3 components of good standup fighting / Don't eat the sand

There was an expression going around at the audio engineering school I attended that was sort of a nice way of saying "Don't be an idiot!" ; the expression was "Don't eat the sand!" You know when you are sitting there in an exam, scratching your head, trying to come up with the answer: then you realize the answer is right there in the question? Remember when you used to play in the sand box at the park and your mama would yell out "Don't eat the sand!" Well, both of those scenarios are similar.
Most of the time we over think things that would otherwise be simple and put unnecessary pressure on our selves. I had a student once tell me another expression - "Don't try to reinvent the wheel man!" He was referring to how I would get stressed out about trying to come up with brilliant new techniques to dazzle the students and not trusting my already comprehensive repertoire to satisfy their quests for knowledge. In my ongoing search for better training, diets, and mental and athletic performance enhancements I sometimes over think things. 
I have seen so many fights where one of the combatants is throwing bombs and combinations and rarely landing a shot.
I have also seen amazing talented fighters using minimal effort but connecting with every blow. A great example is a brilliant fighter from Leone Italy by the name of Giorgio Petrosyan. If you watch video of his fights you will see how he gets his opponents to charge in and how he perfectly sets up his counters. It is not magic, this is the result of hours of intelligent training and thoughtful practice.



At Carlson Gracie MMA in Maple Ridge British Columbia we are very strict with the process of training a fighter and learning new techniques. I often get asked to teach spinning flying kicks and other fancy moves but these fundamental building blocks of stand-up fighting are crucial and without a strong foundation, you can not build the top floor! 

Three components of good standup:
1. Timing
2. Distance
3. Accuracy

1.
When it comes to timing there is only one way to train and that is with a partner. When your partner throws a punch, for example, you parry and counter with your kick or punch. This takes hours of training with partners to develop your reflexes but staying strict with your technique and slowly but gradually increasing your speed will get you amazing results in a short time.
I FEEL A STORY COMING ON!
I recall one student who had been training his basic head movement and it saved his eye or maybe even his life. He was at a pub and as he walked outside to head home, he witnessed a fight taking place in the parking lot. Two guys were laying a beating on a smaller guy and my student, being a good Samaritan, tried to break it up. He yelled "Hey, come on guys you're going to hurt him!" and as he stepped toward the group, one of the guys pulled a knife and threw it right at my student's head! He slipped to the right and the knife cut his head along the temple but missed the eye. The point is that, through hours of drilling you can create new pathways in your brain and "muscle memory" that will not only improve your reaction time but also condition you for the correct response.

2.
Distance can be learned, at least in the beginning, by bag work. Moving away from the bag after every combination and coming back into distance to land the next will teach you the optimal landing place for the front foot. The problem with the bag is that it doesn't go anywhere which is unrealistic compared to a real fight. Working the pads or training with a partner also helps to train your distance. The main thing to pay attention to while doing any drill is, where your front foot lands. For boxing punches, it should land directly in the opponent's center line (point your toes at his nose).

3.
You don't need me to explain accuracy. Landing a punch on the "button" is more effective than any one technique known in martial arts and combat sports! ( http://neurology.about.com/od/Trauma/a/Treating-Traumatic-Brain-Injury.htm )
A great way to train your accuracy is to place small pieces of athletic tape on strategic spots on the heavy bag. Try hitting the mark on every jab and right cross that you throw to improve your accuracy and eye/hand coordination.
Hitting the focus mitts also helps, provided you try to hit the dot in the center of the mitt with every punch.