3 Ranges in a Stand Up Fight
When you understand the 3 ranges in a stand up fight you will be able to minimize your risk and maximize your ability to win.
There are 2 more ranges that we are not addressing and those are firearms range and grappling range. We are purely talking about a stand up fight that could be either unarmed or armed with a knife or clubbed weapon.
The 3 ranges of a stand up fight are:
Lunging Range
Lunging range is far enough away from your opponent that they (or you) would have to actually take a big step or lunge in order to reach with any strike.
The advantages of lunging range are that distance creates time for you to react. You have enough space between you and your partner that you can see them telegraph their attack.
You will see them shift their weight before they step in.
You will see them pull back the arm they are going to punch with.
This allows you to keep a cool head and plan how you want to create the entry… aka the first strike that lands.
Kickboxing Range
Kickboxing range or as I have referred to it in the past as sport range – is the range where you can land pretty much all of your kicks and punches without needing to step in.
Your shorter range punches like hooks or uppercuts you might need to lean forward or take a small step but everything else you should be able to reach without feeling too close to where you are jammed up.
Clenching Range
Clenching range also called trapping range is where you are too jammed up for most strikes to land.
You will only have access to shorter range strikes like elbows, headbutts, knees, and short hooks and uppercuts.
But this is also the range where you can use trapping skills and of course clenching skills if you want to put someone into a modified Thai clench for a takedown or to deliver fight-ending strikes.
Pros & Cons to the 3 Ranges
Each of the 3 ranges of stand up fighting has pros and cons…
Lunging Range Pros / Cons
The pros to lunging range as mentioned earlier are distance which gives you time to see your opponent’s attack coming and thus time to react.
Additionally you can keep a calm cool head here while you try to read your opponent and figure out your best attack that will minimize your risk and maximize your attack’s damage.
If you feel overwhelmed by your opponent you can use footwork to get yourself back out into lunging range where you can calm down and get mentally focused.
There really are no cons to lunging range except that you have to sooner or later break it to get close enough to attack.
Kickboxing Range Pros / Cons
Of all of the ranges kickboxing range is the single most dangerous!
You have all of your attacks and angles available… but so does your attacker.
Your opponent’s reaction time is not as good because they don’t have distance – thus time – to see your attack coming… but then again neither do you.
This is the range where lucky punches land. You can see more skilled opponents zig when they should have zagged and zig right into an unlucky punch that knocks them out.
While this makes sport fighting WAY more fun to watch as it adds an air of uncertainty… this is unacceptable for self-defense.
It is absolutely best to limit your time in kickboxing range.
Either stay too far away in lunging range or get into clenching range ASAP. We typically use a straight blast for that!
Clenching Range Pros / Cons
Clenching range is furious, aggressive, and fast.
It is fairly safe for you “if” you know how to fight here because most people do not.
An untrained person will either grab you and squeeze (staying right where you want them) or they will try unsuccessfully to push away, but the won’t be able to because you worked on your modified Thai clench skills.
The cons of this range are that you are at risk for being taken to the ground, however this is easy to prevent if you train it.
Also your opponent has access to nasty strikes such as headbutts, knees, elbows, etc… but so do you and if they aren’t trained in this range and you are… you win!
3 Ranges of Stand Up Fighting Applied to the RAT
Rapid Assault Tactics (aka the RAT) has the aim of minimizing your risk and maximizing your potential to cause harm.
Here is a simple breakdown of how the RAT works:
The beauty of the RAT is that it aims to get you through kickboxing range ASAP so you spend the minimal amount of time there. You are only there long enough to land your first strike and then straight blast to the Thai clench… which is very very fast.
Most other martial arts styles have you stay in kickboxing range and trade blows until the fight is over. This of course is tactically unwise as it leaves you in the most dangerous range for the entire fight.
Conclusion
Spend a good amount of time training in each of the 3 ranges of stand up fighting so you are competent in each of them. Then work the RAT so you can flow seamlessly from one range to the next.
If you are looking for a school to practice and get good at Jeet Kune Do concepts and Rapid Assault Tactics look no further. Contact me to see which training option would be best for you.
Until next time,
Brian
