a side kick to the groin or knee. Then run away.