In our recent post we covered striking from the standing position or open guard position and like we promised in today’s article posting we are going to cover how to strike from the bottom guard.

Many fighters think that when you are on the bottom that you just need to protect yourself. Well this isn’t true. When you are in the bottom guard position you also need to be on the offensive so that you can get out from the bottom position and the only way to accomplish this is to be on the offensive as well as be defensive at the same time. So learning how to cover your exposed elements to your opponent while maintaining a good offense is key.

In the following videos it will show you how you can maintain a good defense in the bottom guard while at the same time executing a good offense.

MMA Champion Tito Ortiz showing us some examples of really good bottom striking

The guys over at Damage Control MMA showing us some really good defensive moves as well as the offensive moves from the bottom guard

Another Awesome video from Damage Control MMA showing 3 varieties of arm trap striking from the bottom guard position.

MMA Champion Chuck Liddell Showing how to use the elbows from the guard position to strike.

Brian Yamasaki demonstrates a series of basic posture breaking methods which is a good defensive move from the guard to deal with a variety of different hand positions and hold downs

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In today’s lesson we are going to over striking from the guard position. Striking from the guard in the top position can be a highly effective technique to inflict pain on your opponent. When you are striking from the guard be sure to use your arms,forearms and elbows if they are allowed.

Use your fists and forearms to strike your opponent and if you see a weak or vulnerable point by all means go for that first. IE.. your opponent has a cut over his eye, then you must try to concentrate your strikes to that area because it will inflict as much damage as possible, and the chances that the ref. will stop the fight will greatly increase.

One thing to remember when you are being on the offensive from the top guard position is that your opponent will be working on ways to get you into a submission so be aware and take the proper action to try and avoid this.

To show you some ways to strike from the top position we have included some videos here for you to get a better idea.

Striking Practice on a Bag

Red Schaeffer Showing some basic striking from the guard position

Joe Lauzon Showing How To Strike From Inside The Guard

David Hogan Showing His techniques For Striking

Mario Sperry Showing His Striking Techniques

The Guys Over at Imformed performance Showing Us their techniques

Fedor Emelianenko Exhibiting His Tehniques

We definitely will be posting ore videos in this one so be sure to bookmark this page.

Also we will be posting a lesson very soon on striking in the bottom guard position.

In a few of our previous posts we got into how to throw and execute different types of punches as an offensive tool against your opponent. Now today in this lesson we are going to get into some defensive moves on how to protect yourself from your opponents punches. Because lets face it in the world of MMA not only must you master a good offense but you must also master an even better defense. Trust me your cut man will be glad you did some extra learning in the area of defensive moves .

Now there isn’t one magical move to protect you from every punch thrown, so we will cover many of the defensive moves in this thread. So be sure you keep checking back frequently for the very latest defense moves, as we will be constantly adding to this post.

There are many different ways to counter your opponents punches and below you will find some great videos from experts on protecting yourself and performing some counter moves to aid in “taking down” your opponent.

Here is a video with Ed Wedding MMA Instructor showing us how to block a right cross and a left jab

Tres Tew a Black Belt In North Carolina show us in this video some punch defenses and also some good counter moves.

Jason Jeanette & Daniel Klapheke Showing us various defenses against punches such as the the hook punch, The Hay sucker punch or otherwise known as the “Haymaker”

We have had a few requests for lessons on the superman punch. So I wanted to post  one for all of you. The superman punch is more of an advanced move not geared too much towards the beginner, however it is a good lesson for the beginner to workup to and also master.

The superman punch is also know sometimes as the cobra punch, or the diving punch is a technique that involves feigning a forward front leg kick then quickly snapping the leg back while throwing a right cross. This is how it got it’s name as you look like superman as you throw the punch. The lunging adds extra power to the punch therefore making it extremely effective.

The superman punch is used a lot in kickboxing but has become more popular with the emergence in popularity of MMA.

Here is a Really good video of Muay Thai Master Andrew Bridden from the Arizona Center for Mixed Martial arts showing us how to do a superman punch.

Here is a video from GAry Helman From Tiger Schulman Karate Training . He shows us first how to do the right cross, then a knee kick, and ultimately shows us how to incorporate them both with a superman punch.

In this next video We have Russian Kickboxing master Konstantin Selivanov demonstrating how to throw a superman punch and make it as effective as possible.

Here is one of the masters of MMA Georges St. Pierre showing us how he executes his devastating superman punch.

The right cross or straight punch as some know it, is a punch that is usually thrown using your most dominant hand. You start out To make a right cross punch as effective as possible we use body rotation and sudden weight transfer to power our right cross punch. the first thing we need to do is to be sure we start off with with a good basic stance and guard, a good measurement to remember is to keep your feet a medium distance apart, because if you have your feet too far apart when you throw the right cross you will be off balance and you will leave yourself exposed to your opponent.

When you throw the right cross or straight punch you twist your hips and pivot on your right foot because this gives the right cross its power. After you throw the right cross quickly come back to the guard position, that way you are not leaving yourself open to your opponent.

Here are some great instructional videos that will show you how to properly execute a right cross to make it as effective as possible.

Here is a quality video from Lars Wellin a Top notch MMA instuctor from Los Angeles California. Showing us one effective way of  executing a proper right cross

Muay Thai Trainer showing his version of the Right cross.

Victor Sanchez The legendary Boxing trainer shows you his way of doing the Right Cross.

The next phase we all want to learn in mixed martial arts training is how to strike and do it effectively. In the following videos we learn from the pros some of the best striking techniques. I am sure this will help you alot in your quest to become a better MMA Fighter.

Chuck Liddell teaching some basic right hand striking techniques.

Frank Shamrock Teaching His Effective Way of Executing a Punch