How To Use Combos In Martial Arts & Why They’re Important

Whichever martial art you train, combos are extremely important. In summary, a combination of strikes and/or throws is what separates a novice from an experienced practitioner.

If you are new to martial arts, you simply will not be able to throw combinations with any kind of fluency or structure. Since each technique is very new to a beginner, it is extremely difficult to piece them together whilst still learning the basics.

Being able to perform combinations in any martial art or competitive bout is extremely important. Without any combos, your chance of beating a skilled opponent is virtually zero, since they will be able to defend any takedown or strike that is thrown completely on its own. When you start adding feints and follow ups to the original strike or throw – this is when things begin to change. Even the best defensive fighters will become overwhelmed by combinations of punches or takedowns. When you attempt to defend one attack, you open yourself up to a counter attack.

Moreover, this applies to every martial art there is. You aren’t going to be able to hit an experienced striker in the head if you’re only throwing singular jabs. The same can be said for judo. If you’re only attempting a tai otoshi, it’s going to be very predictable what you’re up to and the opponent can move their weight backward to compensate for this. In short, using a single attack on it’s own is completely useless and will only really pay off against an untrained opponent who doesn’t know what is happening.

How To Use Combinations In Judo

Judo is a grappling martial art with very obvious and emphasized combinations. Whilst beginners will likely only learn a couple of throws in their first few lessons, after this it becomes about chaining throws together.

Any judoka worth their salt will not be thrown by a single attempt. Kuzushi summarises what judo is all about, which is in essence keeping your opponent off balance whilst exploiting their reactions and overreactions.

Combinations are relatively easy to pull off once you have a number of related throws mastered alongside a good feel of how your opponent will react.

A simple example of this is ko uchi gari to seoi nage which sets your opponent up for an “easy” throw. By attempting a standalone seoi nage, any experienced judoka will immediately know what is happening and lower their weight to counteract the throw. However, if you feint, or actually attempt a ko uchi gari in the first place, this will adequately position your opponent for a seoi nage. Of course, if you’re training against a judo Olympian, this game has many levels and this will become even more difficult, with counters to counters.

However, as a brief overview, this is how combinations work in judo. Moving from one throw to another until you eventually score an ippon.

How To Use Combinations In Boxing & Kickboxing

Boxing and kickboxing are both sports with a lot of sub-genres and closely related techniques. For example, you will find a roundhouse kick in regular kickboxing, muay thai and also karate. As with any martial art, striking is not a sport where you can just rely solely on a single technique and use it to defeat all contenders.

Due to the popularity of short video clips, you will find 20-30 punch combinations scattered all over youtube and instagram. These combinations are not too realistic and cannot be replicated in a live sparring situation. You will rarely find the best boxers in the world being able to put 10 punch combinations together – but you will however find they are consistently about to throw 3-5 punch combinations regularly.

As a boxer uses their arms to stop punches to the head or body with their guard, they cannot really protect both at the same time. This requires fighters to keep moving their own hands around, if for nothing else – to stop getting hit.

It makes sense then that as you throw strikes towards the head of the opponent, their arms will become raised to stop these punches landing.

A short example of this would be to throw a looping hook followed by an uppercut so that the opponent raises his hands in order to protect his head. Without hesitation, you can throw a low hook to the body which should land cleanly. This is a simple situation that shows a clear scenario of how to use combinations to your advantage. Theoretically, it is best if all punches are thrown in a combination as this makes it far harder for your opponent to defend.

Boxing combinations can be used to greater effect when combined with creating angles. By stepping off to one side, your opponent is forced to react and turn, whilst moving their arms to parry punches at the same time. This is a little more complicated, but still follows the same basic principles mentioned above.

How To Use Combinations In Wing Chun

Wing chun is a little different than the aforementioned martial arts since it is intrinsically more fluid. This martial art regularly combines trapping with counter strikes of your own whilst the arms of your opponent are lowered.

By blocking using trapping, you are not only diverting the strikes of an adversary away from your body, but also putting their limbs in a bad position. When the arm of an opponent is “trapped”, this generally means that they are both unable to throw a strike or block since their hand is in an unnatural position and needs to be recoiled fully to its original position.

Since wing chun is based around counter strikes, combinations will usually be initiated from blocking. If your opponent throws a jab down the center line, it then makes sense to trap this off to wherever feels the most natural position. After this, you can counter with an elbow and a punch from your other hand. This is a 3 piece combination and is a typical sequence you would find in a wing chun spar. When put together in a flowing drill, this will look like an endless combination.

How To Use Combinations In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

BJJ is a groundfighting art where the aim is to sweep and submit your opponent. We regularly see BJJ being used in sports such as MMA where it is an essential part of the fighter’s toolkit whilst on the floor.

Much like judo, BJJ focuses a lot on weight distribution of both yourself and the adversary. As soon as the opponent puts an arm or leg in the wrong place, it can be attacked, or used to put their own back to the mat.

Combinations in BJJ can be used in the same way as judo too. Chaining together attacks is a perfect way to catch your opponent off guard. This is often seen when having full control of the back. Skilled BJJ practitioners will switch between a rear naked choke and armbar so that the opponent has no idea what attack is coming next. When too many attacks are chained together, eventually the opponent will run out of answers and be unable to defend everything at once – leading to a submission.