I am hoping that this thread can be used for us all to refine our film-study skills to pick up on habits, patterns, set-ups and strategies.
Pick any fight from any sport, and break down 15-30 seconds of footage. Occupy whichever fighter's perspective that you like, and scan the opponent for weaknesses, or take a broader look at the fight as a whole - I don't care, I just want to hear some of your observations on some of your favourite fights in an easily digestible format.
I'll start with about 30 seconds from the start of Emile Griffith vs Carlos Monzon 1. This will span from about 1:00 to 1:32 on the following clip:
1:01 - 1:09: Griffith opens against Monzon with variable rhythm and feints to set up some small offense early.
- at 1:01 Griffith works a head feint, and Monzon covers. A small hand feint teases out a Monzon jab that Griffith splits with a small head movement to counter with his own jab at 1:02. Griffith wastes no time pressure Monzon with these feints, forcing him into action and drawing out expected return-fire.
- Sensing that Griffith is leading and wanting to reassert himself, Monzon sticks out jabs. Griffith's feinting pressure is drawing these jabs out, meaning he is defending on his terms. He is expecting them, and picks one at 1:04 with a very small, efficient motion. Griffith takes an efficient, relaxed back-step to rob Monzon of contact of 1:06.
- Instead of active punch-feints, Griffith decides to offer a change in rhythm to pressure Monzon and draw punches in a different way. 1:09 sees him adopt what I nickname the "Weldon shuffle" after watching Kenny Wheldon emphasize his back-foot heavy "rhythm." Griffith's is a more subtle version without hopping on the lead foot. The rhythm change draws the desired reaction from Monzon, who jabs at him again to get a bead on the in-and-out motion. Monzon bites hard, shooting a double jab and hook that Griffith drops underneath, landing a body jab of his own. Though it is only a touch, it establishes control, showing Monzon contact, and allows Griffith to explore this low outside position's safety.
1:11 - 1:21: Griffith grows confident in the safety of the low outside position and mines his high feint-body jab set-up
- With confidence in the low outside body-jab position building, Griffith looks to build on what he has learned. Knowing his feints are having the desired effect, and feeling comfortable bent over towards his back leg, he applies both pieces of info to set up some offense. 1:11 sees Griffith feint high, then stick the jab low.
- Griffith mines the high-low opening he has established without getting greedy. He feints high and jabs low a second time to get his money's worth, then feints the body jab hard at 1:14 to keep Monzon guessing, effectively obeying the "rule of 3" by not showing his opponent the same opening three times in a row.
- Griffith steps away from his "Wheldon shuffle" and works behind balanced steps and deliberate feinting in spots again. Having broken up his attack with this lull, he can score again with a high feint into a body jab, before retreating intelligently into his safe low outside position at 1:21.
1:22 - 1:31: Griffith takes the foot off of the pedal and works his defense, offering different looks and countering in spots
- Griffith shows Monzon many different ways of defending the jab, frustrating him further. At 1:23, he parries it. At 1:25, he hops back an inch to shut it down again, displaying some beautiful range control and making sure to reclaim the space after.
- Monzon, frustrated with his jab's lack of success, sits into a looping right hand at 1:26. Griffith ducks Monzon's punch and touches with his own 2 to the body in response. If I'm taking Monzon's perspective here, Griffith's feints, counter success, and defensive variables are leaving me frustrated if not concerned.
- Griffith picks another jab at 1:29, allowing Monzon no contact and no control. Monzon jabs again and Griffith executes a beautiful pull counter to land a jab at 1:31. The pull took no step, and was enabled by Griffith's forward baiting posture.
So, overall, I thought this was a great display of the value of feinting as a means of applying pressure, creating offensive opportunities, and drawing punches to enhance your defensive control.
Anybody into this idea? Is this boring? I could read this stuff all day long. Show me your film study!
Pick any fight from any sport, and break down 15-30 seconds of footage. Occupy whichever fighter's perspective that you like, and scan the opponent for weaknesses, or take a broader look at the fight as a whole - I don't care, I just want to hear some of your observations on some of your favourite fights in an easily digestible format.
I'll start with about 30 seconds from the start of Emile Griffith vs Carlos Monzon 1. This will span from about 1:00 to 1:32 on the following clip:
1:01 - 1:09: Griffith opens against Monzon with variable rhythm and feints to set up some small offense early.
- at 1:01 Griffith works a head feint, and Monzon covers. A small hand feint teases out a Monzon jab that Griffith splits with a small head movement to counter with his own jab at 1:02. Griffith wastes no time pressure Monzon with these feints, forcing him into action and drawing out expected return-fire.
- Sensing that Griffith is leading and wanting to reassert himself, Monzon sticks out jabs. Griffith's feinting pressure is drawing these jabs out, meaning he is defending on his terms. He is expecting them, and picks one at 1:04 with a very small, efficient motion. Griffith takes an efficient, relaxed back-step to rob Monzon of contact of 1:06.
- Instead of active punch-feints, Griffith decides to offer a change in rhythm to pressure Monzon and draw punches in a different way. 1:09 sees him adopt what I nickname the "Weldon shuffle" after watching Kenny Wheldon emphasize his back-foot heavy "rhythm." Griffith's is a more subtle version without hopping on the lead foot. The rhythm change draws the desired reaction from Monzon, who jabs at him again to get a bead on the in-and-out motion. Monzon bites hard, shooting a double jab and hook that Griffith drops underneath, landing a body jab of his own. Though it is only a touch, it establishes control, showing Monzon contact, and allows Griffith to explore this low outside position's safety.
1:11 - 1:21: Griffith grows confident in the safety of the low outside position and mines his high feint-body jab set-up
- With confidence in the low outside body-jab position building, Griffith looks to build on what he has learned. Knowing his feints are having the desired effect, and feeling comfortable bent over towards his back leg, he applies both pieces of info to set up some offense. 1:11 sees Griffith feint high, then stick the jab low.
- Griffith mines the high-low opening he has established without getting greedy. He feints high and jabs low a second time to get his money's worth, then feints the body jab hard at 1:14 to keep Monzon guessing, effectively obeying the "rule of 3" by not showing his opponent the same opening three times in a row.
- Griffith steps away from his "Wheldon shuffle" and works behind balanced steps and deliberate feinting in spots again. Having broken up his attack with this lull, he can score again with a high feint into a body jab, before retreating intelligently into his safe low outside position at 1:21.
1:22 - 1:31: Griffith takes the foot off of the pedal and works his defense, offering different looks and countering in spots
- Griffith shows Monzon many different ways of defending the jab, frustrating him further. At 1:23, he parries it. At 1:25, he hops back an inch to shut it down again, displaying some beautiful range control and making sure to reclaim the space after.
- Monzon, frustrated with his jab's lack of success, sits into a looping right hand at 1:26. Griffith ducks Monzon's punch and touches with his own 2 to the body in response. If I'm taking Monzon's perspective here, Griffith's feints, counter success, and defensive variables are leaving me frustrated if not concerned.
- Griffith picks another jab at 1:29, allowing Monzon no contact and no control. Monzon jabs again and Griffith executes a beautiful pull counter to land a jab at 1:31. The pull took no step, and was enabled by Griffith's forward baiting posture.
So, overall, I thought this was a great display of the value of feinting as a means of applying pressure, creating offensive opportunities, and drawing punches to enhance your defensive control.
Anybody into this idea? Is this boring? I could read this stuff all day long. Show me your film study!