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Use of
the ropes
The ropes serve the purpose of keeping
two fighters together. For some they pose a threat confining their movements and
forcing them to meet their fears. Others see opportunities to be capitalised on. A good fighter will turn the presence of
ropes into a tool. The ropes form a boundary from which there is no escape, and
that boundary is physical. This means it has a direct reaction to a fighter.
Fighting on mats and your opponent can run out of the area – a common
complaint with light continuous fights. In a ring, any such manoeuvre will
bounce you back. The purpose of the ropes is to keep the fighters within the
ring, acting as a physical confinement, and separate from the majority of
external influences. They serve a function for safety, by preventing fighters
from falling out of their stage. There is a psychological fear of
fighting within a ring that must be overcome. Having no escape can create fear.
If you are not familiar with you surroundings you will be thinking more of them
than of the fight – acting to your detriment. A ring can be anywhere from 16’ -
21’. A small ring allows less free movement, so it’s better to fight an
illusive fighter in a small ring. A large ring is ideal if you are facing a
shorter more powerful opponent – it gives you a chance to hit and run. The
size of the ring will influence your fight tactics. A suggestion is to ask the
size of the ring prior to the event enabling you to plan accordingly. Experience
has shown that you generally require a higher work rate in a small ring, so do
your preparation accordingly. Footwork combined with the confines of
the ropes helps you influence your opponent’s movements. You can use
positioning skills to manoeuvre your opponent into a position that can be
capitalised on. This can be utilised to ‘corner’ the opponent, placing him
in a corner with ropes on two sides and you in front. The corner posts have no
give in them, and the only way he has to go is forward through you. Remember
that you can position a fighter with the direction of your strikes –
continuous right leg round kicks will force your opponent to move left. The best place to be inside the ring is
probably the centre. Here you can control the ring and make your opponent do the
running around. This way he burns energy whilst you recover and have energy in
reserve. This can be compared to a squash or tennis player staying in the middle
of the court and forcing his opponent to do the running. If you are caught on the ropes you can
lean into them and utilise them in absorbing the force of the strikes. Unless by
design this is not always a good place to be! If you are on the ropes you
can’t move backwards. This means you can only go forwards or sideways,
restricting evasion. Practice and develop skills to turn your opponent round so
you get off the ropes and he gets caught, turning a negative situation into a
positive one. Use of the ring in training is important. Your footwork must allow for the constraints of the ring. Try to do your padwork in the ring. Shadow box there. Spar inside of the ring. Learn where the ropes are, where the posts are, the give of the ropes, and how you can catch people in the corners. Become comfortable and in control of your environment. Make the ring your home, and you will be comfortable within it’s confines, and will turn restrictions into a tool. There are skills requiring development to prepare for fighting inside a ring. These skills are called ringcraft for a reason. To be able to fight inside a ring is a craft of kickboxing in itself, and as such requires training, development and practice. Please don’t think that anyone can step into a ring and fight. I would consider it to getting into the deep end of a pool when you can’t swim, and automatically expect to. It takes training, practice and development. Do your preparation and see the results.
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(Thanks to Nathan Leverton for
the photo)