Question posted by “Teck” on 04/17/05:

 

Here's a question about the 4 corners drill.  Is it better to parry with the rear hand and hit with the lead hand?  Or is it better parry with the lead and counter with a rear cross? 

 

 

My response:

 

For the record, I don’t know shit about the 4 corners drill.  It might be something I train, but I’m ignorant to the term.  Regardless, I think the choice of parry, (if any), depends on the attacking weapon.  Since we’re going from the perspective of JKD here, let’s say you fight out of a right lead, (your right hand/foot is in front, your left hand/foot is in back).  Most untrained brawlers fight out of a left lead, (statistically, anyway), because they’re right handed, and because it feels natural to throw your “power” hand off the rear leg.  Straight right hand, overhand right, right cross, whatever.

 

In this case, (opposite leads), when your traditional “boxer-stanced” opponent throws his primary weapon, (a straight line, right hand punch), it’s smarter to parry with your rear hand and punch with your lead.  Such a parry puts you on the “outside” of your opponent’s danger zone.  If he tries to follow with a subsequent punch, (perhaps a lead hook), then he has to cross his own arm to do it.  Contrastingly, if you’d parried with your lead hand in this scenario, you would end up still inside his danger zone, where he can easily fire his lead hook or lead jab right into your face. 

 

Again, let me emphasize that I’m talking about a JKD guy versus a semantic boxer: right lead versus left lead respectively, (and both guys are right handed).

 

Okay, so what if you get a true boxer that sets up his power right hand with a few leading lefts, like jabs.  Well, then it’s more intelligent to parry said jabs with your lead hand, again because it puts you on the outside.  If you facilitate this lead hand parry with a quick back step/front step, (also called a rocker step), you can come right back in with YOUR rear hand.  Be careful though, ‘cause a lot of experienced fighters expect this, and they’ll counter heavily, (thus intercepting YOUR counter).  If you have time, gauging your opponent’s reactionary mindset with a few well-timed feints will let you know if you can pull it off or not.

 

In the first exchange, you’re using more of an interception technique, (same beat or half beat).  In the second, you’re using a one/two beat… parry/hit.

 

Everything I’ve said above is in reference to a straight line attack, which is probably where Teck’s question ends.  But, what if your opponent is a “swinger”, and is throwing wide, looping haymakers?  Well, then a parry is hard to pull off because of the timing needed.  In that case, it’d be better not to try and parry at all.  Instead, you might rocker step back out of range for a half a beat, (causing the guy to miss), and then counter with either hand as you rocker step back into range. 

 

Or, you might duck and throw a lead hook to the head or body, (your opponent’s arm swinging harmlessly over your head as you strike). 

 

Or, you might circle off and defend with a rear cover block, (sometimes called a “salute” block, I think), facilitating an immediate counter with your lead, (harder to do if the guy is strong, because you could be knocked off balance by the “block” impact). 

 

Personally, I usually shoot for a takedown against guys that throw haymakers, but that’s just me.  I’m scared of people that hit really hard.  Sometimes, I cry.

 

Somebody that’s REALLY good, (my instructor, for example), might do a “cutting” block, which damages the attacker’s arm as he swings.  Cutting blocks are nasty if you can do ‘em, dangerous if you can’t.  For the record, I can’t- at least not in a full speed combative situation.

 

The point of all this is, I think the attack dictates the defense.  But you still have to practice enough, (do enough realistic repetitions against “live” feeds), to make your choice instinctively.  In a real fight, or even a ring match, there’s simply not enough time to think, “Hmmmm, which hand do I parry with?”  ;)