Here is a new working example of why to always have one hand on your head and shoulder up on the other side while punching. If both people are throwing a rear over hand or cross and both have their chins down, shoulder up and hand up on the other side, usually no damage is done. Or, it’s the person who is more technically sound which delivers more power with their punch that ends up doing more damage. When one person is tight having a hand up, chin down and shoulder up but the other doesn’t, you usually see a knockout to the person who is technically unsound. When both however, have chins up, shoulders down and hands on the chest you get what follows:

In class on Saturday our focus was on a combo starting with the upward elbow. In the fight below, Anderson is south paw and Tony Fryklund is regular lead. This sets up Anderson with the perfect recipe for the inside angle. Since Tony covers up by putting his hands on the sides of his head and bends at the waist he is putting his head in the direct line for a knee or elbow. As I mentioned in class, this elbow can be done either in regular lead or false lead. It is very hard to perform in “off-lead.” The elbow could be replaced by an upward hammer fist and both flow well with the upper cut being directly behind the initial strike. Follow with a hook or cross after the upper cut, add two cups of flower, stir.
Just the knockout:

Entire Fight:

On May 4th several members of the Real Contact Fight Team / FMA class went down to Team Ruthless’ gym in Virginia for a seminar with Marc “Crafty Dog” Denny.  The seminar consisted of mostly stickfighting techniques along with some knife defense.  Dog Brothers footwork has been a huge influence on how the RCFT moves on their feet.  Be it boxing, Muay Thai or MMA we have seen a usefulness in the footwork presented by Crafty.  Thank you Crafty for all the knowledge you have shared with us!

Gruhn & the RCFT

Congrats to Shane Finn for passing his Assistant Instructor / Level I Muay Thai Test on May 1st 2008! The test consisted of a thorough demonstration of boxing and muay thai technique along with the Ram Muay (Ceremony) and two rounds of kicking (60 kicks & 35 knees). Thanks to everyone from the Real Contact Fight Team for helping out with the test!  It’s great to have such an awesome team willing to help out their fellow teammates!

Very Impressive!

Kru Gruhn & the RCFT