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A common problem facing a lot of practitioners of martial arts is sparring against or fighting against someone who has some kind of natural physical advantage...such as a longer reach. Combative sports have mitigated this issue somewhat by introducing arbitrary weight classes which tend at the same time to put two opponents of more or less equal height (and therefore reach) together. It doesn’t always work out to be an equal contest in such circumstances however and watching how a smaller person closes the distance to negate his opponent’s reach advantage can be highly educational. Mike Tyson was the master of closing the distance when he was at his peak as he often faced much taller boxers. Another fight worth watching is Anderson Silva vs Chael Sonnen at UFC 117 (which is also one of the most exciting fights you are likely to see). Chael suffered a significant reach disadvantage (within the weight class) but was often able to overcome this, close with Anderson and dominate him for almost the entire fight.
In Lerdrit, or old style Muay Thai, the distance is closed by angling in on a jab forty-five degrees to the outside of the puncher. From this position of relative safety you can go into your own short boxing combination before moving out again and repeating the process as needed. A more advanced option is to deliver some kind of strike as you close the distance (a knee is demonstrated in the video). This doesn’t necessarily have to be a strong, knock out type of attack, but just enough to stop your opponent’s forward momentum and make him pause for a split second is enough to give you an advantage in setting up a more powerful combination from the outside. Of course, if you can land a telling blow you can follow up immediately
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