Learn How To Take An Angle And Land A Clean Knockdown With Stephen Thompson
It is well known that studying your opponent and using a game plan is important and can be very beneficial in a fight. Especially when it is a technique or trick you already drill and use. Here Wonderboy Stephen Thompson who uses movement as a weapon is demonstrating a perfect technique that is exactly that and he used it against Jorge Masvidal. He knew that Masvidal likes to jab so he baited him. Having a good bait for your opponent is extremely difficult and in this technique Wonderboy forces his opponent to have a reaction by shuffling forward while jabbing his opponent then shuffling and stepping off to the right then throwing a 2 . So he uses forced reaction, footwork, angles, and forcing an opening to his opponents head. So it's a 1-2 with the 1 being a step in and then stepping to the right taking an angle before throwing the 2.
So Stephen Thompson starts the video by saying this is the knockdown that he used against Jorge masvidal. So Stephen Thompson started the knockdown by jabbing and leaning his head to his right to avoid Masvidal's jab then stepping off throwing the 2.
The Technique Breakdown
So the drill starts off by maintaining the bounce and being light on the feet in order to disguise his movements and disguises when he initiates. He does this by shuffling forward to Jab and then shuffling to the side which leaves the head open then throwing the right cross after. Stephen Thompson says that he always likes to bounce and that's how he starts all of his movements.
Where To Hit The Target
Thompson says he likes to hit three parts of the head which are open after taking the angle.
- The chin
- The jawline
- The ear. Stephen Thompson likes to hit the ear because when people get hit in the ear they get discombobulated and lose their equilibrium.
Body Positioning
He also advises in this drill that as you step off to the side after the jab make sure that your shoulder is in a straight line because if you step off and then your shoulder is squared you will already be partially rotated and lose some power and also open to strikes. He likes to leave his jab out there a little bit and kind of leave it then push off the opponent's face. It gives him time to angle off and delay a strike that might be coming at him at that second, and it blinds the opponent for the upcoming cross.
After the right cross lands Stephen Thompson likes to maintain circling around his opponent in the same direction he angled off to and take the opponent's back and keep them turning into any follow up strikes he has next and to avoid the opponent's own right cross. In the final part of the video he advises once you get the drill down, make sure to add speed. And to keep in mind the drill is about distance management and angling off.
Stephen Thompson's Instructional
Movement As A Weapon from Stephen Thompson is a 3-part series detailing one of Wonderboy's greatest weapons....MOVEMENT! Upgrade your skills for any format of combat with Stephen Thompson!