The Wonderful World of Counter Punching

In MMA, it’s no secret that the fans love to see a good, bloody, toe-to-toe brawl. While the Damian Maia’s and Roger Gracie’s of the world are met with great admiration, there’s just something about seeing two warriors go to battle. The momentum of any fight can change just like THAT. What we, as fans, tend to see at the professional level is one fighter rocks the other, then charges in and looks to end it. If they don’t, one of two things happens: they gas themselves, or get clipped when they rush into battle as if they were Brave Heart.

Counter punching, along with countless other tactics, are taught to the students of BDMMA. Coach Tim does a great job of getting the basics across to the students, using his fighting experience as a perfect example. Using a parry, or slip, as the main focal point of the move, Coach Tim urges those learning the sport to exploit the subtle movements it gives you. With a proper slip, you’ll find your hips cocked back just slightly, enough so that you can see what should occur next.

With your hips “locked and loaded”, the hand you didn’t parry with will be your main weapon of choice. Once the punch has been slipped, and your hips have swiveled, you can counter with a crisp, stiff straight to your opponent using the basic boxing/striking knowledge of using your torso and hips to generate your punching power.

Once you let it rip, and assuming it lands clean, your counterpart will know that he is going against a talented striker. A lot of people will get into a fight and just swing for the fences and hope a shot finds a home, but they don’t use the fundamental slips/parries.

The absolute definition of what I touched upon can be seen in the instant classic UFC bout between Pat Barry and Cheick Kongo. Barry had the Frenchmen rocked about three to four times when he finally went in for the kill. He thought he had Kongo on his heels, but at the very last second, as Barry came charging in like a bull, BOOM! Cheick planted a counter punch right to Pat’s face, and scored one of the craziest victories in MMA history.

If you want a good visual depiction of what I just touched upon, check out the video below where Coach Tim breaks it down in a helpful way for you to use in your MMA training!