Drunken musings of a street fighter: Basics of street defense learning to punch

Step one: What to look for in a fight

what street fighters may look like

I am going to try to teach you how to punch within a street setting. First of all you have to be able to know when your opponent is about to strike. Anyone who has not done any martial arts will instinctually go for a power punch. By this I mean they will use their right hand to punch if they are right handed. The thing about doing a power punch at the start of a fight is that you can see them coming a mile away if you know what to look for. The primary mistake they will make is raise their elbow up. This is a big taboo in punching unless you are throwing a hook but I am not going to get into that in this post. The thing about raising your elbow is that you slow down your punches and also let your opponent see that they are coming. The correct way to throw a punch is to keep your elbows in tight and straight. The next big mistake people make that you should look out for is that they over extend themselves or even step with their punch. If the person you are fighting is drunk they are nine times out of ten going to do this. Now that you know the signs to look for let’s give you the correct method of fighting back.


Step two: The jab

Alright so your opponent is throwing a big looping overhand right as we described above WHAT TO DO!? You can either A) Take the hit to your face and wake up to find your girl friend has left with the other guy. B) Turn around and run far away and never return to the town. C) Fight back. If you have chosen C keep reading. The first step in fighting back will be the jab. For those of you unfamiliar with the jab it is punching with your front non power hand usually being your left if you are right handed. You want to be in a stance with your feet being about shoulder length apart. left foot forward pointing at a 1 o’clock angle and your right foot should be facing more at 3 o’clock angle towards your right. Next you want to keep your elbows in tight almost to your chest and you hands almost touching your face. To throw the jab you simply punch out with your left hand keeping your elbows in. You can practice this next to a wall to make sure your elbows are in and your punches are straight. Keep your hand unclenched until the moment you are about to hit your opponent. This will add some speed to your punch. You want to try to hit with your top two knuckles so you don’t hurt your hand. With this punch I would try to aim for the jaw or throat to stun your opponent and prevent them from punching you with their right. If you have done this step correctly your punch will hit them first since it is traveling a much shorter distance.

Step three: The straight right

So you have your opponent stunned and its time to finish him. You need to now use your power hand most likely being your right hand. As you are bring your left hand back from your jab use this momentum to throw your right. You want to turn your back hip forward as you throw this punch so all of your weight goes through. Try and hit your opponents chin once more for this finishing blow. If you practice this enough before getting into a actual fight then you should be standing over a unconscious body soon enough.

Step 4: What to do after?

Just like before you can always do a number of things because the choices you make in life are yours like these options. 1 check their wallet if no one is around? 2 go back to partying if you are at a party? 3 burst into tears and yell at the body “I TOLD YOU NOT TO MESS WITH ME!” 4 or just leave the scene of the crime. I would go with 4 if I were you personally to stay away from any legal action.

Tips and tricks of the drunken punching

So you might be thinking after reading this “I thought you were a drunken street fighter. So what do I do if drunk?” Well calm down there I have some simple tips for you. There are many pros and cons of being drunk in a fight but in my opinion a lot more pros then cons if you know what you’re doing. I mean there is even a martial art called “Drunken Boxing.” The pros of being drunk in a fight are it helps loosen you up and the looser you are the quicker you are. If you are all tense and ridged like a robot your attacks will be slow and not do that much damage. Another attribute in favor of being drunk is that you may feel less pain and feel more mentally confident in yourself. The main con of drinking and fighting is that if you have drunken to much you will be sloppy and stumble to much and not have controlled movements. You might even fall over when you throw your right straight punch. So always be careful in how much you drink and where you are. That’s all I am going to muse on for tonight. Until my next drunken writing keep training and reading.