Maai
Placeholder
Contents
out of range
kicking
striking
The Clinch
The clinch” refers distances less than your arm’s reach away, where you can grab your opponent without reaching. Most punches and kicks are jammed up and are rendered ineffective or impossible in the clinch, so specialized strikes must be used instead. Takedowns, wrestling, and grappling moves are only possible from the cinch. There is no room to think inside the clinch; you must act immediately, because your opponent will.
Karateka with stocky body types are more successful once they close the distance and enter the clinch, because taller fighters are more prone to takedowns, and they lose their reach advantage in this region. Most of a taller fighter’s techniques will be jammed, so they must evade or retreat to reclaim the maai.
The following techniques work well in the clinch:
- Tate tsuki
- Hook punch
- Uppercut
- Tate-shutō uchi
- Elbow strikes
- Palmheel strike
- Uraken uchi
- Chicken-head strike
- Tiger claw strike
- Knee kick
- Crescent kick
- Stomp kick
- All joint manipulations and takedowns
