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There are many ways to pressure an opponent in boxing. These tecniques depend on different distances, and are an art in and of themselves. I want to clarify something about what it means to effectively cut the ring down. I am not singling any one out, but there might be some misunderstanding about where this technique comes from... I do not think it was always part of boxing and I will explain why:
Pre Dempsey, before Dempsey lays out his approach in his book on punching, set up and fighting distance for a boxer was based on sword length. That is a distance of around 3 feet. A fighter would be attempting to either enter that space, get past that space into the rhealm of the grapple, or, to defend that space so anything an opponent did could be seen and reacted too. In other words, if I am on my back leg, hands waist high, my spidey sense will not go off unless the 3 foot distance is broached by my opponent.
Scientific fighters of the era would try to get into that range by setting traps, parrying, or setting up an attack at a distance, all techniques used in fencing...because at that time? boxing had come from fencing.
Because of this distance and the way fighters operated to defend it, and move past it, I would opine (and this is an opinion) that fighters did not cut the ring off. Most active pursuit of an opponent would wind up at close range, a lot of stuff was thrown from grappling range. Corbett demonstrates a typical technique of this nature to Tunney when he traps Tunney's one hand with his arm and hits with the other hand. One can watch the tape Houdini shared with us where Johnson controls Flyn from Flyn's elbows and sneaks in punches here and there. The elbows are a great fulcrom, you can feel what the arms are doing and still control the body center.
So what about Dempsey? Did he cut the ring down? I mean...the fighting distance changed, and a lot of small segmented body movements where employed, where the shoulders move independent of the waist... Dempsey also came in off his lateral shoulder line... I say this because when the head turns, the shoulders present a side profile of the trunk... So one is not squared up and vulnerable to a shot.
Dempsey was so aggressive that his goal was not to pursue an opponent at a distance... To me that indicates one of two things:
1) Either Dempsey did not cut the ring down, or did so sparingly.
2) Or, Dempsey used the technique before it was developed to a science.
So what is cutting down the ring and what type of approach is it speaking from a general combat perspective? South Asian Martial Arts have a long history of martial arts... many techniques involve blades...This makes it prohibitive to come straight at a person, so what do they do? they base the footwork of their arts (kali) on the triangle. One always moves, at a bias to the opponent. One always enters at an angle to the opponent's center. This makes sense... would you want to try to fight into a blade? or would you try to employ some artifice to enter at an advantage?
In Western boxing, the guy across the ring can punch... it is a given. He may be considered a light hitter but... never the less, he is punching and trained... It would seem prohibitive to simply overwhelm the opponent coming straight in. Unless a fighter is so overwhelming, one can wind up chasing after the opponent. George Foreman used to often comment about the dangers of "chasing a puncher." The implication being, that when we start to pursue the opponent in a straight line, if we get careless for a second, if we do not watch our distance, we can wind up coming into a puncher's wheelhouse.
Naturally as boxing distance became closer than 3 feet, one had to have a way of pursuit. using the same universal understanding of the Kali practicioner, one can learn to carefully pursue using angles, and a parallel line of pursuit, effectively cutting off the space the opponent has to go in the ring. The advantages to this approach are several:
1) you can use less energy. Joe louis is an example of using careful foot work to limit the opponent' movement options. Louis never rushed his pursuit, never wasted energy chasing after his opponent, prefering to slowly but surely get into range to deal with the opponent.
2) You can come straight in while opponent is off balance. If one properly cuts the ring off, creating a line and the opponent moves in a limited area, by anticipating where the opponent has to be, one can catch the opponent off balance, and on the defensive without risking a fire fight, so to speak.
3) You can set up defensively. Instead of moving staight back, and risking being overrun, you can keep at an angle and anticipate opponent's attack.
I wrote this because it is important to understand that whatever one calls it... scientific footwork that creates a proper entry point is part of boxing. I believe that the specific technique of cutting the ring off, creating angles, boxing opponent in by creating a lateral fighting line, were enhanced in the classical approach to boxing.
Pre Dempsey, before Dempsey lays out his approach in his book on punching, set up and fighting distance for a boxer was based on sword length. That is a distance of around 3 feet. A fighter would be attempting to either enter that space, get past that space into the rhealm of the grapple, or, to defend that space so anything an opponent did could be seen and reacted too. In other words, if I am on my back leg, hands waist high, my spidey sense will not go off unless the 3 foot distance is broached by my opponent.
Scientific fighters of the era would try to get into that range by setting traps, parrying, or setting up an attack at a distance, all techniques used in fencing...because at that time? boxing had come from fencing.
Because of this distance and the way fighters operated to defend it, and move past it, I would opine (and this is an opinion) that fighters did not cut the ring off. Most active pursuit of an opponent would wind up at close range, a lot of stuff was thrown from grappling range. Corbett demonstrates a typical technique of this nature to Tunney when he traps Tunney's one hand with his arm and hits with the other hand. One can watch the tape Houdini shared with us where Johnson controls Flyn from Flyn's elbows and sneaks in punches here and there. The elbows are a great fulcrom, you can feel what the arms are doing and still control the body center.
So what about Dempsey? Did he cut the ring down? I mean...the fighting distance changed, and a lot of small segmented body movements where employed, where the shoulders move independent of the waist... Dempsey also came in off his lateral shoulder line... I say this because when the head turns, the shoulders present a side profile of the trunk... So one is not squared up and vulnerable to a shot.
Dempsey was so aggressive that his goal was not to pursue an opponent at a distance... To me that indicates one of two things:
1) Either Dempsey did not cut the ring down, or did so sparingly.
2) Or, Dempsey used the technique before it was developed to a science.
So what is cutting down the ring and what type of approach is it speaking from a general combat perspective? South Asian Martial Arts have a long history of martial arts... many techniques involve blades...This makes it prohibitive to come straight at a person, so what do they do? they base the footwork of their arts (kali) on the triangle. One always moves, at a bias to the opponent. One always enters at an angle to the opponent's center. This makes sense... would you want to try to fight into a blade? or would you try to employ some artifice to enter at an advantage?
In Western boxing, the guy across the ring can punch... it is a given. He may be considered a light hitter but... never the less, he is punching and trained... It would seem prohibitive to simply overwhelm the opponent coming straight in. Unless a fighter is so overwhelming, one can wind up chasing after the opponent. George Foreman used to often comment about the dangers of "chasing a puncher." The implication being, that when we start to pursue the opponent in a straight line, if we get careless for a second, if we do not watch our distance, we can wind up coming into a puncher's wheelhouse.
Naturally as boxing distance became closer than 3 feet, one had to have a way of pursuit. using the same universal understanding of the Kali practicioner, one can learn to carefully pursue using angles, and a parallel line of pursuit, effectively cutting off the space the opponent has to go in the ring. The advantages to this approach are several:
1) you can use less energy. Joe louis is an example of using careful foot work to limit the opponent' movement options. Louis never rushed his pursuit, never wasted energy chasing after his opponent, prefering to slowly but surely get into range to deal with the opponent.
2) You can come straight in while opponent is off balance. If one properly cuts the ring off, creating a line and the opponent moves in a limited area, by anticipating where the opponent has to be, one can catch the opponent off balance, and on the defensive without risking a fire fight, so to speak.
3) You can set up defensively. Instead of moving staight back, and risking being overrun, you can keep at an angle and anticipate opponent's attack.
I wrote this because it is important to understand that whatever one calls it... scientific footwork that creates a proper entry point is part of boxing. I believe that the specific technique of cutting the ring off, creating angles, boxing opponent in by creating a lateral fighting line, were enhanced in the classical approach to boxing.
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