Fake Punch for the Swatter
Very few people are good and blocking and parrying punches.
It actually takes a lot of practice and lots of punches thrown at your face over and over again to not swat at punches.
A good parry or block should move just enough to be effective at stopping the punch. But if you move too much, are too reactionary, then you will swat at the punch and your guard will now be out of position.
Here is a way to destroy someone who swats at punches by using a fake punch, the old stop-and-go lead.
How to Fake Punch – Stop and Go
First off you have to test your opponent. Do they parry well or do they swat at punches?
To do this simply fire off a quick jab and see how they react.
If they do a big sweeping motion and take their guard hand away from their face then you have a swatter.
Next fire out a jab but stop it short of where they parry.
Let their parry swat on past your stopped punch.
Then simply continue the punch to their face.
Tips
Start From Lunging Range
First off it is important to start off in lunging range. That means you are too far away for a strike to reach you unless either of you step or lunge in.
When you make your initial lunge forward with your fake punch your opponent will react by swatting.
If you are in close range when you do this things might already be too chaotic with wild punches flying around and you don’t have the time to “set up” an entry like this.
Don’t Retract the Punch
After they swat don’t retract your punch before continuing to the target.
Ditto this is NOT a double jab where you jab forward, pull back, and jab again.
Otherwise they might have time to recover.
Literally you stop your punch, let their swat go past, and then continue it forward without pumping it up.
Yes it will have a little less power this way but it is a lead punch which means it is supposed to land to allow you to set up a more powerful follow up strike.
In the 3rd photo it looks like I retract my punch as they are swatting but what is happening is my punch stopped and my body is still moving forward from the step that I am taking forward.
Add More Power
There are 2 ways to add more power to this lead fake punch.
#1 Rather than continue forward with a jab you can gazelle hook right to their jaw. This is a powerful punch that can land right on the button and knock someone out. Unfortunately since it takes a circular path it is also a little slower and could give your opponent time to recover and defend it.
#2 I think a really great compromise that is faster and still has power (not as much as the gazelle hook) is the straight lead. Bruce Lee favored a straight lead punch in his Jun Fan Kickboxing (or Jeet Kune Do). The difference between a jab and a straight lead is subtle.
With a jab you flick the lead punch out there in a snappy fashion and it retracts quickly to set up another strike.
With the straight lead you kind of stiff arm the lead punch and rotate your hips a bit more. You also tend to drive off of the back foot a bit more explosively. This creates a bit more power.
Since the opponent took the bait and swatted at your fake punch you might as well finish the punch with a stiff straight lead to their face.
Conclusion
Fake punches are a great way to create the entry from the outside. They throw off your opponent’s timing and create confusion for them.
Make sure to have your training partners use fake punches against you so you can learn to not swat at them.
Until next time,
Brian
