The Perfect Striking Combination... or...

combination of striking.

(I'm not actually referring to a specific combination of strikes... though if I had to choose one, I'm quite fond of Ernesto Hoost's "1 - 2 - 1 to the Body - Right Roundhouse... which can be seen at least ten times in this video.)

I'm actually referring to my preferred source of striking arts, which I will try to exemplify in today's videos...

Firstly, I get around 11 emails per day that say something along the lines of, "Hey Trav, I'm horrible at fighting... where do I start?"

I also get 43 lines of additional unfortunate back-story... but like most M. Night Shmamblablam movies, I kinda already know how it ends.

So I say:

1. Start with stand-up fighting... unless you enjoy Wrestling and Jiu Jitsu more. Fights startstanding... so you might as well too.

So which styles?

2. Combine Muay Thai Kickboxing and Boxing - this will eventually lead you to the "perfect" striking style.

Interestingly enough the "sum" of these two styles is far greater than either of them performed individually.

Allow me to elucidate:

Somewhere on the streets of Bangladesh, two Muay Thai fighters clash (on a paved surface o.O).

Assuming you watched that video, did you notice how the fight ended up being a sort of I-go-and-then-you-go fest? Each guy stood there and took turns bludgeoning the other with his shins and knees.

This kind of macho nonsense is deeply engrained into the style and culture of Muay Thai.

While these strikes are vicious, and must be incorporated into your style, that's a hell of an immature way to fight.

When I was 20, I may have enjoyed trading blows just to prove that I 'could'... but those days are long gone... as is the symmetry of my face.

Lets make an effort to avoid being hit... like the rational adults that we are...

Enter boxing... and two of the best evasive fighters I've ever seen, Floyd Mayweather, and Vasyl Lomanchenko.

And if you watched the video...

Did you see the ridiculous skill and effort they put into not being punched and setting up their own punches?

This is the interesting part of limiting a fight to "just hands"... you end up having to use your feet just to keep your head on your shoulders, and to set up your own strikes.

When you combine the two, you get the utter brutality inherent in Muay Thai Kickboxing's strikes, combined with the evasive glory of boxing (and the punching power).

There's no finer example of this than Anderson Silva, in his fight with Forrest Griffin.

What you might have noticed, other than the beauty of the Portuguese language, is that Anderson is just on a completely level... despite Griffin's power and athleticism.

He makes himself practically impossible to hit (most times just by backing up) and the elegance of his boxing set up the brutality of his Muay Thai.

Imagine throwing combinations and striking nothing but air... not a good feeling.

So... here's one potential course of action:

Step 1. Google search for boxing and muay thai gyms near you.

Step 2. Do a 'free week' (or month) at every single gym.

Step 3. Pick the one that you like the most, and train there for a year.

Step 4. Find a gym for the next style, and put in another year of work.

Then you'll be two years deep in your journey to attain an unstoppable style.

Have a good weekend!

Here's the comment section...

Humans like to talk about things.

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