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The Hook and The Uppercut - Two angles of a clock

When first learning how to fight we're taught six different distinct punches. The Jab, the cross, the lead and rear hook, and  the lead and rear uppercut. The interesting thing about the hook and the uppercut is that their mechanics are fairly similar with regards to execution. As we progress through boxing/kickboxing training you start being taught to throw a hook that has a hint of uppercut in it and vice versa. There are fighters who even throw hooks in a downward motion, as Jack Slack has mentioned in his writing, such as former light heavyweight boxing champion Matthew Saad Muhammed, who used it by throwing a jab , downward hook, uppercut. More recently, although not that recent, Rory McDonald had used the same combination against Tarec Saffiedine to finish the fight. In my mind a round punch is more of a concept than being a pair of techniques.  If flexible enough there is almost 180 degrees that one can rotate the shoulder to throw a round punch. It's not hard to se...
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Thoughts on the stigmas of using certain techniques

Jone Jons is probably the biggest name in UFC to use techniques that are considered too dangerous for sport fighting because of the long lasting effects. In particular, the low-line sidekick and the oblique kick to the knees are considered dirty because the knees might sustain permanent damage. I'm not sure that kickboxing/boxing/mma culture has gotten to the point of acknowledging the brain damage is something that might have longer lasting effects than it seems. There are have been cases of certain fighters having a relatively shorter career and sustaining serious problems as a result of brain damage such Krzysztof Soszynski or fighters that last longer such as Muhammad Ali whose fate was to suffer boxing induced parkinson's after retirement. We see fighters occasionally die from head trauma in the ring or cage but sometimes the damage isn't so obvious but instead affect us ways that we don't notice. The point is that fighting is a sport that requires one to come cl...
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The Commitment of turning into a complete Thai Boxer

As a 9 year old I started by training in Wing Chun and then went on until the age of 12. The big thing that I learned in my mind was aggression but also learned a few combative techniques like jam a person mid attack. The ability to strike someone full force and to be able to take a strike oneself are absolutely essential. I had been getting into fights in my elementary school so my mother decided that it would be good for me to start taking my energy out in a more socially acceptable environment. At the age of about 13 I stated training in modified version of traditional Ninjutsu where I learned basic boxing, judo, submissions, weapon fighting as well as elements of other traditional martial arts such as Karate/Tae Kwon Do/Hapkido. After about a year in a half I started cross training in Aikido, Arnis, and American Kickboxing, which lead me to start think about fighting in a much more strategic, practical, and contextual fashion. What I mean by that is that it allowed to look at fig...
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