From: Frank Benn
Message-ID: 3DBB534B.DB01DF9F@hotmail.com
Newsgroups: rec.martial-arts
Subject: Re: Martial Arts Harmony -- Focus Mitts
Date: Sun, 27 Oct 2002 00:44:00 GMT
"Ron M." wrote:
>
> Focus mitts are worthless,
Uh, nope.
Focus mitts are not only not worthless, they are an essential training tool in
learning standing exchange with coverage -- i.e. how to make punches miss as
you're hitting.
There *is* no other apparatus which develops the right offensive/defensive habits
for the standing punching exchange. Learning these things in sparring is a much
longer and harder road, with no guarantees. I get boxers in my academy all the
time who lack coverage as they hit -- and it's precisely because they didn't
learn it through focus work.
Any boxer, kickboxer, or vale tudo fighter knows that the focus mitts are a
staple of any effective training regimen.
Focus work gives a mobile target. Only a standing, moving target can make you
chase it with your one-two's, learning how to form your attack around how the
target moves on the floor, to capitalize on the opponent's directional movement.
The dynamic is entirely different from anything else in training. Another
example would be to make you move your head after a three punch combination by
firing back.
There's so much more to hitting than just power. There's timing, forced rhythm
(based on the gaps and limits of what punches you're throwing), accuracy, getting
your range, etc. All extremely important, and all developed through focus work.
> because they have almost no resistance to
> your punch, and you're not practicing hitting real targets, just
> somebody's hand in the air.
If the person wearing the mitts knows how to feed, then you are hitting solid
targets.
Problem is, people who don't know how to use the mitts just stand there passively
and "hold up" the mitts. It's a common misconception about focus mitt work. The
feeder is "hitting" your punches with the mitts. He is mirroring your rhythm and
angles of attack with a "push" or "shove" behind the mitts. When you're throwing
a hook, he's "hooking" the mitt into your hook..
In fact, you can tell right away if someone knows what they're doing with the
mitts by whether or not they do this when they feed.
Moreover, one of the best ways to develop your short rhythm attack and movement
is with the mitts. Uppercut, short cross, bob, hook, weaving, etc. The mitts
give selective targets that you can't get anywhere else. For instance, you can't
uppercut a heavy bag.
> If somebody wants to know what it's REALLY
> like to make "a punch to the head," I have a bowling ball they can
> borrow. There's an EMS station down the block, too.
Punching the top or back of a *skull* perhaps, but targeting the chin, side of
the jaw, or temple doesn't feel like a bowling ball at all. These targets give
way just about like a correctly fed focus mitt does.
But as far as hitting the head goes, boxing angles of attack hit the head in
unsupported directions. The target gives way. You barely feel it when your hook
or uppercut lands true. Feels about like punching through a cardboard box.
On the other hand, I've knocked people out with punches to the top, front, and
back of the skull, and while solid, it wasn't as hard nor did it have the inertia
of a bowling ball.
Punching a guy whose head is *supported*, though, is another story. For
instance, hitting the skull when you're mounted is about like punching a bowling
ball with teeth.
> I've gotten to the
> point where when I visit a dojo, the VERY first thing I look for is
> heavy bags, and regular use of them. Playing patty-cake with focus
> mitts is classic yuppie strip-mall TKD chicken poop.
>
> Ron M.
Heavy bags are another great tool. But one apparatus leaves off where the other
begins.
A heavy bag doesn't force you to move. It doesn't have *feet" that you have to
place yours relative to to get your leverage. It doesn't hit back. These are
just some reasons why focus mitts are useful.
Frank Benn
IFA Academy
Boxing & Kickboxing / Submission Grappling & Wrestling / Filipino Martial Arts
Austin, Texas
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