High-Low Striking Principles With Brandon Gibson
One of the most popular ways of working out nowadays is by using combinations and drilling them repeatedly. But the problem is that most practitioners don’t even understand the reason for drilling combinations repeatedly.
When we drill the different combinations, we are gaining automation for the specific movement we drilled. Great coaches drill a combination with their athlete to react to something, so we can improve our reaction time when it’s time to fight and automatically throw the right combination.
The great thing about combinations is that they are a form of setup; after a chain of different punches, the opponent will react and defend them. When the opponent is defending one punch, he is open for another, so when we combine the different punches, we try to connect them in a way that compliments each other.
Combination work can also be a great conditioning workout. We see many fitness coaches integrating combinations of punches as part of their training, looking to improve the different energy systems.
Overall, a practitioner or a coach who understands the different uses of combinations can lead his students to better themselves and become better fighters.
In the following video, Brandon Gibson will show us the different combinations we can use while using linear strikes and the high-low principle.
Who Is Brandon Gibson?
Brandon Gibson is a young American striking coach that works with the best professional MMA fighters at Jackson Wink MMA. Brandon had the privilege of enjoying the elite fighters coming to his gym and working with them to become a high-level coach at such a young age. Over the years, Brandon developed his methods and became a very popular coach among many athletes like Jon Jones want to work with.
Get More Top-Tier Techniques From Brandon Gibson! Click Learn More!
Linear High-Low Combinations
In this video, Brandon Gibson will show us a High-Low sequence of punches we can use to set up our body shots using only linear strikes.
Now the first thing we look to do is to establish our Jab in a high-low pattern, which means that I am going to throw a Jab to the head and then a Jab to the body, reading the opponent reactions and setting up a cross to the head when the opponent lowers his level with me.
As the opponent gets used to the new pattern and he is expecting a cross to the head, we are going to trick him, and as we throw a Jab to the body and see that he keeps his guard high, we will throw the cross to the body, breaking the pattern and landing the shots.
Notice that we aim both punches at the opponent’s solar plexus as we throw the Jab and cross to the body. When we hit our opponent with two strong body shots at the solar plexus, there is a good chance we will finish the fight. After we landed both body shots, we immediately look to move out and not stay in front of him.
When we are going to the body, we look to see where the opponent guard is. If the opponent guard is low and he lowered his level with us, we go to the head with a cross; if he kept his guard up, we would go again to the body with the cross.
Another thing Brandon likes to do, as all our strikes are linear, is to look for a circular strike as the opponent reaches his hands forward to parry or block the shot. Remember, the defense for linear strikes will always be tight and blocking anything coming directly at us, but this opens the way for circular strikes to land around the opponent’s hands.
The circular strike Brandon likes to use the most after this sequence is the same side power kick coming over the top. So we will go for the high low high combo first, and as I rotate my hips for the cross, I keep the momentum and come over with the kick.
When we go for the double body shots, the kick works even better as the opponent lowers his hand to parry the body; we have a clear opening to land the kick at the opponent’s jaw or temple.
Brandon finishes the video by giving us examples of fighters like Donald Cerrone, who made a career off those same side power kicks, establishing linear strikes to draw the opponent’s defense and come around with a kick.
Learn More From Brandon Gibson
Suppose you liked this breakdown; you can find a lot more sequences and techniques that Brandon made for you at his instructional - “Six Gun Striking - By Brandon Gibson” available exclusively on Dynamic Striking.