Why bother with 25 count combos?

by Mike

One of my favorite things to do in class was the long-count combos. That is, combos stringing together anywhere up to 25 individual techniques.* At first, I couldn't stand these drills - they always went something like, "jab, cross, hook, bob and weave, cross, sway, wait, no, bob, no, smack right into the trainer's mitts." The utility to me was always obvious, I spent a lot of time watching the pro boxers prepare for their fights and they made judicious use of these long-ass combos. Watching them and even the senior students spar was something to be hold - the students had nothing for the boxers, everything they threw at the boxers had an answer and then some.

Then we'd get to class and having a pro boxer teach, she'd give us a long combo. Some of the studets would groan and say, "what's the point? Like anyone's going to be standing around for you to hit them 25 times!" The rest of us, those who watched the boxers training and sparring, not only saw the utility of the drills, but also saw the results. Bring it on!

To be sure, if you have to hit someone 25 times, you're probably doing something wrong. All the same, here are

Six reasons why you should love long combo drills:

1. Long combos train you to keep punching. It seems counter-intuitive - if you get someone into a spot where you've got the opportunity to punch them, you will. And then keep punching them, right? However, if you train "stepping jab, cross, hook, angle out," nine times out of ten, that's what you'll do even if your opponent gives you an opening for something else. If you train staying in the pocket and throwing, you're much more likely to take advantage of those openings when they do pop up.
   
   Considering that most of the people you're likely to find train 1, 1-2, 1-2-3 combos, adding that fourth or fifth punch into the combo is more than enough to throw them off their game.
   
   
2. Long combos teach you to punch properly. If you don't throw your punches properly, you'll never get to the end of that rep. You'll need to use your best technique - shifting weight, snapping your punches, breathing and staying relaxed to make sure you get the drill correct. The value here isn't on the first couple punches, it's the ones in the middle, the ones that are going to come in the middle when your opponent has moved or otherwise broken the set.
   
   
3. Long combos teach you to keep cool. Yeah, you might miss a beat in there, or slipped when you should have weaved, but you can pick yourself up and keep going where you left off. This is valuable training for when you start sparring and get clocked. Keeping your cool and getting right back into things takes opportunities away from your opponent.
   
   
4. Long combos teach you to anticipate other people's combos and timing. If your coach is doing a good job with the pads (and doubly when you're holding the pads for someone), you'll be getting some good ideas of ooks and other things to give you clues as to what they're going to do. And if you have an idea of what the opponent is going to do, you'll be well on your way to being able to counter into their combos. Which, as we've seen, is a very valuable skill to have.
   
   
5. Long combos will mix offense and defense, and remind you to keep one in mind when you're doing the other. Especially in light of the previous point, always being aware of what openings you are presenting your opponent has is just as important as what openings they are presenting you. A well-designed long combo will have you defending in unusual places - those places you haven't necessarily learned to defend from before and where your opponent will likely attack you while sparring.
   
   
6. Long combos teach you to let your hands go. One of the hardest things for beginning students to do is to let their hands go and press their advantage. These long combos help string many 'mini-combos' together (ones you've probably learned individually) and will allow you to throw them 'at will' without thinking about them.
   
   That is, you should be able to finish a long combo without thinking about it or remembering the steps individually. If you've gotten all the above points, you'll be ready to anticipate openings and stay ready to take advantage of them when they present themselves. This will translate to your training where you see an opening and instead of going, "awesome, I'm gonna throw a hoo...crap he moved," you'll be throwing the combo and scoring points.
   

The above points should show you how long combos are of use to the boxer or martial artist. If you're not using them, I hope you'll start and you'll find that they pay dividends in your training.

* Could you run a combo that has more than 25 individual bits? I suppose you could, but I suspect you'll very quickly go into diminishing returns as doing 25 techniques in the space of a few seconds is quite a bit of work and you'll be inviting sloppiness at the expense of fewer reps (which also means it's more difficult to internalize the combo) and entraining the sloppiness that follows.

CC-licensed photo by H.A.P.