The all things technical thread.

Old wives tale if ever there was one.

Weights can be useful in trying to improve your speed. But you have to becareful with them. Especially heavy weights because they could have the opposite effect. I've seen some guys relying on weights too much.

You're not wrong, Mate. Even though i expected us to lose, we were shocking. It's the end of the era as most of us gunners have been saying for a quite a while now. Time for Wenger to move upstairs.

That was a beauty. Jose Napoles is the man for left hooks.

 

Cross armed defense is not an effective way of fighting out of. That's the main flaw. You have to be a master at it to make it work. You don't transition from defense to offense as you say and it's not great for counter punching. You basically have to be pressing the fight and you open up spots for hook combinations to get through on you and you give the opponent the initiative in terms of getting off first as you have to reset, reposition and re-adjust to get off. It's really just a blocking technique for most who employ it.

If you get backed up and don't know how to fight out of it and the proper angles, you're in trouble. Think some of the guys who used it, if they got backed up they struggled. They only used it as well when they got close and in desperate attempts to block the incoming. People like Azumah Nelson, Ken Norton, Frazier, Gene Fullmer, Holyfield (from time to time) etc. You'll notice also that it worked best for certain styles. I.e those who relied on their toughness and walking through punches. I think in some cases it can be better than the traditional earmuff guard though.

Archie perfected it and used it best, if you look he used it in the right moments and he could do different things, he knew when to do the cross arm and when not to. He could change and mixed it up. He also knew how to counter punch out of it and he's the only one who did. It's not something you can do constantly because your offense and ability to throw suffers as you have to take time to get into punching position. You don't get fluid offense.

It's not a technique that is all negative though. It does have it's positives for the right style. It's great for blocking certain punches, putting your arm/glove under your chin for example and turning it can block uppercuts better. Although that's more a philly shell then a cross arm and some might argue that the cross arm in fact opens you up for uppercuts. However i think if it's done right it's great for blocking uppercuts. Which is Something some fighters who just put their guard up in the traditional style struggle to do. We only have to look at Khan and Pacquiao to see that.

But i think it has to be taught right. We don't see it often now because it's really a specialist technique. No coach is ganna teach it to a young kid coming into his gym. It's something some fighters develop and adopt because they find it comfortable. So even if it were to be taught, there's no one to teach it left. Old Foreman got it from people like Doc Broadus and Archie Moore. I think it has it's uses. It's really good for blocking straight punches aswell.

 

What the cross-armed, Luke? Don't think Taylor used it much. Forgive me if i'm misunderstanding.

 

It can be an effective way of closing distance if you're a guy pressing the fight. Because you'll be blocking a lot of straight shots and some combinations. And especially if you have a jab like Norton did that comes from underneath and sets you up. The problem is when you come up against someone who can back you up it's curtains. Ali and to a certain extent Holmes couldn't back Norton up. It can also restrict you and close off some angles.

Another negative of it is because of the elbow positioning you can be open to body shots. Archie Moore negated this by leaning forward. Which then of course could lead you to being hit with uppercuts.

 

Haven't got access to the tube at the minute, Flea.

 

Nope. Unless i'm having a memory lapse, i don't think he ever did. He has a regular stance.