“The best defense is a good offense” – a boxing axiom

In a self –defense environment a pre-emptive plan of attack is generally more effective than a slower defend and counter attitude -action being faster than reaction .There may however be situations when one is not legally justified to go pre-emptive or in the worse case scenario the enemy ,having caught you physically and or mentally of guard , has delivered a pre-emptive attack .Either way being on the receiving end of a physical attack may result in little option other than to adopt short term defensive /recovery positions.

While the conventions and training out comes that govern modern boxing as a sport limit its effectiveness as a system of self –defense the skills pertaining to the earlier bare knuckle and old school gloved methods offer highly efficient cross over techniques for personal protection.

Extended guards

Extended guards , also referred to as ‘straight up guards' and ‘weaving guards', can best be described as a thrusting action of one or both arms towards the adversary in an effort to redirect a single fully committed punching attack . The intention of the extended guard is not to absorb the impact of a blow but rather to allow it to glance harmlessly off the forearm.

Against a linear blow the extended guard deflects the incoming attack either across or to the outside of the mid line. These same guards can also be successfully utilized against hooks, swings and overhead punches, opening up and exposing the adversary's mid line to a follow up.

To obtain a more thorough understanding and appreciation of the following grouping of defensive/ recovery positions we should look to the past and heed the advice of several western professors of the sweet and noble science.

R.G. Allanson- Winn comments on the extended guard-

Boxing authority, trainer, author and strongman Thomas Inch describes the Jim Driscoll “straight up guard” as a counter to the straight lead or hook -

“The upright “straight up” style of guarding was Driscoll's special favorite. He always claimed that for one thing it gave him the inside position and enabled him to deliver a short right to the chin or to the eye without danger. It is a powerful method of throwing a blow aside, though strangely enough it needs hardly any muscular effort or strength. The same guard can be used against hooks or swings, and this can not be claimed for either the forward block or outside parry. Driscoll by the way, contended that the upright guard saved a lot of strain, compared with the open glove parries. Opposed to a hard hitter one can feel a strain on the elbow if you receive full force of a really stiff left hand ( lead) upon your open glove. It might even knock you out of position.
But the upright guard allows blows to glance off without any damage whatever.

At a closer fighting range, or while entering into ‘infighting', the extended guard can be shortened by flexing the elbow. Inch continues his breakdown of the guard as favored by Driscoll-

World flyweight champion Jimmy Wild the “Mighty Atom” commented that whilst the straight arm guard opened up the opponents mid line to attack it also exposed your own. The Mighty Atom provides a simple solution-

“ I do not say that I never use this method , but I do contend that it can only be safely adopted when accompanied by the simultaneous direction of your left hand ( lead punch ) at your opponents head or body,”

From a passive guard structure ‘defense dans la rue' instructor Craig G lunges forward using the extended guard to deflect an over head punch while delivering a simultaneous straight lead to the enemy's face . Having successfully opened and exposed the adversary's mid line a left chopper blow is used as a follow up which chains the body for a wheeling elbow strike.

Compact guards

Compact guards provide short term damage control against a rapid flurry of punches that are too quick to visual track and individually counter. Many of these compact guards can act as bridging maneuvers to ram, smother and carry one inside the radius of angled punches. Against a stronger adversary these guards can not be maintain for a prolong period of time as they will eventually be broken down by a sustained attack.

The anonymous author of “Spalding Boxing Guide -Accurate instructor of the Science of self defense” provides details to what he refers to as the safety block-

“The safety block is the best guard for the human frame known in boxing. It is not used very frequently, not so often as it should be, in fact, and therefore is unfamiliar to many followers of fistiana.
The block in question brings both hands and arms into use and has been found very valuable by men when in awkward positions, say in a corner, or against the ropes and hard pressed by an opponent . It consists in folding the right forearm across the face, nose and chin fitting snugly into the crook of the elbow , and holding the left across the front of the body, the upper arm covering the heart and left ribs , the forearm and hand with the palm open and turned in , protecting the pit of the stomach and right ribs . The block can be made still more of a “safety” by bending the stomach inward as you carry the arms into position.
When your opponent gets you into a tight place and you cannot force him back by an assault, assume quickly the position as described and you can with impunity advance to any part of the floor or ring, as the case may be. His fists cannot reach a vital part, for by watching him closely and shifting either hand or forearm the merest trifle you can block anything he may choose to deliver”.

A modified version of the “safety block” was used by some old school boxers to pin the opponent's arms and gain the infighting position. The same anonymous author provides details of its use against a left lead-

“During infighting when your opponent leads his necessarily short left to your face, you will often be enabled to work a dodge which I have found to be very effective. As his hand comes at you, duck forward , allowing it to pass over your right shoulder and bringing your left forearm directly across and against your forehead, lunge forward against him, pinning his guarding right to his body with your combined head and forearm and sending your right to his body , say , the pit of the stomach or left ribs.
You should be able to carry him off his balance with the force of your onslaught and follow him up with a spirited attack with both hands”.

Thomas Inch writes about the clever Australian champ Mehegean and his style of using the safety block -

“First look at the small inset picture showing that the boxer is guarding himself with a bent left arm. His right is in readiness to upper-cut. This upper cut can be for the body or head and is delivered in comparative safety using this style”.
“Here is a hint which comes under what is known to old timers as ‘The Mehegan style'. Mehegan was the Australian champion and mastered the art of always having one bent arm as a guard while the other did the punching. So, going back to the main large illustration, you will see that after using the right hand upper-cut you would have to run the bent right arm across the face, and then in safety use you're left and so on ”.

Doran explains and demonstrates the versatility of the safety block -

An over hand punch is countered with the safety block, the driving forearm impacting the enemy's face forcing him on the defensive. Follow ups include an upper cut under the chin to kick the adversary's head back exposing his throat to an edge of hand blow and rear overhead punch.

Double covers –

Double cover places the body in such a position so as to minimize the effect of strikes impacting the head or body. By shrugging the shoulders, lowering the chin and curving the spine, the jaw, throat and several other primary targets present less of an option for the enemy to attack.

Thomas Inch touches on the double cover as used by Tommy Burns-

“Drop into the double guard position, crouching forward with both gloves open and held over your face, elbows near together upon your body, then take a little rush forward to get to close quarters. Your opponent failing to detect any opening up above, may send in a left to your body ; knock this down with your elbow and start by sending in a short upper-cut as you get in for infighting” .

Infighting specialist Freddie Welsh utilized a similar style to Burn's double cover as Inch explains –

Variations of the double cover

A -The double cover as used by Burns and Welsh

B -The American crouch

C - How Danny Webb works around an opponent, safe behind two weaving open gloves, fully guarded but ready to punch.

Defense dans la rue instructor Jon Dye utilizes the double cover to counter a series of rapid punching combinations. Jon guards a rear over head punch and continues to drive forward smothering a right hook while gob smacking the man in black with an elbow . Elbow spikes directed towards the enemy's face, throat and upper body are possible with the articulated elbows.

Cross arm guard

From the double cover position Jon drives forward with the cross arm guard smothering his enemy's attack. He follows with a hammer fist to the groin and a raising elbow strike under the chin.

Learning from the past – “Boxing is the discipline of violence”

Today these covers and guards have been given new and colorful names and resuscitated to meet contemporary self defence methodologies. Many instructors of reality based martial arts are incorporating these time tested skills into their own teaching syllabus- the very same skills that have been pressure tested by our western forefathers in the streets ,milling grounds and square ring for over 250 years .

Doran, J. Bart. Doran's Science of Self Defence
USA : 1889.

Famechon , John . The Method
Australia : Data Marketing Pty Ltd 1997.

Inch, Thomas. Boxing
London : Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd 1948.

Inch, Thomas. Boxing- The secret of the knock-out ‘You are OK if can KO'
London : The worlds work Ltd 1953.

Spalding's Boxing guide. An accurate instructor of the science of self defense
Australia : Australasian Sports Publishing Company .

Walker, Donald. Defensive Exercises .
London : Thomas Hurst, 5, St. Paul 's Church Yard . 1840

Wilde, Jimmy. The Art Of Boxing
London : W. Foulsham & Co. Ltd

Winn-Allanson .R.G. Boxing
London : George Bell & Sons 1893.