The Clinch 101

[LWPD]

Fighting From & Training The Clinch
Credit Phil Dunlap

I do not know about you guys but I believe the most neglected area of MMA street self defense and many martial arts in general are infighting, the clinch,and submissions on the takedown.

On infighting I do not mean fancy trapping drills some people seem to love them but forget they were designed for the purpose of developing contact reflexes and that many of the traps are too complex to pull off against a committed opponent. I think trapping a limb can be effective as a byproduct of striking followed be another strike or an attempt to bridge the gap and achieve the clinch or takedown.

The Burmese and Thai systems take the clinch and work it to the point where it is almost a martial art unto itself. I am not commenting on other arts as an expert here I just have a personal knowledge of these 2 and only limited experience with practitioners of others. When you develop sensitivity and contact reflexes in the clinch your overall fighting game improves as you are both standing grappling and striking at the same time. It is very taxing mentally and physically but is extremely important as you can bring your most devastating weapons too bear while maintaining a physical control over your opponent.

I see this as the next evolution in MMA, people are cross training and becoming strong long range fighters and grapplers. You see stand up fighters getting good enough on the ground to get up again and ground fighters getting good enough on their feet so that they do not get hurt if they have difficulty on the ground. Fighters will begin to look for the next gap to get an edge and I think it is the clinch . Guys like Pele and Braga have already had good results their.

I think for both MMA and the street people need to spend more time working the clinch as it is easy to achieve, also if someone wants you on the ground you will be there for a while and many street altercations start in tight. Personally I like fighting in a phone booth weather it is standing up or on the ground.

Starting with fighting from the clinch ie including strikes as in NHB.

The first step is to learn and work the individual tools such as elbow, knee, headbutt, low line kicks and bites for the street. Personally I have never been wild about punches from the clinch as you either rotate your hips too much or drop them back leaving yourself vulnerable to knees and takedowns and you lose control of your opponent. The tools need to be worked from all positions and stances as clinching is flowing and constantly changing and moving the strikes must be worked from all possible angles as you never know where the space will open. Until you can functionally use the tools their really is not a lot of point to striking from the clinch.

The next step is to learn the possible tie ups positioning .balance and weight distribution some of the tie ups Both hands behind the neck collar and head control , neck and opposite arm , neck and same shoulder ,dual extension and various others . One works these constantly breaking your partners balance at first then looking for openings.

Let me make something clear here. My statement about traps have nothing to do with wing chun or any other arts. I think sensitivity drills are great as they develop contact reflexes the problem is that many people get so caught up in their trapping that the forget it is a fight. Drills are drills a fight is hitting him and not getting hit. If you get caught up in traps and maintaining a range you can get run over.

For now lets stay away from "fouling Tactics" love them but we need to get comfortable in the clinch before we throw them into the mix. We have worked our tools and become comfortable with our striking weapons that will be used. We have practiced the various clinches withe a partner learning to keep our balance and break his.

The next step is to learn to use the appropriate counter clinch for all his clinches and practice as you did earlier trying to break his balance and maintain yours you will really begin to see openings at this stage.

Now we start to learn the various takedowns from the clinches. Once you feel comfortable with takedowns you add this to the balance drill this time the guy who is working will choose either stay up or takedown and will work that . This makes it interesting as it is hard to stay up without strikes from the clinch when your opponent wants to put you on the ground. Your base will really be starting to improve at this point. You will be starting to really feel what your opponent is doing and begin to anticipate his next move. You also will start to understand the strength and weakness of each clinch and counter balance wise during the flow of a fight.

Will post more later next up drills for integrating the striking weapons.

[LWPD]

Fighting From & Training The Clinch
Credit Phil Dunlap

Now since we have learned our tools and are starting to get comfortable in the clinch and maintaining it,executing take-downs and staying op we will start drilling the tools for the clinch the first 2 are focus mitt drills for the elbow.

The opposite elbow drill. Have your partner hold out the focus mitt at head height and you clinch it as if it was the head. while maintaining control with the left hand fire the right elbow without drawing it or the hand back . You want to practice this from all angles with both elbows. The same elbow drill now cross grab the pad with your right hand using the same elbow fire it forward as before with no telegraphing once again work all angles both hands.

Now a couple knee drills with Thai type pads . Clinch your partners head have him hold the pad at around waste high and as moving fire your knee up and into the pad. I ti important to work this as your moving with a constantly shifting base and never to move to knee you want to fire the knee on his shift . work all stances and both knees.

The next drill is the same but this time your partner holds the pad to the outside and you will work your knees to the outside angles.

Next up we will cover head butts and kicks from the clinch. Before moving to live offense and defense drills with your partner.

Received a couple emails asking me to continue this one these posts can sure disappear fast nowadays. We so far have worked and learned the individual tools for striking followed with the variations of clinches and their counters. We have learned the takedowns drilled our balance and ability to stay up. We then finished with basic drills for the knee and elbows

Now we will go over drills for the head butt and kicks from the clinch. Probably because of my thick skull and lack of active brain cells I love the head butt. A couple of very important things to remember while head butt ing is it does not take a lot to do damage, your knees should stay slightly bent so your legs act as shock absorbers instead of your spine and your chin touches toward your chest taking pressure off the neck on impact and protecting you from splitting your forehead or face open.

The first drill for the head butt from the clinch is to have your partner hold a focus mitt head height and use his other hand to reinforce it you lock up on his arms as if they were a neck or shoulder awhile he is pulling and pushing start with very simple head butts and begin working all sorts of angles. next try cross grabbing and use the side crown of you head. One of the things you will find is that while clinching in the flow there can at times be limitless angles for head butting especially when your opponent tries a technique of his own.

Will post more later, if any one could post the original to the top and copy this to it it would be great as someone wanted me to email him what I had posted so far but I generally have not been saving my posts

[LWPD]

Fighting From & Training The Clinch
Credit Phil Dunlap

Now it is time mix kicking drills into the mix. If the clinch is a neglected area of fighting and striking from the clinch not addressed that much then kicking from the clinch is a completely ignored art. Some of the kicking drills are going to be difficult and hard to describe so please bear with me the first is fer the low-line version of the stomping kick many systems have a variation. this is similar to the oblique kick in JKD but instead of flicking it your weight actually shifts to the target and you plant the foot. Have your partner strap a Thai style pad to his lower leg and while working various clinches through the kick to the pad remember to be careful to not hyper-extend your partners knee and to time the kick so that it would hit the leg that his weight is on. I personally love using this kick to flow into a takedown.

Next is the roundhouse to the leg from the clinch remember when drilling this wear shin pads. The roundhouse kick we use derives it's power from the abdomen and strikes with the shin. It rises straight up from the ground with no chamber it follows an upward angle and does not turn over and snap down it rises from the ground upward to the target. The next drill will be a little tougher but once gotten it will be worth while because it will give a powerful and unexpected weapon in the clinch. while easily working the clinches and counter clinches you will practice rearing your weight on him and one of you legs through the kick with your other leg focus on generating power with you abdominal cavity and not your legs.

So far we have worked some tools, balance,position etc. Now we want to cover some defense from the clinch. from personal experience I can tell you a knee to the face is not fun. The first concept will be protecting the head from unexpected strikes this works on several levels first the counter clinches you worked learning balance will cut down on his avenue of attack and your balance skills and reflexes developed earlier will help with feeling the incoming shots and anticipating them.

Now some actual defense drills have your opponent clinch and while you attempt to stay balance in the clinch have him throw some slow easy strikes toward your head. Remember this is gentle right now as it is just learning interior defense at this point. Practice using your body weight to lean your head to areas on his or your body that will deflect the shot. Also try bringing your hips forward to stuff the distance to get the shot off. This is practicing the bob and weave per say of the clinch.

More later including defense with elbows knees and shins.

[LWPD]

Fighting From & Training The Clinch
Credit Phil Dunlap

Defense drills using the elbows

Put both palms on your partners collar bones elbow spacing chest width as if you were clinching have your opponent dig uppercuts at your floating ribs flick your mirror elbow into the incoming punches next he digs at the diaphragm and you flick the mirror elbow. The next is to flick opposite elbow at punch Now you should begin feeling the punch coming and catching it with your elbows.

Next you clinch your opponents neck and he throws light punches /elbows toward yo and you without breaking the use your mirroring elbows to catch the arm or shoulder punching

Now he pulls your head down as if kneeing put palms on his chest as he pulls head down and knees you elbow mirroring knee. Now the same with opposite knee to elbow drill.

Remember this is not the stage for killing each other these are basic skills drill to give you usable tools and the ability to bring them into play for real we are trying to make them reflexive through increasingly intense drills. Remember you should be rotating all the drills to stay sharp.

Also defense from the clinch is the most important skill as the weapons flying in there are potentially devastating. Next up: defense drills using your legs.

Defense drills from the clinch with the legs.

Just as many people ignore kicking in the clinch people seem to neglect the idea of using their legs in the clinch for defense. One thing that needs to be remembered is the reason you are doing this is to both protect yourself and work on maintaining your base while lifting a leg off the ground.

It is going to be very important to drape your weight on both the leg that remains on the ground and your contact points with your partner. now for those of you who have not done much shin and knee conditioning you may want to start remember when there is shin to shin contact the guy used to it will handle it much better. The first drill is to move in the clinch and have your partner throw easy knees up the middle at you when he does crunching your abs use you lead knee/shin to deflect the incoming knee by driving yours into it. Next up he starts throwing the knees at the outside of your legs picking up your knee and rolling the hip outward while tucking the foot back catch the knee with you knee /shin area again.

next we will do a simple drills for the roundhouse. Now remember this is not a macho contest with your partner too see who has the tougher shin the idea is going to be to catch the kick and stuff it trowing him off balance with your bodyweight. Have your opponent clinch for this drill have him use the double neck clinch most people view it as the Thai clinch and you counter clinch. H throws roundhouse kick and with the same balance from above you pick your knee up tucking your foot back and roll your hip to the outside the goal is not to create impact but to catch it and let your bodyweight fall on it breaking his balance.

Play with all the above drills they should help give you a functional start on your clinch skills Now I was going to go back to the start an get more in depth will start with the entrances to the clinch then the individual tie-ups and counter tie ups along with personal view on the merits of each.

It would be good to start with the earlier drills as they are very good for building your base skills in the clinch. They can also be tailored to individual styles and preferences. Remember this is just an outline and not gospel.

[LWPD]

Fighting From & Training The Clinch
Credit Phil Dunlap

Controlling the center of gravity.

This is a demonstration technique that I often do to illustrate the importance of controling your opponants pelvic area with a low clinch such as head to chest. have someone a good bit larger than you stand with his arms folded, feet wide and a slight bend in his knees. Place both your hands on his shoulders and tell him to not let you move him. If he is indeed much bigger or stronger than you he may very well push you around. Now try the same thing again only this time place your hands on your partners hips. You will now find it very easy to shove him around. Pushing on the hips not only gives you the advantage of pushing downhill but also negates the strength of the upper body.

"To control the pelvis is to control the center of gravity and to control the center of gravity is to control the man."

From: Phil Dunlap

Owen

It's great to have someone contributing ideas and concepts to this thread. From your Technique descriptions I am thinking you have a bachground in Greco Roman. I am a big fan of some of their tieups and takedowns I have worked out with several world class GR guys and can say their ability to tie someone up in a grappling situation is excellant and their takedowns very functional.

One clarification I need though on the hip pushing Is how do you deal with the elbow flashing on the downward diagonal. The question is a bit of a mind ream as your opponent would need the skill to execute also on the push how do you handle an attempt to break the clinch

Thanks

I was going to start going a little more in depth into the clinch because if we have done the work above we will be building the tools and attributes needed to fight from the clinch.

Remember we are working here as clinching as a fighting area and not just as a grappling area so remember putting your opponent on the ground is being viewed as either finishing him ie setting up a sub or strike or as a way of changing the range to protect yourself if you are losing the battle in the clinch it is also thought of possibly as the logicle flow possibly after a strike.

We will start with various entries to the clinch and the various tieups and counters. We will go over the clinches themselves and cover relative strenghts and weaknesse of each. Please remember I can only describe things not as an expert on clinching itself but from the perspective of a practitioner of the particular Burmese System I train in. So please remember my opinions and experiances are colored by my goals and aims in combat.

I personally like to fight from the clinch. I have spent countless hours in an attempt to become functional. By nature and training I prefer fighting in a phone booth.

I view achieving the clinch to be a byproduct of two things ateempting a strike or attempting to penetrate. Once again the goal here is not just to take it to the ground but to try and win the fight where we are at the moment. Here I will go into some different ideas for attaining the clinch. These techniques will be adaptable to the style you do now and you can replace my tools with your own.

In the kachin systems we are non-rotational the power comes from a body drop and foward,upward flow. I have dificulty explaining it in words. What circular motion we have is a concentric rotation of the joints against one another driving power up from the ground. We tend to be very relaxed and fight with our strong lead foward and almost alway use foward presure.

Probably the most common and popular entry to the clinch is based on attempting to stay at the edge of being in range of a strike and waiting for the opponent to overcommit. The Gracies are a good example of the ground.

Personally I am not wild about this as I believe in and prefer a constant pressuring of My opponent. I am covering the reactionary entrance both this way because it is so popular and has worked in many situations and off foward pressure.

The reactionary entrance works off achiving penetration one of 2 ways either by your opponent overextending or by you riding the strike back to the body.

When staying at the edge of striking range you should be circleing away from his rear side making him stalk you as he strikes you will execute your defensive reaction Ie duckunder,parry,triangulate,block whatever you standup training has dictated the key here now is stepping foward and dropping your hips down and achieving your tie up.

Next up foward pressure and the reactionary entrance.

[LWPD]

Fighting From & Training The Clinch
Credit Phil Dunlap

Now the forward pressure and the reactionary entrance.

From your ready stance start stalking him and moving forward. By reactionary I mean yo will step forward on an angle across his strike in an attempt to clinch.

The forward pressure on angles has a tendency to force him to strike leaning back or step back once the weight shifts back your stepping to angle for contact and the tie ups.

When beginning this take your lead an from the outside of his lead coming forward on his lead arm to contact

I realized maybe I should go over the idea of penetration to the clinch before I get into more entrances. Achieving the clinch is predicated on your ability to penetrate hopefully without taking a disabling blow.

Four things to remember when penetrating are you step or the closing of the distance,your height or slight changes in levels, the angle of penetration, and your balance or maintaining of base. Or your entrances will need to address these issues to be successful . These are the structure for building your entering technique

First is penetration if you want to clinch you need to somehow close the distance between the 2 of you preferably without getting hit too much. In the first example above your penetration is based on the overcommitment of the strike on the second it is based on forward pressure and stepping into his motion changes in level this is important as number one it makes it easier to defend a strike on the way in. it also gets your body exploding forward and makes him adjust to his target and lastly it brings your hip and leg power into your close and clinch.

Angle defines the idea of coming across any strike or through the potential path of any possible strike. Between the angle and level change you can make his window of opportunity so small as not to worry about the KO

Last is balance and that is related to maintain your relationship to the ground and always being sure of your weight distribution.

All these things add up to make a reliable entrance

Entrance on the foot jab. Remember these are adaptable to whatever you are comfortable with. Some people are familiar with a front kick or the Thai push kick . What we are using here is different as in there is no chamber or bend to the knee. It looks a little like a relaxed version of the Nazi goose step from WW2 but with dropping hip weight behind it.

This is almost like an exaggerated step you are taking your lead leg and picking up your foot from the ground and placing it sole of the foot on his leg preferably the shin then dropping the hip into it and rolling your weight forward> the strike can damage the leg but even when missing gives penetration while maintaining balance and shifting level the only real variable that will need to be focused on is angle. You will general be entering into his center or on his hip entering off low-line lead and rear roundhouse.Will start with the lead roundhouse the description is from the basic Kachin style and is adaptable to whatever you are are comfortable with remember when entering to the clinch to keep your hands and elbows up as a right cross to the face is not fun. This is especially true when throwing the roundhouse. Many people drop their hands and pay a heavy price. Also when entering from the roundhouse it is especially important not to reach for the clinch lunging at him this will leave you vulnerable to hooks and elbows.

The lead leg roundhouse from your strong lead is a preferred entrance to the clinch as it has minimal rotation and you do not open your center up you will generally be taking the outward in angle across his lead leg . In the basic Kachin lead leg roundhouse the power comes from the ground up through the hips and an expansion of the abdominal cavity . There is no chamber and you do not lean back. Your foot leaves the floor lower leg relaxed whipping up at a 45 degree angle shin driving into the target weight shifting forward to the clinch immediately upon contact.

You must watch for the same upper body tendencies with the back leg the back leg will leave the floor the same way and travel up through the centerline as if throwing a knee to the target with the shin again the weight shifts into the target achieving the tie-up. The lower leg must remain relaxed throughout the technique.

that gives some closing ideas using lower body techniques to cover distance not sure how good I explain them hope you get the idea though

Next up hand techniques to close with then onto the tie ups themselves

[LWPD]

Fighting From & Training The Clinch
Credit Phil Dunlap

In the previous thread we started with working the individual striking drills, Clinching skills and balance drills entrances etc. I am not going to post the old thread if people want it I know there are people who saved it. If it got posted I would just continue to add to it.

We will start by analyzing various tie up. The first one in honor of this site as it is the log o Is neck and arm (collar and elbow) Remember I am just describing this from my experience in the kachin arts. This is the way we do it, remember it is looked at from both the grappling and striking perspective .

Remember we fight strong lead forward and use the opposite leg as "drive" leg. You have achieved penetration and you grab the back of his neck with your right hand he grabs the back of your neck with his right hand . We stagger our base keeping right leg forward and take left hand and place it on outside of his elbow . Your weight should be resting on his neck and your back leg.

From this basic position the right elbow pinches inward and wrist flexes and your left elbow pinches in rolling your wrist and leaning into his left elbow. He should feel as if his head is going down and his elbow up and in. If you use forward pressure pointing you lead toes in the direction you want to go he should be forced to twist in that direction.

What I was thinking of doing is fleshing the options from this clinch using the previous techniques and drills before moving to the next clinch and then finishing with more drills.

techniques from head and arm tie up

the first thing to play with in this clinch is the ways of breaking the opponents balance. Start to feel how as you pinch his elbow in and drag on his head he fights to regain balance. Watch as you step forward with your lead leg into his center line and pinch the elbow his hips will go back in an attempt to relieve the pressure.

The first two strikes we will go over in rear elbow in my above description the left and lead knee these are two of your more powerful strikes and excellent for maintaining control and balance. I suggest putting on elbow and knee pads when doing this and possibly headgear. As these two especially the elbow can open up a nice gash.

You are in the clinch now remembering your earlier drills with the elbows and focus mitts you will rolling your rear elbow off the side you are pinching the arm on. as you put forward pressure on him take your rear elbow and raise it while beginning to push on his elbow . When your elbow reaches your own shoulder height roll it over and in on the downward angle. the pushing in on his elbow will give you the force necessary for impact . If done properly with a relaxed hand as in the earlier drills it should knock his arm down as your elbow flashes over and drive the point into the target . Your target area is temple,cheekbone ,basically facial structure.

Next up lead knee

[LWPD]

Fighting From & Training The Clinch
Credit Phil Dunlap

The lead knee from the head and arm tie up

The lead knee is a great technique from the tie up . I find when using the rear leg if the guy is good in the clinch as you fighting to break each others balance if you use the rear he will either feel it coming or take you down as you have picked the drive leg up and break your own balance. I am trying to stick with techniques that are high percentage and do not leave you off balance. As you are draping and rolling his head trapping forehead to your shoulder clavicle are and contracting your abs letting your back knee bend drive your lead knee up as if your trying to pull it to the shoulder his head is trapped to it should drive right into his chin from this position if done right you should be able to fire repeated lead knees with impunity drop the foot and curl the knee up and in again. if he dropped his hips back upon locking up it makes it easier to pull the head into the incoming knee this time the knee will probably land in the face. You can also throw the knee to ab area and rib th only problem or downside is he may be able to take you down as he collapses around the strike. Legs are a great target to set up the takedown

From each clinch I was going to cover a couple strikes take downs and takedown into submission. at this point I will pick 2 of each for each individual clinch kind of sticking with what I have found to be the easiest to pick up

I just realized there is one other technique for striking for this clinch I wanted to go over. I was working this one with a couple guys yesterday and thought it might help

You are in the head and elbow tie up now those familiar with the way judo guys work this tie up will have an easier idea understanding making space for this technique. The right arm that is on the back of the head/neck with your forearm on the clavicle you whip this arm back whipping that shoulder back while pulling in on the arm this will rotate him slightly while his head snaps back. now lower your head tucking chin to chest and drive your head forward you weapon is the side crown of your head. Now while your head is driving forward your knees need to be bent to act as shock absorbers you are driving up from the ground and cupping the back of his head and whipping it into the head butt. This can be devastating in a limited space.

When practicing and drilling this head butt the shoulder of the arm you are pulling toward yourself for safety .

The head and arm clinch

I will go over a basic arm pass first (duck under type maneuver) as many people prefer to get to the hip for take downs I find that a lot of people struggle with this because they neglect to use their legs when attempting to get to the hip from the front in the clinch . The steps to this are basically to push up while pulling it toward you the arm that is on your neck. Right before doing this you pull on the head slightly with your hand to make him feel he is going forward. While you push on the elbow yo push th head up and back with your wrist/forearm drop you weight down and forward while stepping with the leg you are bringing forward slide your head under his arm and bring up behind his shoulder. From here instead of the takedown I usually go for the crossover choke (arm triangle)

[LWPD]

Credit Khun Kao Charuad
Clinching Basics


You've asked, so here it is.

First, let me reiterate, clinching techniques are hard to adequately explain without visual aids, so I will not be going into detail, as I don't want people to get lost.

For those with grappling experience, you will find this similar to "swimming". That is where you practice getting a control position by "swimming" one arm in at a time under your opponents arms to get the underneath control position for a throw or the like.

In Thai, the phrase or name used to describe clinching is translated as "Getting Dressed" (think of it as "preparing to knee")

The difference is, rather than gaining the control position under the arms for a throw, you are trying to gain the inside position on your opponent's head/neck area.

There are variations on the control position, I'll discuss the most basic one that I teach. The position you want is to have both of your hands/arms to the inside, grasping your opponents head/neck in a pincher-like grip, and his head trapped to your chest. You can also rest your chin on the top of his head to KEEP his head down.

When clinching, the hand position should be on the back/top portion of your opponents head, not the back of his neck. Keep the elbows locked in TIGHT to pinch the carotid arteries, and to prevent your opponent from snaking his hands back in to gain the inside position on you. (the pincher grip on the carotids is not enough to make someone pass out, but it is enough to make them feel a little faint or light-headed, and any advantage is a good advantage)

The hands themselves can be held in two recommended ways. You can either cross them at the wrist (both palms toward you), or you can cross them with the palms toward each other. Remember, do not interlace your fingers! You will have boxing gloves on!

With your arms in the correct position, your elbows should be pressing into your opponents collar bone. Use this to your advantage, as a fulcrum to pull their head down into your chest.

When you begin to clinch with someone, you should try to "gain the high ground." Try to get over top of your opponent first so that you have the high position. This way you can rest your weight on your opponent, forcing them to work harder. I teach my students to use their lead hand to reach high and deep to get the upper position, and their rear hand to deflect the opponents hands so that they cannot get a good grip on you.

I also teach my students to grab with the lead hand and apply the clinch with just that hand. To do this, after you grab behind the opponents neck/head, you push the elbow across to the center of their chest and use the upper arm as a wedge between you and him. This leaves one hand free to punch, elbow, or deal with whatever he's trying to do with his hands. You can use the lead hand clinch to throw your opponent off balance, and then knee as he's vulnerable.

While "getting dressed" it is recommended to actually keep your chin up! Any other time, you would keep your chin down, but while clinching, if you have your head tucked, it's easier for your opponent to trap your head.

When clinching, get up on your tippy toes to help get you over top your opponent so you can get the upper position. Once you achieve the upper position, rest your weight on them. Make him hold you up!

While "getting dressed", only "swim" one arm in at a time. Never "swim" both hands in at once. This would leave you with both hands off of the opponent, and allowing them to have the inside and get your head down.

Also, while "getting dressed", keep your hips glued as tightly to your opponents hips as possible!!! Do not leave room for a knee to get in. When you "feel" that you are in position to knee, break your hips to the back and fire one (or more) in there, then get your hips back against his!

MOVE AROUND!!! Do not stand in place and clinch, rather, CONSTANTLY be on the move! Use your arms to toss your opponent around. Push on your opponents shoulders/arms while pulling on his neck to throw him off balance, leaving him open for your knee strikes. Try to throw the opponent to the ground if you can! (and KICK him as he falls!)

If you are having trouble with getting the upper control position on your opponent, grab around his body and hug him close. From this position, you can break your hips to the back and throw clinching curve knees. (a technique I've not discussed yet. Maybe later...)

If your opponent has grabbed you around the body and pulled you too tight to break your hips back to knee, grab each of his arms in a guillotine-like hold, trapping them, then push forward hard with your shoulders (dig your chin into his face, neck, collar bone) and push your hips back hard also, then attack his legs and hips with clinching curve knees.

If your arms are trapped in this manner, push forward with one, pull back with the other HARD. Once you have one arm free, grab him by the neck and start pulling down and try to get in your own knee strikes.

The above info is by no means complete. There are many, many intricacies to Muay Thai's clinching, and above are just some of the basics to give people the right idea. I hope that the above info is helpful. Feel free, as always, to contact me with any questions you may have. I'll try to answer as best as I can.

Posted to Usenet's rec.martial-arts Fri, 14 Apr 2000 01:30:08 GMT

Clinching Basics CLARIFICATION!!!

"Getting Dressed" is the action of your and your opponent "swimming" or snaking your arms inside for the control position. The second your feel your opponent move an arm to the inside, you should move your arm to regain the inside.

Do not wait until you have the control position to throw a knee. When you feel your balance is right and there is an opening, STRIKE!

As you close in for the clinch, get in a straight knee strike on the way in! This may be the most important knee strike of the clinch exchange. It is doubtful that once you get to the inside fighting that you will always be successful at gaining the control position to fire off the devastating clinching straight knees.