The White Crane: Defending the Head: Three Most Common Mistakes

Defending the head is of great importance in any fight. Without it you lose four of your five main sense organs, balance, and your greatest weapon: your brain.

When working a positive aspect of your stand-up game, it can help to read the road signs on the way to success. Road signs tell us what to do, but what to avoid on and off the road: the road bending, lane shifts, up coming traffic lights.

I have my top three choices of the most common- and most lethal- mistakes when defending the head.

1. Dropping your hands.
It is important to defend your body. The liver, the spleen, the throat, et alia. It is also important to defend the head. To defend the body at the expense of the head is like cleaning your plumbing when your faucet is corroded and infected with disease. If your hands are down, you can't stop anything from hitting something that is up: your head. If you drop your hands even one inch, your head is done. Even a deflected blow can tear your eyes and knockout your teeth.

2. Holding your hands out.
Hooks and haymakers are devastating. But even these punches can sneak inside the strongest side guards. If you keep your hands to defend your jaw line, cheek, and orbitals (the bone ridges holding your eye in place) you can keep from getting cut by a punch or knocked out from a temple shot. It does not, however, defend your face or chin. An open high guard with your hands at the side of your face doesn't even do well to defend your jawline- unless its on your face.

3. Defending the face.
Your face is precious. Let's face it, for some, its the money maker, it might even be yours. If you'd like to keep your head, though, you've have to do it right. Keeping the hands in a closed high guard is fantastic to stop a strait, jab, or even upper cut if you have your elbows inside your shoulders. It is a poor choice for defending your head as a whole unit- or your body. If your hands cover your face, you cannot see beyond your gloves. On top of your self-blinding, you've sacrificed positional control of the sides of your head. You've left your head and neck (which is extremely vulnerable) open for any variety of attacks from hand, foot, weapon, bite, or even a long range headbutt.