buck 65 Report post Posted December 11, 2012 Kind of just looks like wrestling to me but now it's all the rage, virtually every coach interviewed now mentions the need to hand fight better. There's even special clinics and videos showing hand fighting techniques. Ten years ago the term didn't even exist. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gimpeltf 2,045 Report post Posted December 11, 2012 Kind of just looks like wrestling to me but now it's all the rage, virtually every coach interviewed now mentions the need to hand fight better. There's even special clinics and videos showing hand fighting techniques. Ten years ago the term didn't even exist. Maybe not to you. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wire 23 Report post Posted December 11, 2012 Ten years ago the term didn't even exist. Not sure how olde you are, or where you might have wrestled .... Hand Fighting has been around for decades. In the 70's we drilled it a LOT in High School. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
buck 65 Report post Posted December 11, 2012 Ok great guys thanks, my mistake. I guess Dan Hodge must of popularized it I just missed it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
headshuck 2,587 Report post Posted December 11, 2012 Wanna get away? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flatbrain1 0 Report post Posted December 11, 2012 Ask Joe Kennedy how he liked "helicopter Cam"s handfighting. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
buck 65 Report post Posted December 11, 2012 Dude did Kennedy do your Mom? Time to move on. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bman546 14 Report post Posted December 11, 2012 My attempt to clarify the evolution of hand fighting... Hand fighting has always been an important part of the sport. However, things go in and out of style. Or, a particular wrestling style may become all the rage, even if it is misinterpreted to some extent. With the success of John Smith, with his low single, high crotch, duck under... Wrestlers and coaches try to emulate them and may miss the nuances of their style or miss the hand fighting that occurred etc. Many wrestlers tried to wrestle with space and shoot low singles... This (wrongly) de-emphasized the importance of hand fighting. With that trend, over time, people came to realize that hand fighting is always necessary, and even John Smith did it well. However, people observing tried to emulate him without developing hand fighting skills. With the erosion of hand fighting skills, that exposed the weakness in many wrestlers. To eliminate that weakness, people are back teaching and emphasizing hand fighting and the importance of mastering it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DuckFor2 216 Report post Posted December 11, 2012 have to somewhat agree with Buck here...i wrestled for 17 yrs, never really left it. this terminology has not been used all that much over the years. what exactly is the definition of "hand fighting", seems there are lot of know it alls in this area. I assume, your just fighting to get the particular tie you need to free your hand/hands in order to get a shot through? Most of my life in the room, instead of doing hand fighting drills, we were doing things along the lines of pummeling drills. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
olddirty 345 Report post Posted December 11, 2012 A bad coach will tell you handfighting is about not letting your opponent get your wrists and scoring off of capturing theirs. A good coach will tell you it has little to do with the hands and much more to do with positioning and angles. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
buck 65 Report post Posted December 11, 2012 Kind of what I thought, positioning, angles, control. In other words wrestling. Everyone was Kung Fu Fighting those cats were fast as lightening... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FATMANROLL 54 Report post Posted December 11, 2012 Was taught many moons ago to always fight for "inside control" and to create angles through movement Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gimpeltf 2,045 Report post Posted December 12, 2012 I can't remember when I first heard the term but I would say for me in the 80s or early 90s. In particular, in the internationals styles pummeling was the main method of trying to gain control from standing. Later they started talking about hand fighting in place of pummeling. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wire 23 Report post Posted December 12, 2012 A bad coach will tell you handfighting is about not letting your opponent get your wrists and scoring off of capturing theirs. A good coach will tell you it has little to do with the hands and much more to do with positioning and angles. That ..... One thing however .... My olde HS has adopted the Russian Tie, or the the 2on1 a LOT!! Every kid except one who is a "shooter" immediately tie up with a 2on 1, and work from there. I was always a shooter, and didn't like to get tied up. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tofurky 611 Report post Posted December 12, 2012 A bad coach will tell you handfighting is about not letting your opponent get your wrists and scoring off of capturing theirs. A good coach will tell you it has little to do with the hands and much more to do with positioning and angles. +1 We're constantly teaching our guys that hand fighting is a total body discipline. It has as much to do with positioning your feet, moving your opponent and staying in position all at the same time as it does getting to your own tie. It's not a stagnant "wax on, wax off" drill taught by Mr. Miyagi in his back yard. I still see a lot of our guys who utilized that method in high school trying to use it at the college level. You might imagine their results. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hand_fighter 0 Report post Posted December 13, 2012 hence my nickname... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wrestle09 0 Report post Posted December 13, 2012 I really think there are 2 schools of thought here. 1) handfighting (heavy hands) has been very popularized over the last 2 decades as a way to "wear down" opponents. I think the hawkeyes from Brands all the way through to Metcalf epitomized this strategy. Probably my favorite was Metcalf who was just NON STOP on the head but was able to then hit picture perfect inside singles and high crotches. So fun to watch except against my favorite team :)... 2) john smith used the hand fighting technique of elbow binding his opponents right elbow and then hitting a beautiful high crotch to his opponents right leg....just about unstoppable. Smith has always been know for his outside low single(which was ridiculous) but as i have watched much film on him his high crotch from an elbow bind was just as ridiculous Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fullnelson 129 Report post Posted December 14, 2012 I Like OD's comments, and I'll add one that Stan Dziedzic used to always preach when he was the National Coach- look to change your ties, ie baseball to underhook to frontheadlock; or Russian tie to an underhook to frontheadlock. All this while 'moving your feet' to create angles. It's also about clearing ties as well. Buck, I agree with you the term 'hand fighting' is a fairly new descriptive, but not a new concept; much like 'move your feet' is a fairly new common plea, but not new to wrestling. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sbdude 16 Report post Posted December 14, 2012 1, Use your hands, move your feet. 2. Use a tie or change it. That's what we tell the kids I coach and that's our "handfighting" philosophy. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
