getting better at fighting

[NeoKill3r]

hey everyone, i want to get better at fighting but i dont have any money or anything to go to any classes or buy any equipment. I am really strong but i still feel like people can beat me in a fight due to my lack of any training in fighting.I seached throught most of the topics relating to these topics but i didn't find anything helpful.
It would be great if i could have some tips on how to get better at:

1. Increasing punching strength.
2. Increasing technique.
3. Increasing speed.
4. Increasing jumping height.

Any tips or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[Tameo]

Why would you need to be able to jump high for fightning?

[NeoKill3r]

well if im fighting a midget i could jump on his head.

[Tiger Claw]

You won't need jumping height for a fight since you won't be jumping. For technique and speed practice. For strength push ups sit ups and running. If you have access to weights do weight training.

[old skool dude]

Getting better at fighting...and a little about 52 hands....

I think Neokill3r is asking a valid question, so I've given the matter careful thought.... and here it is...
You get better at fighting by ...fighting!
Hear me out! I'll explain it later for now, to answer you individual questions
You mentioned that you want to increase your punching power, your speed , technique and jumping ability, and all of those things can be develped through very specific exercises.

To get more power in your punches you have to get the right body mechanics. Here s "basic " Traditional excercise.
Get in a horse stance. and start doing those old fashion "reverse punches" and yes, I mean the ones where one hand is on the hip while one hand is punching. NOT that you're going to fight like this, (you'd get killed!) but this is a training method to get you in touch with what it feels like to turn your waist and punch at the same time. Once you get a proper "body feel" for the movement, straighten up in a boxers stance and practice a jab cross. The principle of torquing the waist and snapping out the punch will be the same. It will also result in a powerful punch. You also should do pushups, tricep dips, and forearm curls to stregthen your arm muscles.

Speed is developed through relaxation and repitition. Pick a simple technique, say a jab and do it 100-500 times a day. I once read that Muhammad Ali practiced his jab in the mirror 500 times daily. You can do this with ANY weapon. You want to drill it to the point that it becomes an extension of your mind, where you can just think about it and BOOM it's there. One method for developing speed is to "finger flick" your shower curtain. a finger flick is a JKD technique used to jab to the eyes. You throw it like a jab only with an open hand, just before your hand reaches the target you "fan" or "flick" out your fingers.

Technique is developed by doing things slowly. purposefully. you want to make sure that when you throw a technique you are doing it in the most economical way possible. No wasted movement. Doing things slowly helps you to do that because you can devote your full attention to your posture, your alignment, and your tension/relaxation.

jumping ability. Jumping ability is developed by having strong legs. Do a google search on polymetrics exercises. Do stair running or climbing, Squats, with/without weights.

Now about fighting.....
I remember reading a thread about "52 hands" and it brought back memories....
I'm an old skool brooklyn boy born and raised, and in my neighborhood most of the dudes practiced a streetart which they called...."jailboxing" or "jailing"
Now, I dont claim to be an expert at this, but I did have a very good teacher, who taught me a few things about fighting that I recall to this day.. so.... here they are.
Heres one method.
Get yourself a sparring partner. It doesnt matter if he knows martial arts or not.
Agree that you both are going to fight bare knuckle, full contact to the body. NO HITS TO THE FACE, and every target (except the groin of course) is "game" Then, Go at it.

First, you get on a wall and play "defense" you are not allowed to throw any punches BACK you must defend ONLY. You can use the wall to duck, slip, throw him into etc. but you cant punch back. Doing This Excercise will sharpen your defensive skills, and also teach you to absorb punishment. Few people realize how important this skill is. You will probably in a real fight "get" as much as you "give" So you must take the Fear out of getting hit by going at it in this way. Start off slow and moderate at first, and gradually increase the pressure. The dude who taught me beat the living crud out of me for months until I learned, ( and I did learn) to not flinch, and to block and fight back.
If you want to talk more about this, Im game.

[KONY]

Old skool,

What part of Brooklyn you from or currently at? Sorry for hijacking the thread.

[old skool dude]

Brooklyn born and raised...

I was born and raised in Crown Heights/Bed Stuy Brooklyn

[KONY]

I was born and raised in Crown Heights/Bed Stuy Brooklyn

Hey, I was born and raised in Bed-Stuy/ Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Small world!

[old skool dude]

Small world.

Yep, small world. I'm sure then that you are familiar with a lot of the "fight games" that use to go on in Brooklyn, at least you do if you are in your late thirties or forties like yours truely.
My martial arts training and techniques became very "conservative" when I "discovered" that a lot of these street dudes had "techniques" of their own. Like I said, I learned some of them, and although I was not a banger or a thug, I learned by watching, imitating and participating with friends who did.
Back in the "day" we did a lot of what has become known as "environmental training." Me and another dude name Lee, would go into an alley where we were limited to only linear movement. He would have his back to the stairway leading out of the alley and would "challenge me" to fight my way out. Full contact to the body, using fists, elbows, knees, throws, and locks, and slaps to the face. ( or sometimes we played "no face") just to keep things friendlier.
Another excercise we did was fight on stairwells, one person being on the top stair another being on the bottom. The goal of this game was for the guy on the top position to keep you from advancing upstairs while the guy on the bottom was to prevent the guy from coming down.
Another fight "game" was fighting in the elevator which looking fack was extremely dangerous, but taught you to defend yourself in an enclosed space.
Yet another game we did was a "subway fight" where we would fight in an empty moving subway car, and had to account for the unsteady footing of amoving train.
A lot of the hand techniques I learned resembled the empty hand styles of filipino kali, particularly the gunting and elbow destructions, guiding the fist into the elbow, using the entire arm as a target, (attacking the forearms, the shoulder tricep and biceps muscles)
As a result of training this way for years, I found the filipino martial arts an easy transition. It's a shame that these arts arent practiced anymore by a lot of the youth, because I remember that even though there were gangs in my neighborhood, there was a certain "respect" that was given to a person who "was good with his hands" This certainly didnt mean that people never got jumped regardless of being "god with their hands" but there was a certain "Street Chivalry" of sorts. You were considered a punk if you had to have your gang jump in and "help you" to beat up one person. I recall instances where a gang would confront us, and my brother would fight some of the members individually while everyone stood back and watched. If he gave a good account of himself, we were allowed to leave, unharmed, but even if he got beaten (which he never did) he would have been given a certain respect for not "punking out" It aint like that today though.......As Brathwaite said to Bruce Lee in Enter The Dragon: "any bloody fool, can pull a trigger!"

[KONY]

Old skool,

I am in my mid-twenties so I would consider my era in Bed-Stuy to be of the more recent "shoot 'em up" variety. However, there were instances in my youth that allowed for straight-up fist-fights. In my youth, our primary fight game was "slap-boxing" which permitted no closed-fists. Most of the strikes were to the face but light contact ... and you are totally right about the sort of "street chivalry" that did occur but I am afraid that is no longer the case. Damn shame.

Your comment on "52 Hands" or "Jailhouse Rock" seems dead-on. Although I have little exposure to it, I know it was meant to be a "close-quarters" type of fighting that you will typically find in many urban settings, such as a subway car or a narrrow hallway.

[old skool dude]

Street arts etc. cont

The thing that really sucks about a lot of the street arts is that there was no systemized way of passing it along to the next generation. Like I said, I just learned elements of it so I am in no way an "authority" but even if I DID have the "street credentials" there would be unneccessary and inevitable challenges that would hinder it's developement and demonstration. What I find interesting is the way that martial arts in general develop and evolve. From what I understand, and Im sure people on the forum will correct me if I'm wrong, Savate was orginally a "street art" developed by "thugs" and "rudeboys" in France who mimiced martial arts systems and adopted them to their own culture. I'm certain that elements of some filipino arts developed in the same way. One of the most interesting training exercises was "fighting off the wall" JKD has a training exercise that is essentially the same thing. Environmental training is definitely the way to go, as you begin to develop your OWN attributes. I was never blessed with blinding speed, but I did have superior strength , and punching power. In my case, I worked to develop my defensive abilities, and became a tactical fighter to compensate for my lack of speed. One of the best techniques that i was taught was that "everything is a target" When I was jailing with my boy Dennis, I quickly learned that his goal was NOT to always hit me in the body. He would initially hit my forearms. When I would throw a punch, he'd "block" my punch with a punch of his own, zoning out ot the way and hitting my forearm. The strike was circular, which is the exact motion of the "windmill" strike in pikiti tirsha arnis. Other times while I was in my guard he would zone, and clip my tricep muscle with a hammer fist strike, followed by an elbow to the shoulder with the same hand. Pretty soon, I would become hesitant to throw anything(for fear of being hit in the arms) and at the same time would tighten up because he would strike my biceps and triceps even if I DIDNT MOVE! Enevitablely, your arms would drop, or at least be too sore to throw punches quickly, and that would automatically open the body for punishment.
Back in the 80's there were a coupla boxers who used elements of jailboxing in their styles. Aaron Pryer was one. The "real deal" Braxton was another (who Fought Mike Spinx) and even Marvin Hagler seemed to use elements of it in his defensive structure. Roy Jones, as a contemprary example seems to use elements of the style also.
In Brooklyn Neighborhoods certain nationalities had "reputations " for using different styles as well. Tha Brothas were known for being good with their hands, The white boys were feared and respected grapplers (I still remember the expression, DONT LET A WHITE BOY GRAB YOU!!! even back then we knew the effectiveness of grapplers) Asians were always respected as martial artists, and Latinos were feared blade fighters.
I'd be interested in others on the forum entering into this conversation as well.

[Thai Bri]

I havent read the whole thread. Couldn't be arsed.

But why not sell your computer and use the money to buy either some training or some equipment.

[seany85]

52 Hand Blocks

I have heard of this 52 Hand Blocks on http://stickgrappler.tripod.com/52/52.html , it sounds interesting. How did it come about? Who created it? Is it reallas effective as it sounds?

[old skool dude]

52 blocks effective?

I have heard of this 52 Hand Blocks on http://stickgrappler.tripod.com/52/52.html , it sounds interesting. How did it come about? Who created it? Is it reallas effective as it sounds?

Yeah it's effective. I learned some of it growing up in crown heights/bed stuy brooklyn circa 1970. For the most part, guys my age (I'm 43) know it as jail boxing, or jail house. When I was growing up it seemed practically all the guys who hung out knew a portion of it, because that's how we "played" (there was no sega, XBox,or even the Internet in those days!!)
Now, Im NO EXPERT in the art, but I was taught elements of it from a few guys in the neighborhood. To me, it most closely resembles (by way of analogy) aspects of the empty hand techniques of filipino martial arts. Particularly the zoning, elbow and gunting techniques. One hall mark of the style seems to be what I call perpetual motion, particularly the hands which are used to fake out an opponent and disquise hand strikes.
As far as who created it, I dont know of any "founder" but from what I understand, it evolved and developed in jails, prisons and on the street by guys who walked on the wrong side of the law.
I was a "karate guy" from age 11, and most of the guys knew I was a martial artist. We would have friendly matches to "test" our abilities. Is the style effective? yes it is! What stands out in my mind is the training methods that were used for it. A lot of environmental training was done, like fighting on staircases, back allys, rooftops, elevators, and subway cars, All "natural environments" that you mgiht fight yourself in and limited by space, and mobility. We also learned to "fight off the wall" using it as an "ally" against mutiple attacks, or even as a "silent partner" used to redirect an opponent's strikes, and also to slam him into) Targets that were frequently hit were the forearms, biceps,triceps, and even the small bones in the face. The philosophy was to desable the attacking agent (the arm which carried the fist) thereby enabling you to attack the body with ease. Frequent use of the elbow was also used to redirect an opponents punches and kicks. Jailhouse was the first "system" that I was introduced to that used a Stopkick. The guy who taught me would FREQUENTLY jab any kick I threw by using this technique. If you check some other posts on the forum, I've spoken in more detail about this "art"

[jubaji]

Yeah it's effective. I learned some of it growing up in crown heights/bed stuy brooklyn circa 1970. For the most part, guys my age (I'm 43) know it as jail boxing, or jail house. When I was growing up it seemed practically all the guys who hung out knew a portion of it, because that's how we "played" (there was no sega, XBox,or even the Internet in those days!!)

Let's not overdo it on the "I'm cool" nostalgia. 'Back in the 'hood, street cred, jail boys', blah, blah, blah. We get it already!