How to Fight
The Mental, Physical and Spiritual Basics
I have studied Martial Arts for over ten years: Six in boxing and the rest in MMA.
Martial Arts saved my life at the tender age of fifteen when I had absolutely zero confidence and not a positive thought in the world.
Negative thoughts were brimming out of my head like an overflowing dumpster in a New-York back alley. Just cold, murky, and damp sensations of fear and loneliness.
Then I watched Mike Tyson, which, until then, I didn’t think it possible for a human being to be that strong — that unbelievably powerful.
So I began with punching the air in the other room, making tons of noise over the years and annoying my mum loads. I started attending a local boxing club that smelled of Brut and worn out leather. I still remember the first sparring session.
I can still feel the taste of blood in my mouth — imagine sucking on a bunch of copper pennies — that metal taste of blood. Damn. I got the ego beaten out of me. Next, it taught me discipline, hard work, respect for the gym and others. It taught me to bow and honour people, even my opponents. It gave me more confidence in myself and gave me something to strive for when I was lost.
I’ll show you — here; look through these; they’re time-travel goggles — they’ll show you Me in the past. Right, you see those bunch of fifteen year-olds surrounding the barbecue in the open field, look at that little kid in background — that’s me jogging. It’s all I did; wake up, jog, train, sleep. That was my life when I was young. I was purely immersed in martial arts, Mike Tyson, Bruce Lee and the other masters.
By now Martial Arts is something I am exceptionally good at teaching. It is something I am extremely passionate about and believe it is a timeless tool in teaching the youth valuable skills in life. Martial Arts will always be the diamond in the dust throughout the ages. It is one thing you can always use to uplift and teach anyone about life, especially children.
‘Pass on the traditions and use Martial Arts for the good of Humanity ‘— Ip Man
By applying what I have learned over the years, this mini-manual will hopefully teach you something new about kicking butt, so you can finally beat up everyone —
— No I’m joking; but I hope you can take away something from this so you can finally defend yourself against that little girl that keeps beating you up.
Before we get started: This is only for self-defence, I’m sure you already know this so it’s just to be clear. I don’t want to teach any nutters some deadly stuff. So if you are a nutter, please leave, otherwise, I hope you enjoy!
The Mental Basics
Focus
Think of racing a car through oncoming traffic.
The oncoming traffic are punches and kicks. The way to dodge the oncoming traffic would be to focus on the finish line and not the oncoming traffic itself.
Focusing on the traffic means you will lose your timing and then smash into the next car when weaving in and out.
So focus is first and foremost. Your eyes must be on the target (Most fighters stare at the centre of the chest), not on their punches or kicks. Brush them off and focus!
If you think you will get hit, you will get hit — Cus D’Amato
So, the sole focus should be on winning by keeping your eyes on the target and nothing else.
DO NOT focus on the opponents weapons or else you will get hit. Look at the opponents chest or eyes.
Fear
Aah! Fear. Such a beautiful lie. What a wonderful thief of dreams this little rascal is.
Fear can make you lose the fight before it has even started.
The key to conquering your fear is:
- To practise with sparring (very light; it doesn’t have to be crazy) — this will take out your flinching reflex and help you to keep your eyes open. It will teach you a little about your adrenalin system and will give you a feel for a real fight. You could simply play about with a sibling or friend to get a feel for it. Or use it as an excuse to get your other half in a headlock before you run away.
- To understand that the feeling of fear is NOT fear. IT IS EXCITEMENT. Again; you are NOT SCARED, you are just EXCITED. Last time — The thoughts in your head are not real; you are simply excited, not afraid. This means your mind is misinterpreting what you’re feeling. Have you ever noticed that the same fight or flight crazy-butterfly-fear-moment happens before you are about to ride on a rollercoaster — didn’t think of that did ya’. For example, the thing you see as fear is the same feeling a lion gets when he sees your meaty butt. His engine kick-starts into excitement; his pupils widen; he locks on, and then shoots like a 50. Cal Sniper. This is very important my friend. ‘FEAR DOES NOT EXIST IN THIS DOJO’. YOU ARE SIMPLY EXCITED…
- To keep loose and let it flow! Do not tense your body; simply let the body do what it does best. Relax an let it flow.
- To know that your Heart feels no fear; It is your Mind. The key is to feed the wolf of your heart and not the mind. You increase the strength of the heart with the love of God; this is the most powerful way to strengthen the heart as proven by the greats: Mike Tyson, Muhammed Ali, Bruce Lee, Khabib Nurmagomedov and so many more.
Intention
Killer intention. In a fight situation, you must have a harsh intention in order to protect yourself. This doesn’t make you a monster. Sometimes you have to be harsh to protect yourself.
So with every blow you need a vicious intention behind it like Mike Tyson.
Aggression
To achieve the perfect balance of aggression and calm is difficult. But it is possible. Your demeanour must be extremely aggressive, but not angry!
This is known as Controlled Aggression. So be aggressive, but have it under your control, like a fire; calmly have your aggressive flame thrower ready.
Serenity
You can never defeat another if you know not how to defeat yourself — Samurai Jack
To win against yourself is the only true method for achieving a calm mind in a fight. To control your emotions and let the beat of your heart take over. To relax and breathe, living every moment; every second in anticipation and focus in your opponent’s next move.
Look at every top fighter out there; look how unbelievably calm they look. Miyamoto Musashi stated that we should be like the sword that is unfazed by the attacks that cling and clang against its metal.
To win against others you must first win against yourself — Grandmaster Saenchai
Being calm is they key because it shows others and yourself that you are in control of the situation. It helps you to assess the situation properly and make rapid decisions.
When the fight or flight system is activated, the digestive system starts to shut down because the brain transfers the energy from your stomach to the organs and muscles in order to tackle the danger. This is why your stomach feels weird.
Breathing deep into your belly is the top physiological way to stay calm. Breathe deeply for about 5 seconds. Hold the breathe. Then breathe out very slow.
The Physical Basics
Breath
If you don’t breathe that’s it. You’ll crash the car. You’ll stall the car. You’ll actually die, so remember to breathe.
But what about breathing in a fight? Breathing is one of the first things I was taught when boxing. To breathe out with every punch; short bursts of breath with every blow, and then a short intake of breath when your hand returns. Your tank must always be full of oxygen in a fight.
To build your breathwork for a fight, try going for sprints. When you get tired, try to fill your body with oxygen and hold the breath. Feel the heart pump all of the oxygen through your blood before you slowly breathe it back out. Now, your body might start to panic and you’ll feel as though you are suffocating, but it’s just panic; the body is not used to it that’s all. Just focus on large, fast intakes of breath; hold it in and feel the heart pump all of the oxygen into your bloodstream; and then slowly breathe out. repeat and conquer, forget the panic.
Looseness
You must keep your body relaxed and calm at all times. Only when you punch do you crash hard. This was Bruce Lee’s be like water speech.
When we are getting ready we must stay loose to allow the andrenalin to flow with ease. Let the feelings take over and breathe with deep concious intent.
When you defend, then you can tense up like a strong shield blocks a sword. When you punch you must also keep very loose until impact where you twist and tense in a small burst before loosening up again and returning back your hand to its defensive position.
Calm and loose!
Balance/ Stance
How a fighter stands will tell you everything you need to know about their experience and skill level. you MUST be balanced at all times in your defending and attacking.
If your power hand is the right, then your left foot is forward; if your power hand is the left, then your right foot is forward.
Think of standing in the centre of a clock on the floor. Your front foot should be on 12. Your back foot should be on 3 or 4.
You might now be standing straight on with your body exposed. slightly rotate your body so that your sides are facing the opponent. Think of a Fencer:
There bodies are slightly rotated so they can better defend, and so the opponent has less room to attack.
Do not completely squat, but do not stand upright. A slight squat will do. Feel the power that your legs carry when shifting your weight around.
Make sure your feet are spaced out and move around on the ball of your waist; If you begin to fall over, you are not fully balanced. Everyone is different so experiment with this until you find your stance — It’s quite fun.
Eyes
A slight squint will do. The eyes are a massive tool for intimidation. Make your eyes look strong, with killer intent. You ever seen a lion’s eyes when they lock on to the prey. Be like that.
Your eyes, as mentioned above, should be focused on the opponents eyes, or the middle of their chest. Do not look at their hands or else you will get hit.
Feet
Allow your toes to dig in to the floor, like the claws of leopard scaling a tree. All of your power is in your legs, and it starts with the feet. We punch with our legs, not our hands — remember this.
When you move left, move the left foot first. When you move right, move the right foot first.
Shadow boxing is a great training method for getting a feel for the power that you can channel through your feet, then up your legs, into your waist, and then finally through your shoulders and out of your hands.
Attack
First: Channel the energy with the bounce and rotation of your feet and legs — I usually push the power up my back leg — then allow this momentum to travel into your hips. Then rotate your hips allowing the momentum to travel further up to your shoulders — keep your shoulders and arms loose — then allow the power to explode out of your hands as you rotate your fist before impact. Then whip your arm back to its defensive position.
I was always told that my lead hand is like the pistol; small, sharp, snappy shots. The back hand is the missile launcher; devastating, loaded with knock-out power and to be set up with the lead. But you can experiment with your own arsenal.
There are certain moments when you can attack, but the ideal moment to attack is when you are in a position where you are unable to get hit, but at the perfect position to hit your opponent. So once you find the right angle to hit and not get hit — hit.
To explain all of the situations where it is possible to hit and not get hit would take up too much of your time. So it is best to use your own imagination when shadow boxing or sparring an opponent. Bruce Lee’s methods of attack below, however, should give you a solid foundation for establishing your perfect offence.
Bruce Lee’s Five Ways of Attack:
Simple Angular Attack or Simple Direct Attack (SAA or SDA)
This type of attack can be a simple jab. Just an attack to see what the opponent does. It can place you in the right angle for another shot. For example: You could jab, the opponent flinches, you move to the side and boom, they’re open for your power shot. Don’t underestimate this type of attack. It may be simple, but is the most effective when used properly.
Attack By Combination (ABC)
This type of offence involves throwing a number of punches together — a combination of blows. Watch the great Manny Pacquiao to see this in action.
Progressive Indirect Attack (PIA)
This type of attack is based on deception. You throw a fake shot — or a feint — to trick the opponent into reacting the way you want them to, and then fire with another shot when they are open.
Immobilization Attacks (IA)
This type of attack is used to control parts of the opponents body so that they open up, ready for you to shoot. For example: If an opponent has a tight guard, you can hit the body to make them lower their guard; then you fire to the head. By doing this you are successfully controlling the opponent’s movement in order to get that perfect angle to hit and not get hit. You could also take a hold of the opponents guard and lower it before throwing a shot.
Attack By Drawing (ABD)
Counter-punching. This is the most difficult to do. It involves reacting quickly to your opponent’s strikes and then firing back. Or it can involve drawing the opponent in and making them believe you are open. Once they commit to their attack, you then counter-strike like a cobra. Lights out.
Defence
Think of your forearms as Spartan shields; and then block attacks with this kind of mentality. absorb the attacks by moving with the force of the opponents blow; do not stay still. And always keep your elbows in!
You can also move out of range by stepping back to absolutely nullify the opponents attacks.
The most flashy kind of defence is — yep you guessed it — slipping. To be able to duck and dodge incoming attacks is a beautiful sight, but is an advanced method of defence. First we must learn how to effectively keep our balance whilst defending using our “shields”, and then in time you’ll naturally be able to duck and dodge according to your own style.
Range
Think of traffic lights. The green zone is when you are outside of the opponents range (the length of the opponents arm or leg). The red zone would be — yep you guessed it again, you’re getting good at this — the danger zone, inside the opponents range.
To be able to effectively get in and out of range is key with effective striking. Think of Ali; he floats out of range and then boom, he stings inside range and then flutters on out again. You just can’t catch him.
The Spiritual Basics
‘Fighting is spiritual’ — Mike Tyson
Heart
Your Heart is what it’s all about. Whatever your beautiful gift is, you know you need to invest your entire heart into it. It’s explainable, but also a topic full of mystery and wonder.
If you are a writer, you know it’s your heart that helps you with those masterpieces you drum up through the early hours of them cold nights. And to the opposite effect, if you’re heart is not into it, you won’t be the best you can be.
‘Every move you make starts with your Heart, and that’s in Rhythm or you’re in trouble’ — Sugar Ray Robinson
Rhythm
Fighting is dancing. No really — it’s actual dancing.
Just look at Ali, Sugar Ray, Canelo, Mcgregor and the rest. They have a dancing rhythm. It can be as pretty as Ali, the floating butterfly, or as simple as Canelo’s side-to-side movement. The true fighter is not fighting; but dancing.
And this is why:
Number One: To fight you must be present. To dance you must be present. You see the picture? You cannot dance if you aren’t present in the moment; so fighters get into a rhythm in order to stay in the moment.
Number Two: If you are afraid, you cannot dance. If you are afraid, you cannot fight effectively. You see the picture again? Getting into a dancing rhythm helps you to get out of your head. It allows a person to give up all pf that anxiety to the alter of the heart which holds no fear. Dancing helps you get into the groove of your heart’s vibrant melody. Therefore, by becoming more present, and by effectively tackling the fear, every attribute is heightened for the fighter. They become better in every way.
So, dancing — or rhythm — helps you to be present in the moment, and helps you to overcome the fear in your mind. Think about the times when you danced: Did you ever feel afraid? Were you ever not present in the moment? Exactly, because you can’t dance with fear, nor can you dance without being present. You have to get into your heart in order to dance, and let your spirit take over — this is the same with fighting. Get into the heart, and Get out of the head.
You can try it now. Try to do a little dance using your heart. You’ll start to move away from the chattering mind and suddenly become more present — awesome right!?
Check this clip out and you’ll see what I mean. Look at Emanuel’s outstanding fighting rhythm and see if you can come up with your own.
Everyone has their own method of expression — a big reason for why I love teaching Martial Arts; it’s amazing seeing the different ways in which people express themselves through the art of war.
The Flow State
This is a zone I’ve entered around three times in my life and let me tell you — it’s real. Time literally slows down and you can see and feel absolutely everything. I still don’t know how to access it which is a shame, but it has something to do with a balance of emotions and being absolutely present. It’s a moment of no fear and absolutely stillness, completely immersed in whatever it is you are doing. It is like the concept of time is the entire ocean, and we are simply swimming in it, not moving backwards or forwards, just floating in infinity.
It happened the first time I got beaten up in boxing. Ping! Ping! My head was being rocked everywhere; then I was pushed against the ropes and bam! — time stopped. I could see the incoming punch from a mile away. My mind screamed about ten times, ‘move you idiot! Duck and then throw a hook!’ But I didn’t listen. I was too shocked by the moment. I remember thinking ‘what the heck is this? This is really weird?’ And then I got hit by the monster blow.
The flow state is a surreal experience. If you have ever been in this state you’ll know what I mean. If you have any ideas on how to get into the flow state please leave a comment, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
I hope this little fight manual made sense and I really hope you enjoyed it!
Rest in Peace: “Marvellous” Marvin Hagler who passed away today at the age of 66. One of the greatest fighters to ever live!
