Fight to Win. Martin Dougherty

to the arms are of limited value at best, but the legs are a good target. Many fighters condition the outer part of their thighs and can take a solid kick or two, but you can chop down the toughest fighter eventually. Kicks to the inside of the leg are often more effective as it is hard to condition these areas. Either way, leg kicks can cause an opponent to stagger even if he is not seriously hurt, and while he’s staggering, he’s not hitting you.

      Punches are not thrown “to” the target, they are thrown “through”and out the back. A pad or bag should dent or crumple under a properly delivered strike.

      Knee strikes are best thrown from a clinch, and are almost always thrown from the trailing leg for maximum impact.

      A knee strike may or may not disable the opponent, but it will certainly weaken him and enable a follow-up attack to be made.

      As a general rule, forget about flashy techniques like spinning kicks and backfists, and stick to basic, vanilla-flavor pounding. Attacking the head, body and legs allows you to keep the opponent guessing and to find an opening (or make one) if he’s got a good defense. Leg or body shots may pull the opponent’s guard down (or crumple him up, which can have the same effect), allowing a clear shot at the head.

      Hand strikes are normally thrown at the head and body. Straight-on hand strikes to the body are less effective than shots that come in from the side, ideally into the diaphragm or kidney regions. Striking slightly upwards under the ribs works better than hitting downwards.

      Kicks are best thrown at the legs and the body. Head kicks are awesomely potent when they land but they need to be set up and can compromise your balance. They can be a useful tool for MMA but are best added after you have a solid base of more widely useful techniques.

      Knees and elbows are the premier striking tools for demolishing an opponent. They are best used from a clinch or another hold rather than “free” and require you to be at close quarters. Knee strikes will normally target the body or legs, but you can pull an opponent’s head down onto a knee if you can get him under control. Elbows are normally thrown to the head but can target any other area within reach, especially on the ground.

      An effective fighter makes good use of his environment. Something as simple as a good hard push becomes a lot more potent when you slam the opponent into something…

      … and not only does it hurt, but it can open up the opponent for strikes if his arms splay out when he hits the wall.

      Big throws are hard to pull off against a serious opponent, so it’s not worth training with them until your basic skills improve. But that’s a long, long fall…

      … and a landing that might end the fight then and there.

      Secondary Impact

      A lot of the takedowns taught in martial arts are, to a great extent, misused. They are often used simply as a means to get the opponent on the ground so that he can be attacked there. This is useful, but it passes up on two opportunities to harm the opponent. The first is in the performance of the takedown itself; often it is possible to deliver a strike while grabbing the opponent or forcing him to fall. Taking advantage of every chance to hurt or harm the opponent is always a good idea.