The Stop Hit

A few days ago I saw one of the best examples of stop hitting on the preparation that I have ever seen. I was watching a DVD about Muhammad Ali, specifically the 'Rumble in the Jungle' against George Foreman in 1974 and I was blown away by it. I have never really seen an entire fight of Ali's as I only have vague memories of him on TV as a child so this was a real eye opener. It wasn't the usual Ali hype and showmanship that resonated more the fact that he was so quick and so resilient. George Foreman had the most powerful punch of the time and the critical thought was that he would knock Ali down in less than three rounds which was his usual form. Ali didn't subscribe to that view however and hung on the ropes taking a lot of punishment to the body before unleashing a flurry of powerful counter-punches to knock Foreman down in the 8th round. The really impressive thing for me was that Ali had a plan and he stuck to it; he knew Foreman's punches were powerful but he also knew that they took a big preparatory swing to deliver and that during that preparation he could land at least two good strong jabs to Foreman's head, before covering or dodging out of the way. This he proceeded to do, throwing more punches than Foreman whilst allowing his opponent to tire himself out. This to me is a classic example of how with proper timing you can execute a successful strategy based on the stop hit and this technique can be particularly demoralising for your opponent as you continuously strike them on their initiative, leaving them feeling helpless and somewhat bruised mentally and physically.

In fencing the stop hit (both at foil and epee) is a deceptively simple technique mechanically but a difficult one technically. As your opponent steps forward you lunge directly at them and catch them before their back foot lands leaving them incapable of dodging or stepping back. It is particularly effective if presaged by a beat (or a bind in epee to ensure avoiding a double) and even more effective if you have used a small stutter step backwards to lure your opponent in. In general if someone is thinking of attacking you they are not thinking of defending themselves and as they step in their momentum carries them onto your point. Against someone who is constantly stepping in with an engagement presage your stop with a disengage or counter-disengage before making the hit. It calls for precise timing but it is worth it.

Ali was also a master of psychological warfare and could inflict almost as much damage with a comment as a punch. Foreman recalls that in the 5th round he hit Ali with his most powerful body punch and Ali just leant in and whispered "Is that all you got George?" Foreman remembers thinking "yeah, that's just about it...." One could speculate that from that moment on Foreman's defeat was inevitable. The psychology of your opponent is well worth studying; recent tennis matches I've seen at Wimbledon have shown how once an opponent's confidence and belief has started to crumble it only needs to be continuously nudged to collapse completely. As Musashi put it "In individual martial arts it also happens that an adversary will get out of rhythm in combat and start to fall apart. If you let such a chance get by you, the adversary will recover and thwart you. It is essential to follow up firmly on any loss of poise on the part of an opponent, to prevent him from recovering." Wise words indeed.