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Why is important to learn to dodge punches

Unlike the kick (read The use of legs in a real fight), the punch (read How to punch (simple explanation)) is the most diffuse and implemented combat technique by:

The practitioner of martial arts / combat sports – Despite the level of experience, the punch (with the closed fist or open palm) is always the most common choice, the reason is that it is simple and simple means effective
The not-practitioner – He / she uses it because the mechanics of the human body naturally bring us there (no matter what is our background)

Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see how to attend our home study classes here Learn Kung Fu online: a beginner-to-expert course).

From here it is easy to understand that learning how to correctly dodge a punch (read Dodge attacks) is absolutely a basic capability that every kind of fighter should master.

The right exercises in the wrong moment

Even if in any course the dodge is one of the first techniques that is taught (more or less effectively), the difference between the real application and the theory is an abyss that, to be filled up, requires years of serious practice (read Why martial arts do not work: 5 reasons).

The wrong approach

For a beginner (after having understood the technique), the wrong approach is to start with the classical muscle memory education patterns:

Drilling with a cooperative partner – Cyclically avoiding the partner’s (slow-motion and cyclical) attacks
Shadow boxing – Bending to the right and to the left (without knowing exactly what we are really doing)
Repetitive tools – Avoiding an obstacle able to rotate / move almost only in a limited way (eg. fixed to a pole or moved by a partner, read for example Training tools: the limits of the spinning bar)
…

Why the classical learning path does not work

Let’s be clear, except for the first one (that is good only to learn the key aspects of a dodge), these exercises can be good but only after having acquired (at least basically) the dynamics contextual to a fight.

The reasons are that in those contexts:

Timing and spacing are wrong and fictitious
In most cases, the movements risk being limited or even only sketched
There is not even a minimum of mental stress (and consequently low concentration)
The cyclical moves (if done incorrectly) destroy the combat attitude
We risk focusing only on the dodges we are good at, creating big gaps in our fighting system
…

A note by Master Kongling – I have seen this an infinite number of times, both when I was a student and after starting teaching: it is totally wrong to try to impose an automation in our muscle memory (read The right way to develop muscle memory) if that movement has not been tested (at least partially) in a dynamic context. This way we risk interiorizing something that is incomplete, unsuitable for us or even totally wrong.

The right path

To reply to this beginner’s need, 6 Dragons Kung Fu dedicates a part of the initial education of the student to the development of a “natural” combat system, functional to the gradual and reasoned learning of the subsequent technical baggage (read /// Subscribe (it's free!) or Login to see this content ///).

A good exercise sequence to improve rapidly

A note by Master Kongling – Beyond the choreographic beauty of a cyclical movement (and its effectiveness in refining the quality of our moves), a practitioner should not be trained as a circus animal (eg. at stimulus A, always reply with B). A fighter finds his / her excellence in broken paces, quick reasoning, tactical reactivity, adaptability and unpredictability (something in a certain way “similar” to dyslexia). All those fancy mechanized tricks work only against low-level opponents (and in some cases do not work at all). It is necessary to work, as much as possible, on situations whose dynamics are dictated by factors that are difficult to refer to loops that are always the same (read also Same exercises, different execution).

As we always say, the only way to learn how to fight, is to fight but if for a beginner is too early to start sparring, it is absolutely safe and functional to practice (again, after having seen the technique) with these exercises.

Exercise 1 – Understand the dynamics

There is nothing better than a moving target that can enter our guard and that bounces in an unexpected way to learn what it means to dodge:

Let’s start with one of the fundamental practices of our training system, the Hanging Speedball training (read Basic tools: the Hanging Speedball)

Exercise 2 – The “U” motion

Only after doing some practice with exercise 1, we can pass to this:

Preparing the body to dodge punches (“U” motion)

A note by Master Konlging – It is worth focusing on this because, while the other basic dodging techniques can be learned more quickly, this requires a more intense effort. Let’s work especially on knee bending (that’s where beginners but not only, have more problems).

Exercise 3 – Educate the balance

Then, with time, we can also do this:

Dodges, balance, spatial intelligence and attack: one exercise

Exercise 4 – Sparring

Once the instinctive and the technical aspects have been absorbed, it is possible (and necessary) to start the path of sparring:

Variating the partners’ size, level of preparation, combat style, etc., read The meaning of sparring fighting in martial arts)

Final notes

A few conclusive thoughts:

It is important to stress that, in our school, the cooperative-cyclical practice with a partner is not absent (drills, etc.), it is simply confined to the learning phase (read A scheme to quickly learn any kind of technique) or inside the development of specific advanced skills
Again, in the phase of education of muscle memory, there is nothing worse than educating a student to be predictable (it is something that, to be canceled, requires an infinite amount of useless work)
Arrived at exercise 4 (at least after 1 year), it is possible (and we encourage our students to do it) to start to clean / smooth the technique by doing shadow boxing (and the other initially mentioned exercises)
Naturally, this is not the end of the path (nor the only possible beginning), the next step is speed training (more about this later)
The worst error while training to dodge punches (often seen even in pro-level training exhibitions) is to not bend enough the knees, forcing the (compassionate) partner / coach to enlarge vertically the angle of his / her passing blows (to avoid hitting the practitioner); to improve, let’s learn to ask no mercy from those who help us train and let’s film ourselves (to see if we really dodge the blows or if we are helped); needless to emphasize that in combat the attacks will all be directed towards us and not gently towards the air
Last but not least, it is useless to say that not all the punches can be dodged (this happens only in martial arts movies); in parallel to this useful attitude it is absolutely necessary to follow a solid impact conditioning path (read Acceptance and prevention of pain and Why professional fighters do not block / parry the blows?)
…

In-depth video courses

Basic 6 Dragons Kung Fu Exercises -How to execute the Hanging Speedball training and other core practices to build real martial skills
Advanced speed and reflexes training – This is the last evolution of an advanced practitioner, in terms of reactivity
Basic free hand fighting techniques – Attack and defense, all the basic combat moves of 6 Dragons Kung Fu (including parries, dodges, etc.)

In-depth articles

Learn Kung Fu online: a beginner-to-expert course – How to graduate in 6 Dragons Kung Fu, the full path
Sparring type 3: body defensive automation – An exercise to improve the instinctive defensive capability

Questions

Reply in the comments and share your experience:

Have you ever lost your balance trying to avoid a punch?

Author: Master Kongling

Founder of 6 Dragons Kung Fu.

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