About The Double Arm Block
This defensive action you are about to look at is one of the most common boxing techniques that you see in any given fight. There is a very good reason for the regularity with which we can witness this defence being used, it’s because it works! The double arm block, also known as ‘covering-up’, is more than a simple defence; it’s a very effective tool for moving into range, from long range to mid/short range. Don’t make the mistake of believing that the double arm block is almost an act of surrender. Quite simply, it’s not! When used alongside other techniques, such as the defensive inside fighting blocks, and the full range of punches, you can quite easily dominate any opponent no matter their strength or level of aggression.
If you want a virtually impregnable defence, make sure that you understand how and why we use the double arm block. It’s not a passive, weak defence. On the contrary, the double arm block is one of the core, reactive boxing techniques in any situation where you need to advance quickly and safely. Enjoy the video, check out the common faults and as always leave your comments!
The Mechanics Of The Double Arm Block
- From the boxing stance, on sight of an incoming shot, bring the arms together, turning the palms inwards towards your face and raising the fists to only about the level of the eyebrows.
- When the shot has been blocked, return the hands to the guard position.
Common Faults When Blocking Hooks
The 3 main faults:
- Do not raise the arms too high. The only effect of this will be to expose your body to attack…bad idea!
- Do not cover the head and look down at the ground. This means that you cannot see any further threats coming your way. Visibility of the threat is an absolute must.
- Not hitting back! If you block an opponent’s shots, then you can strike back…so do so!
Hope this has most effective of boxing techniques has proven helpful; be sure to leave a comment below!
Cheers
Fran
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for posting this one Fran. Even though this one’ s relatively simple to implement I haven’t seen it covered elsewhere on the web. I only picked up the block by watching more experienced fighters in my club. It’s good to get a detailed explanation from you.
The website is growing from strength to strength, please keep up the good work, I regularly come back to re-view your videos an always pick up something new.
Hey Keith
Good to hear from you again. You’re right this is a very common move, but often taken for granted. It’s well worth understanding the mechanics if only to ensure that you can effectively fire back counters out of the defence.
Keep watching the guys at the boxing club, this is a very underrated way of learning. ‘Peer to Peer’ learning accounts for a great deal, this is why successful boxing gyms remain successful; success breeds success!
Take it easy Keith.
A very experienced boxer in our gym has a great double arm block. He actually uses it to rest and to tire out the less experienced opponents. Once he’s in his armadillo like defense I can’t find any targets at all. Very frustrating! At first, I just hammered away at his block – hoping something would get through. Not very good since this only tired me out while he continued to rest.
Coach suggests that when someone tends to stay in that defensive guard you can take the opportunity to throw heavy bombs into his arms and shoulders. If you’re a heavy hitter these will add up and his arms may begin to feel like limp noodles as the rounds go on – making his block less and less effective.
Another thing I noticed is that you have to be aware of the glove sizes. If you practice with big 14oz sparring gloves you will find it difficult to get a punch in between the forearms. However, the smaller gloves you use in competition will sneak through more easily. We have to be aware of this, both as punchers and as blockers.
Hey Karl
Great to hear from you, hope you are well.
Interesting on the ‘punching the arms’ approach. This was a tactic that Rocky Marciano used. Joe Louis after his fight with Marciano said that he could not lift his arms up for a whole week. Marciano simply smashed his arms to pieces! My own view is that if you can land a first shot, then as long as follow up shots are instant they have a reasonably high chance of landing. For example, when at short range and the opponent is ‘holed-up’ behind a double arm block, you can use ‘feel’ to create your opening. By this I mean that you can (with the left hand) ‘tap’ the front of the guard (toward the body) with an uppercut. This might have the effect of momentarily bringing the guard forward. The instant after the tap, whack a short left hook into the side followed by an instant right uppercut into the solar plexus area. All of this takes place in a split second. The initial tap is in effect a ‘contact feint’, as when up close ‘feel’ is important in judging what shot an opponent might throw (e.g. how the opponent ‘leans’ on you and adjusts to throw shots.) The left hook to the side then brings the guard back, leaving an opening for the right uppercut. There are some ‘ifs’ and ‘maybes’, but if that final right uppercut lands, that will cause damage and once an opponent is badly hurt to the body then receiving punches into the arms causes reverberations through the torso..ouch!
Good point also on the gloves.
Great contribution Karl, thanks.
Hi Fran
Your video inspired me to use the double arm block in sparring tonight and no punches got through! The only time I was hit was when my arms adopted the regular stance form. I’ll have to use this a lot more in the future.
I think the double arm also helps you to relax more, enabling you to see more of what’s going on.
Thanks again
Keith
That’s great Keith. It’s a good, simple and effective defence. I’m glad it’s been of help.
Cheers
Thanks for this and the other videos, really good and clear explanations! It would be great if you had somebody to demonstrate with, to identify the weaknesses and strengths of the defensive tactics, I.e hooks sneaking around a loose double arm guard.
Great point Dav. I do plan to enlist the help of some of the boxers on future projects, but for all of these early videos it was a conscious decision not to. Why? Well, when I work with a boxer on a technical pad session for instance, I focus on them without pulling in another person. I wanted to be sure that my videos made a direct link with you, the viewer, and that any questions or clarifications could be submitted via the site afterwards. Your suggestion is definitely going to be taken up though, thanks for the pointer!
Hey Fran
first of all great site, i had previously watched Title’s instructional video on you tube, and although it is good, your videos are better.
I recently started sparring and tried to use the defensive techniques shown in the Title videos. They didnt even cover the double arm block, and just showed catches and parrys. Needless to say as a inexperienced boxer (literally just started a few weeks ago) i got my head knocked off by not been fast enough to defend myself with those defence techniques.
im back tonight and will be using the double arm block as my main line of defence. Also from shadow boxing, it seems like a fast one two counter would be effective from the double arm block just after the opponent has landed. what do you think?
just two questions, would you be better leaning into the shots of the opponent with this block, creating a solid wall, or would it be better to lean back to try absorb the shot, or just remain neutral?
and secondly, would you put your gloves against your forehead to brace for the impact, or keep your hands a few inches away and risk punching yourself in the head if the shots are heavy?
any advice would be great, and the rest of the site is very helpfull!!
Fran
Just to let you know i used the double arm block with great success in sparring last night.
with a standard guard i was able to get the block into place in a split second when i saw my opponents punch start, and bearly got caught with any straight shots. i was also still in position to counter attack and landed alot more punches than i did when i was trying to catch and parry incoming shots
I also found it qutie easy to switch it to hook blocks and body blocks, proactively switching between guard positions while slightly twisting my upper body i managed to defend reasonably well, although i did get smacked around quite a bit like this,
anyway, much, much more practice needed, but thanks for putting me on the right track!
Andy
Apologies for not responding to your initial comment, although I did read it. That’s great news. It’s always good when you have new stuff to try and it works. In terms of the lean forward question from the previous comment, always avoid this. A mixture of weight on the back leg and strong arms are key. Even more important than this is to ensure that you maintain visibility throughout the use of the double arm block, don’t block your vision with your arms and don’t look down. By maintaining your line of sight you can, as you say, make small adjustments to deflect incoming hooks.
Good stuff. By the way, keep working on your other blocks and parries (there’s versions on the site to look at). All of these defences come in useful at some point against some particular opponent.
Well done Andy, keep up the good work.
Fran
Thank you for your comments. I will try adding in parrys and catches etc to supplement my defence.
all the best
Fran, I’ve read that the double-arm block can be ineffective in a more bare-knuckle style of fighting because your opponent isn’t wearing the gloves, which make the fists significantly larger and improve the chances of blocking. Do you have any thoughts on this matter?
Excellent, clearly explained. I’m a kickboxer and need to work on my hands. Just stumbled across your site and think it’s great. Thanks for the advice — keep it coming!
You’re welcome Leigh. Thank you very much for taking the time to leave a comment and I’m glad that you are finding the site helpful.