“Here’s How You Fight Like BJ Penn, Nick Diaz, and Frankie Edgar…”
The Boxing Bible for MMA Everything You Need to Know to Box Successfully Inside the Cage
J. Stamey 1
Introduction Thank you so much for downloading "The Boxing Bible for MMA." If you've taken the time to read the rundown on this report, plug in your name, and entrust me with your email address I'll assume that you have at least some interest in learning or improving your boxing for mixed martial arts. Since this will be the majority of you (some will be critics and that's ok) I should probably explain why developing your boxing game is even worth the bother. To do that I always like to reference MMA fighter's BJ Penn, Nick Diaz, Frankie Edgar, and Gray Maynard. The first guy I mentioned is arguably the best pound for pound mixed martial artist ever, the second is a top 5 welterweight, and the last two are lightweights that could easily be considered in the top 10 of what is the most competitive division in the world.
What's the commonality in the way they all fight? Ironically, despite two being world class BJJ black belts and the other two being decorated collegiate wrestlers, they all elect to stand up and box a majority of the time. There has to be a reason for that.
So why do they do it? They do it because they know in a sport where there is a lot of wild undisciplined striking and poor defense, a true "hit and don't get hit" boxer has a monstrous advantage. They do it because they know knockouts are sexy. They do it because it makes them more versatile. Dare I say they do it because it's just more fun? 2
I guess the point I'm trying to make is if boxing is a skill set that all of these gentlemen have been able to use successfully inside the cage, then so can we.
You may be wondering..."Well, ok I see your point, but what qualifies you to teach me any of this?" I wish I had a laundry list of accomplishments to show you so you'd know this isn't a waste of your time, but I don't. The truth is I'm not the guy you would typically get MMA instruction from. I'm not really a trainer, because I've never been paid to do so. And although I plan to, I've never fought in any type of formal competition so I don't think you could call me a "fighter" either.
So why should you listen to me? Well, because boxing was my first love and I don't think there's anything I know more about than boxing, except perhaps bodybuilding...funny right? After watching the first Castillo/Corrales fight I knew that that's what I wanted to do, I felt it. It connected with me. That was the summer of 2005. 4 1/2 years, 21 DVDs, 4 VHS tapes, 10 books, 5 trainers, 18 training partners, and 1200 hours of mitt work, bag work, and sparring later you've got me as I am today--a walking, talking, boxing bible. I say that jokingly of course, but I wanted to convey to you the kind of time I've put into it and that I do have some idea of what I'm talking about.
Now you might say to yourself, "Yea that's great Jonathan you're knowledgeable about boxing, but this is MMA dude"... Very true, and I know that. Obviously there's more to boxing for MMA than just boxing. That's why I referenced all those MMA fighters above to show you that it can and IS done. BJ, Nick, Gray, and Edgar all utilize other tactics unrelated to the sweet science that allow them to stay on their feet and do what it is they like to do. 3
As for me, MMA has become my new obsession. I've spent the last 18 months familiarizing myself with it, and training it much like I did with boxing. When you add that in with my boxing background I feel like I can bring you a unique perspective that you might not be able to get elsewhere. With that being said, what you'll find in the following pages is what it'll take for you to box successfully in mixed martial arts. I'll guide you through everything you need to know to stay on your feet, out of the clinch, and throwing punches just like BJ, Nick, Gray, and Frankie. Thanks again for the opportunity to work with you and I hope you enjoy!
Jonathan Stamey Editor/Dir of Operations Atlantic MMA, Inc.
P.S. Here's my email
[email protected] so you can let me know of any questions you may have. I'd love to help!
P.P.S. This Free Report is not fully complete as you’ll see there are missing chapters…no worries though, as I complete them you will be updated with each via email.
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Table Of Contents Introduction ............................................................. 2 Table Of Contents ...................................................... 5 Chapter 1: What You'll Need to Build You’re Boxing Game .... 7 An MMA Gym ....................................................................... 10 A Coach ............................................................................. 11 Training Partners ................................................................. 12
Chapter 2: Understanding the Concept of Range ................ 7 Kicking Range...................................................................... 10 Punching Range ................................................................... 11 Clinch Range ....................................................................... 11
Chapter 3: Basic Boxing Stance and Footwork for MMA ....... 14 The Boxing Stances .............................................................. 14 Footwork ........................................................................... 16
Chapter 4: The 5 Main Punches .................................... 18 The Jab ............................................................................. 18 The Cross ........................................................................... 20 The Hook ........................................................................... 21 The Uppercut ...................................................................... 23 The Overhand ..................................................................... 24
Chapter 5: The Stand Up Guard .................................... 25 The 3 Ways You Defend Punches ............................................. 25 Defending the Muay Thai Kicks ................................................ 33 Takedown Defense ............................................................... 36 5
Chapter 6: The Best Way to Box for MMA ........................ 36 Counter-Punching ............................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Countering Takedowns ......................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Countering the Clinch .......................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Countering Kicks ................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Chapter 7: Focus Mitt Flow Drills .................................. 39 Punching Patterns ............................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Chapter 8: Sparring ................................................... 39 Situational Sparring ............................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Chapter 9: Southpaws ................................................ 40
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Chapter 1: What You'll Need to Build You’re Boxing Game Before we get into things I'd like to address the need for a gym, a coach, and a training partner--how to find them, and what to do if you can't.
An MMA Gym Most areas nowadays have some kind of gym that will be useful to you. Look for a MMA, BJJ, Boxing, Muay Thai, Judo, Grappling, Submission Wrestling, or Kickboxing Gym in the Yellow Pages, or on Google. Also try searching through some of the online MMA gym directories or MMA forums. If you're still not having any luck ask around the local fitness clubs, college campuses, high school wrestling squads, and the various traditional martial arts schools for any random classes, clubs, or instructors that might be floating around.
Let's say you have some options Then you want to take your time finding the right gym, and the right type of instructor or instruction. A lot of these places provide free trials so you can see where you fit in. Now, let's say you don't have any "good" options If that's the case then you're more or less using the facility for their equipment. Just make sure they have some open mat time that you can take advantage of on a regular basis.
If you have no options at all Then you can always set up a home gym. And by home gym I don't mean spend an inordinate amount of money on equipment. I mean you can literally do almost all the stuff I've laid out for you in this 7
report with just some 16 oz gloves, a used heavy bag or free standing wave master, and some space to move around. Mats would be great, but they can be a little pricey sometimes. Plus you don't even need them if you can't find a training partner. I went a little more in depth on this subject here http://www.atlanticmma.com/2009/09/0/how-to-find-your-first-mma-gym
A Coach Ahhh coaching. I will be the first to tell you that finding a decent coach is a difficult task. I've gone through several. Sometimes the issue isn't knowledge, but a conflict of personalities. Sometimes they're just poor teachers. And sometimes you can't even find one.
Do you need one? Yes, unequivocally yes. But that might mean you buying a book, DVD, or reading something like this report to obtain your knowledge. Hickson Gracie has never come out with any type of instructional book or DVD (to my knowledge) because he believes the only helpful type of instruction is face to face. And I don't dispute his point, but what if you don't have that? You can learn a lot via those mediums. I did. Most of what I know in boxing and MMA is what I've taught myself from them... reading, watching, and then applying the techniques in training with a partner or without. It's taken a lot of trial and error, but it's better than nothing. If you can find a good coach it makes things so much easier. In order to do that you'll be looking in all the places that you would for an MMA gym that I listed above. Maybe the closest one is a couple hours drive away. So what? You got to do what you got to do. Go ahead and make that trek every couple weekends to let them help you fine tune what you've been practicing yourself during the week. Or you can always ask me. 8
But remember that you are in control of your destiny, and not finding a coach isn't an excuse to not learn these days. There are too many resources out there for me to believe that.
Training Partners It's a recurring theme, but where will you find your training partners? Yep, all the same places you would look for an MMA gym or coach. If you find the optimal facility we're looking for then there will be people there that have an interest in training outside the setting of a class. You just have to make friends and see who you fit most comfortably with. If you don't find one of various "mixed" martial arts in a gym locally then you'll have to keep asking around until you find someone as interested in the sport as you are. That's a sucky situation to be in. I've been there. You just have to have patience. Once you find one, you guys should meet as often as you can to train in your makeshift home gym. Go grab some focus mitts and be each other's striking coaches. I remember reading about how Rich Franklin and a buddy of his started out learning the sport in his garage. Rich turned out alright.
But what do I do while I'm waiting to find a training partner you ask? It's ok to train alone dude. You could seriously spend a year straight working on the heavy bag perfecting all the things I've written in this report. I doubt it would take that long to find a training partner, but there are plenty of things you could be working on without anyone with you.
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Chapter 2: Understanding the Concept of Range Boxing is a wonderful discipline to have in your arsenal (otherwise I wouldn't waste my time writing this thing), but boxing alone won't do the trick for you in MMA. That said, you can JUST box in MMA--BJ, Nick, Gray, and Edgar all do it effectively. They're able to box in an MMA context because they know where they should and shouldn't be. And they know where they should and shouldn't be because they understand the concept of RANGE. There are 3 ranges of stand up fighting in mixed martial arts--I'll explain them based on boxing being our main focus.
The 3 Ranges of Stand Up in MMA
Kicking Range
Being within kicking range of your opponent implies that it's the distance from where each of you can land kicks...since we're not kicking, we're boxing, this isn't somewhere we want to stay for too long. The objective is to stay outside the kicks until we're ready to move through that zone into... 10
Punching Range
Punching range is simply where each of you can kick AND punch each other. As far as boxing for MMA is concerned this is where we want to be. We'll count on our superior boxing skills (I'll get you there with this report) to continually create angles from which to attack. We want to be here, but this is where defense is just as important as offense. In punching range, not only will you have to fend off his punches and kicks, but you'll have to defend his takedown attempts and prevent him from pulling you into the clinch as well.
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Clinch Range
Clinch range is where you and your opponent are in tight together with a limited amount of space between the two of you, each wrestling for more dominant positions from which to attack. In the clinch you'll be vulnerable to throws, knees, elbows, and short range punches. If you're familiar with the clinch and have a good clinch game, then by all means stay there. But as a boxer, we could use our skills better elsewhere. The objective of a boxer is to punch freely. The clinch doesn't allow you to do that.
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A big part of staying out of the clinch is maintaining the proper angles and distance from your opponent. Bottom line, if you're in the clinch—escape and get back to boxing.
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Chapter 3: Basic Boxing Stance and Footwork for MMA When you're talking about boxing for MMA the first thing you have to cover is your stance and footwork. How you stand and how you move are the foundations for all the other techniques that you'll learn-- without a strong foundation there's a good chance that every other movement learned will falter.
The Boxing Stances There are two types of stances:
1. Orthodox
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2. Southpaw
In both stances your feet should be shoulder width apart and one foot staggered behind the other with a slight bend in the knees to maintain balance. As well as having your guard (hands) up high to protect the face and elbows in to protect the body. There are a variety of different stances and guards to account for all the punches, leg kicks, and takedowns you'll have to defend, but this basic stance is a good place to start.
But how do you know which stance to use? Well, it's simple. If you're right handed then you choose orthodox (obviously the most common) and if you're left handed you choose the southpaw stance. This is based on the premise that you want the stronger hand in the back for all your power punches. A punch thrown from the rear hand has more force because of your body's rotation. With that being said, there are some fighters that choose to put their stronger hand in front for the simple fact that the lead hand is used much more often than the rear hand. 15
I'm one of those examples. I injured my left hand some time ago and had to switch from orthodox to southpaw in order to continue training. The switch served me well. Not only did it dramatically improve my footwork, but now I have the ability to switch back and forth between stances seamlessly. I don't necessarily recommend learning both right from the start, but it is something you might want to consider down the road. The more options you have, the more dangerous you are.
Footwork When I first started boxing my instructor would comment that I had my feet “stuck in the mud.” In other words I had a difficult time moving. Unfortunately, he nor any of my other coaches ever articulated to me how to actually move my feet without looking like a clutz, so I had to figure it out on my own. What I realized is the problem isn’t really the moving, it’s the moving while remaining in your stance. After spending a lot of time on it I came up with a fairly simple set of rules for moving in every direction. To move forward: 1. Transfer your weight to your back foot 2. Push (important!!!) off your back foot 3. As you push off your back foot STEP with your front foot
To move backwards: 1. Transfer your weight to your front foot 2. Push off your front foot 3. As you push off your front foot STEP with back foot
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To move to the right: 1. Transfer your weight to your left foot 2. Push off your left foot 3. As you push off your left foot STEP with your right foot
To move to the left: 1. Transfer your weight to your right foot 2. Push off your right foot 3. As you push off your right foot STEP with your left foot
Fast Feet DVD For a much more in depth look at footwork click on the DVD cover below. It’s a little bit easier to show rather than tell
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Chapter 4: The 5 Main Punches Once you know the stance you'll be using and how to move in every direction from that stance--the next step is to learn your punches.
There are 5 main punches you need to know: 1. Jab 2. Cross 3. Hook 4. Uppercut 5. Overhand I'll go through and explain the basic concept and strategy of each punch.
The Jab
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The jab is a straight punch that's thrown with your lead hand (the one in front) to the head or body. There's no winding up--you just throw your hand towards the target, push off your back foot, and turn your fist over at the end connecting with the first three knuckles. If you can quickly retract it back to guard from a connect or miss, then this in all likelihood will be the safest offensive option you've got. The jab should almost always be the first punch in every combination, and you shouldn't ever really throw any other punch until the jab lands. Once the jab lands you know you're in range to throw the power punches. It's your initiator, your range finder, and your protector. You close the distance with it, you'll angle off (stepping to the side of your opponent) with it, and you'll even back away from an attack with it. You'll use the jab to disrupt, blind, and disorient your opponent. It'll also knock him off balance and keep him from setting up attacks. Constantly pumping that jab in your opponent's face will cause him to react to you more than you have to react to him--no, you may not knock anybody out with it, but it scores points and sets up the shots that DO knock guys out. 19
It's THE most important punch in your arsenal, and most MMA fighters simply don't use it enough.
The Cross
The cross is a straight punch thrown with the rear hand to the head or body. When you throw it you're going to pivot on your back foot while rotating your hips and shoulders toward the target, transferring your weight from the back 20
foot to the front foot. The cross is probably going to be your most commonly used power shot. Once you connect with the jab, the cross is the most logical strike to follow it up with. It's the ol' 1-2 combination. Land the jab and drop the hammer. The cross does leave you open to counter attacks if you miss. So you want to either quickly return it back to guard or throw a punch (a jab or hook) with your lead hand to help you get your feet back in the proper stance.
The Hook
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As the jab and cross are mostly strikes thrown from distance with one designated hand, the hook is more of a close range weapon that can be thrown with either hand to the head or body. It's a power punch thrown from the side with the plane of your fist, elbow, and shoulder all parallel to the floor. You make a circular motion with your fist towards the target while your feet, hips, and shoulders simultaneously act as though you're opening a door then closing it. You can turn your fist over at impact or keep the knuckles perpendicular to the floor, whichever you're more comfortable with. I like the "throw your hook like you're stirring a bowl of soup" analogy because the movement returns you right back to your proper guard and stance. I use hooks with the lead hand to the head or body and a hook with the rear hand to the body, but rarely will I use a hook with the rear hand to the head-IF I do I've got to be real close to my opponent. Hooks can be thrown in all sorts of combinations, but you'll see that it fits in quite nicely after the 1-2. Making it 1-2-3 or jab-cross-hook. Hooks to the body will rob your opponent of his strength and mobility over 22
the course of a fight, and hooks to the head are fight finishers. There's nothing like a beautifully thrown hook.
The Uppercut
The uppercut is a close range power punch thrown from underneath with either hand in an upwards motion at your opponent's head. You just drop the level of your body with a slight bend in the knees and make an upward circular motion with your fist towards the chin of your opponent. 23
If it's a lead uppercut you'll push off your back foot after the level change similar to the jab's footwork, and if it's a rear uppercut you'll pivot off your back foot after the level change turning your hips and shoulders with it similar to the cross' footwork. The uppercut's great for splitting your opponent's guard when he puts on the ear muffs to block your shots. But be careful not to wind up with it and drop it too far from your guard when throwing one. It can leave a huge opening for a counter strike if not executed properly. That's especially true of the rear uppercut (think Rashad Evan's knockout of Chuck Liddell). Using that tiny upwards circular motion with your fist should aid in returning your uppercut back to guard before he can counter. An uppercut is a great punch to end any combination with. Such as the jabcross-lead uppercut that you see Diego Sanchez use repeatedly. He tries to launch their head into outer space with it--which I suppose is the idea. But make sure you're not reaching too much.
The Overhand
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The overhand is thrown almost exactly like the cross except instead of it being a straight punch it's more of a looping shot coming over the top at a downwards angle towards the head of your opponent. It's designed to connect over or behind a high guard. The overhand is effective, sure, but you see far too many of these errant bombs in mixed martial arts. Most fighters would be better served throwing a straighter punch. It certainly has its place in a fight, but don't go crazy with them because most of the time they leave you off balance and in a position to be countered.
Chapter 5: The Stand-Up Guard The 3 Ways You Defend Punches Boxing is simple--hit and don't get hit. We don't have to make it more complicated than it is. But often times fighters, for one reason or another, forget the second part. If scoring is the most important part of a match then keeping the other guy from scoring on you has got to be a close second. Since we're talking about boxing in an MMA context, defense will be all the more crucial when you take into account the fact that we wear 4.5 ounce gloves. I remember Randy Couture saying you just don't have that much margin for error with these tiny little gloves, and I can't disagree. Sometimes all it takes is a grazing shot across the chin or temple to put you on your ass. With that being said there are three ways you can defend punches, so here we go... 25
Use Your Hands There are two ways to use your hands to defend:
1. Parrying
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Parrying is most effective for the straight punches, the jab and the cross. To parry is simply using your hands to misdirect a punch away from the target. Once you see the shot coming you'll just open your palm slightly to catch it and pop it down or away from it's target. I say target and not head because jabs/crosses can and will be thrown to the body. Parrying punches away from the body is a common tactic, but be aware that it does drop your guard, leaving the head open.
2. Blocking
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Blocking is most effective for those looping punches or shots coming in at an angle such as hooks and overhands. Blocking is when you bring your hands in from guard to cover each side of your face. Just because you're covering doesn't mean it has to be a static position though. Shots directed at the head should be fended off like you're brushing the side of your hair back, and shots directed at the body should be fended off by keeping your elbows down and bending in at the waist.
A Note on Defending Uppercuts
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Defending uppercuts by hand is a little tricky. You can parry them by popping a glove down towards the incoming punch, but that leaves your face wide open. Or you can keep your guard up and use an inward motion with the elbow to take it on your forearm, but this is an awkward motion and some can still slip through. I would practice both those options in combination with the remaining two defensive tactics to successfully defend uppercuts.
Use Your Head They say head movement is the last skill to come to a boxer. I've found that to be true for myself as well. I've been boxing four years and only recently have I used consistent head movement. I can tell you it makes a HUGE difference. A moving target is much harder to hit than a target that stays still. Hell, moving your head in the wrong direction (slipping to the inside of punches) is better than moving in no direction at all. There are a couple different types of head movement:
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1. Slipping
A slip is just moving your head to the outside of a punch. I say outside of the punch because if you slip to the inside of it you're right in the path of the probable next punch. You can use this tactic in concert with a parry if you'd like.
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2. Rolling with Punches
A good habit to develop is rolling away from shots. Let's say you see a punch coming, but it's at the last second and there's no time to get a hand up, what do you do? You angle your chin down, shrug your shoulders up, and turn your body away from the shot. Yes, you're still getting hit, but by rolling away from it you don't take the full force of the punch. You can employ this tactic even on a block. It takes away that force and cocks your shoulder back to return fire.
3. Ducking
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With ducking all you're going to do is drop the level of your head by slightly bending at the knees. It works well as a defense against straight shots and hooks, and even sets you up for the takedown. Make sure you bend at the knees and not the waist--that's a great way to eat a knee or an uppercut.
Use Your Feet Whether you're in range to strike or out of range, your feet are what got you there. So when you're under attack by a barrage of punches one of the easiest ways to defend yourself is to just step out of range. What's even more effective than that is to create angles to your opponent. Instead of backing straight out of range you can step to the side of him--in a position to hit without being hit. Doesn't get any better than that.
Keep Your Eyes Open Eyes up--chin down...most shots that put you down are the ones you never saw coming. If you see it coming then you can react. Keeping your eyes open increases your chance of not getting hit by a factor of 10, I promise. Nobody likes to get hit. Flinching, backing up, blinking, or just downright shutting your eyes and bracing for impact are all natural reactions to something flying towards your face. Realize that and practice these 3 ways to defend punches so that they replace your natural reactions.
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Defending Muay Thai Kicks Kick defense and which technique you use is based on how much time you have to react. As with any other strike the best defense is usually to just get out of the way. If you spot the kick soon enough you can simply back up, or angle off to the side. If the kick is coming toward your upper body you can lean your torso back and let the kick fly by. If the kick is aimed at your lead leg a good thing to do is just step the leg back switching your stance making the kick miss. Obviously getting out of the way isn't always possible. So if you can't get out of the way you can employ various checks, catches, or blocks to minimize the damage.
Checking
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Checking is useful for the thai kicks. You bring your leg up to meet the elbow and use the middle of the shin angled toward the kick to thwart the attack. It's gonna hurt both of you, but less so than if the kick had caught you clean.
Catching Catching is applicable to thai kicks or push kicks aimed at your midsection.
With the push kick you catch and pivot away. 34
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With the thai kick you lean away from the blow to lessen the impact, catch and then pull up to knock him off balance, or redirect it by pushing the leg away from you exposing his back.
If there's no time to check or catch you can extend your hand into his chest executing a push block. This'll take away the kick's power.
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Blocking
And if there's no time to do any of those you still got the block. Hands up elbows in and roll away from the kick on impact.
Takedown Defense Defending the Clinch Worst Case Scenarios
Chapter 6: The Best Way to Box for MMA Every MMA fighter knows how to attack, and most know how to defend, but the best should be able to do both at the same time. Seamlessly transitioning back and forth between your offense and your defense is called counter-punching. And it's the best way to box for mixed martial arts.
What IS Counter Punching? 36
Offense is simple enough, you try to hit the other guy. So is defense, you try to not get hit by the other guy. With counterpunching you try to hit the other guy, evade his attack, and return fire (which is called countering)--then be prepared to do that over and over and over again. Every offensive option leaves a defensive gap that can be exploited by a counter shot. To counter, you defend the punch they throw with whichever defensive movement that allows you to stay in range to deliver a blow in return.
You see this all the time: Fighter A attacks, fighter B backs up out of range so he can't get hit. Defensively that's fine to do, but wouldn't it be more effective if fighter A attacks, and fighter B takes a step to the side and throws a punch of his own? I think it would. Well, what ends up happening when you get really good at this? Let's say after every jab your opponent throws you not only make him miss, but you pop him in the face for your troubles. Guess what? He ain't gonna want to throw that jab anymore. If you start taking away his desire throw certain punches it's going to make it a hell of lot easier win. Here are a few examples of counter-punching:
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Be an Aggressive Counter Puncher A traditional counter puncher lays back and baits you to attack by dropping some of his defenses so he can counter. But I prefer to be first. I think you SHOULD be the aggressor.
So how do you do both? I'll tell you. Always attack under the assumption that your opponent will fire back. Be aware of the possible counters he may throw. Then defend those shots and launch a counter attack of your own. That's the basic flow of an aggressive counter puncher...attack-defendcounter. There's a natural progression one usually follows. Get good at punching, get good at defending, and then get good at transitioning back and forth between the two. Counterpunching is more of an advanced tactic, but it is something that you should be aware of and always moving towards.
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Countering Takedowns Countering the Clinch Countering Kicks
Chapter 7: Focus Mitt Flow Drills Punching Patterns
Chapter 8: Sparring Situational Sparring
Chapter 9: Southpaws
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Conclusion If you’re saying to yourself “Hey I like what this guy is saying” and you’d like to see more from me I have DVD’s available for further instruction (click on the cover below) or you can hire me to come show your fighters or students a few things. The good news is I’m cheap. If you take care of my travel, meals, and accommodations for the duration of my stay then I will gladly teach for free provided you allow me to film anything I want. Just contact me at
[email protected]. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this thing and hope I talk to all of you real soon!
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