I had an eventful Saturday night…
First up, I called JDS to win in a text to my man Claude Patrick who replied, “no way emoney, cain’s got this, you’re getting worse by the event”.
To be honest, I mainly picked JDS because I like him – he’s always smiling and so happy!
IMO, much better having him as champ vs. Big-Headed Brock or Alistair “Ronnie Coleman” Overeem.
Then got to see Manny Pacquiao get the win over Juan Manuel Marquez…
Not the way I would’ve loved to see, but it was a win.
Then, I made it over to a a Black Star concert. I was hoping to see Mos Def zoom away in a Mini Cooper after the show but it didn’t happen.
And it was at this concert where I lost my iPhone. 🙁
Anyone who’s ever lost a cell phone can feel my pain.
In my sadness and despair I even considered going cell phone free, but then came to my senses and realized how inconvenient it would be to have to send smoke signals when meeting people and to run plastic cups and string across the city of Toronto for remote voice communication with friends.
That brings us to today.
In today’s article, I’m bringing back the BIOMECH BREAKDOWN that I first did of Anderson Silva’s front kick KO of Vitor Belfort.
I’ve got a very interesting comparison to show you guys along with techniques on how to develop KO power like JDS.
First, let’s take a look at a video of Junior’s KO of Cain in slow-mo:
As shown in the poll I posted on my blog here, the Rear Overhand was a close second to the Rear Cross as “the most powerful punch in MMA”.
I personally choose either the Rear Overhand or Lead Hook (meant hook with lead hand vs. rear hand, not like a hook jab) as I think most KO’s happen with either of these punches.
JDS gave us another example of the power of the Rear Overhand.
So if we want KO power, we’d better learn how to throw it properly.
But first, check this video out, as you can see many of the same mechanics that I’m going to talk about in a second:
Especially with the fact that JDS led with the jab, it was basically his “pitching wind-up” to get maximum velocity behind the punch.
So here are the technique cues to turn your overhand right into a 100 mph FASTBALL:
BIOMECH BREAKDOWN: The Overhand Right
STEP #1 – Lead with a Step Jab
This does a few things.
It gives you forward momentum for more power behind the punch.
It gets your opponent to either a) block or b) counter with the lead hand.
Most guys don’t have the speed to slip a good jab (other than Anderson Silva).
It’s also difficult to counter a jab with a right hand because it’ll either be too slow or get blocked by the jabbing arm/shoulder, if thrown with the shoulder high and chin tucked of course.
So you know your opponent is either going to block/parry or counter with their lead hand, which will keep you relatively safe vs. simply leading with the overhand right.
STEP #2 – Plant Your Front Foot
This comes naturally after a step-jab, but I want to communicate the importance of this for power.
There’s a misconception among beginners that a jumping right hand is a powerful punch.
Well it’s not, because you’re missing 2 critical components:
1) Without being planted on your front foot, you cannot generate any rotational power through your core.
Try it right now – get in your fight stance, stand on your back foot, and throw a right with good rotation. Now compare that with standing on your left and doing the same. See what I mean?
2) When you plant your foot after forward momentum, you create the whip effect in the sagittal plane of motion (the plane of motion where you march your arms like a soldier).
It’s like the olden days when seat belts in the backseat of your car were only around your lap – if your Dad braked suddenly, you’d get whipped forward. Same thing happens when you plant the foot then throw the punch – you create that whip.
STEP #2b – “Wind Up” Your Right
As your front foot is landing, your right hand should be winding up.
The term winding up is perfect, because it’s a rotational wind up: down, around, then BANG.
It’s the circular motion of the wind up that allows you to generate max power in your punch.
Just like throwing a fastball – if you started with arm up and tried to throw, you’d get no velocity. You’ve got to go through a big circular motion to get the speed on your pitch.
STEP #3 – Core Rotation and Drop
Finally, to get the most power possible, you rotate and drop through your core, with your head ending up lower and to the side of where it started.
To get more speed for the rotation, you use the lead jab and pull it back as fast as you threw it out – another reason why it’s great to set the overhand right up with the jab.
If you execute these steps all properly and land, LIGHTS OUT!
That’s your BIOMECH BREAKDOWN of Junior Dos Santos’ Knockout of Cain Velasquez.
What do you think – any questions or Comments?
Oh – and I’d like to ask you a favour…
Go old school and copy and paste the link to this blog and send it in an email to your friends who train or like MMA.
I’m sure everyone’s gotten enough “man does something stupid and hurts himself” videos that they’ll appreciate something like this.
Or maybe not.
And hit “Like” on your way out too. It’d be much appreciated!
That’s it for now.
Signing off,
Coach E