Kicking the Slipper, Slip Tips
And More Buakaw
Before we get started...
The most loyal of Fight Smart members know that my favorite fight of all time is Mike Zambidijs vs.Chahid Oulad El Hadj. You also now fall into this category...
(If you haven't seen it, get ready for a roller coaster. The hatred between these two men is palpable.)
Last week, I also shared some footage from Buakaw Banchamek; perhaps my favorite fighter of all time... and perhaps the most powerful pound-for-pound kicker to ever live.
BUT WHAT HAPPENED WHEN BUAKAW FOUGHT ZAMBIDIS?!
Yes, these two titans collided... and one of them proved to be a titan amongst titans.
Click here to watch that fight.
Spoilers exist beneath this line. And tips. Both spoilers and tips.
I love both Buakaw and Zambidis because of their ability to incorporate head movement and punching into the art of Muay Thai. But you really have to be careful when using a "Straight Slip" against a guy who kicks to the head frequently.
(Zambidis did not make this mistake).
After all, a Straight Slip basically moves your head in a straight line towards a potential roundhouse kick... and 2/3 of Buakaw's attacks are ridiculously powerful roundhouse kicks.
Not the best guy to slip against...
Zambidis DIDN'T get knocked out by a roundhouse, because he did an exceptional job of keeping his damn hands up. Thus, his head kick defense was impeccable... and MAN those kicks were hitting hard. I cursed audibly in front of my tiny children as each one smacked into his forearms.
(My little guy drops an F-bomb every time he tries to say "Shark" btw. It's one of my favorite party tricks).
In reality, to slip against a kicker, you only need to keep the hand up on the side to which you are slipping.
If you're moving your head to the right, keep your right hand up and you're good to go. You will automatically 'roll' with any attack coming from the left, so it won't hurt you.
(Dropping your left hand will also work as a 'counter balance' and make your slip easier to perform!)
Again... as long as your hand is up on the side to which you are slipping, you're good to go.
Here's a guy who didn't follow that rule.
As you can see, he was flippantly counter-balancing his slips with both hands. If you see someone doing that, feint a jab, and throw a head kick.
There's a great chance it will land, as he tries to slip your non-existent jab... perhaps 50/50 (if he's only slipping). If he has a tendency to slip to one side (like Daniel Cormier), your odds are even better
Keeping BOTH of your hands up during slips is much harder on your abs... since you're not using either arm to counter-balance your head movement. Your core muscles are required to heave around every ounce of 'arm weight', pinned to your head.)
This is the most impressive aspect of Mike Tyson's form.
Take a look at him drilling slips with Teddy Atlas.
It's like someone nailed his hands to his cheekbones...
You want a great workout? Drill slips like that for 60 seconds. You'll be dead. It's impossibly hard, and he was great at it.
Bottom line: if you're fighting against a 'head kicker' either slip with Tyson-esque discipline, or don't slip at all.
And if you're fighting Buakaw, you should probably learn how to defend those sweeps as well. Zambidis looked kinda silly getting tossed around like that.
Such is life, when your job is fighting titans.
Have a great weekend!
-Trav
P.S. The benefit results video has been filmed and is now in the Fight Smart editing booth! It was sort of an emotional one... keep an eye out next week.