Body Shots: Most Effective Yet Underrated Martial Arts Technique

Everyone gets fascinated by the head shots, but what about body shots? They often don't get recognized and valued. Fans often enjoy only the head shots because they lead to the finishes and knockouts in professional MMA matches. This decreases the value of the body shots even further. A beginner in MMA often tries to practice head shots and gives negligible importance to the body shots.

No realizes the power and value of the body shots. Collecting all the importance of body shots in one sentence, these are the body shots that give you the opportunity to hit the head and knock the opponent out. This article explores all the benefits of the body shots to make fans and MMA beginners realize how powerful and valuable these body shots can be for you in a professional MMA match.

Body shots refer to the punches and strikes that are targeted at the torso of the opponent in a professional martial arts match. The body shots are used in many martial arts such as boxing, Muay Thai, MMA, and UFC. The person’s torso is also known as the main part of the body, which includes the chest, pelvis, back, and abdomen. These are probably the only strikes in martial arts that are very powerful, and despite being so powerful, crucial, and valuable for winning the match, are underrated.

• Body shots are very powerful and effective for many reasons. Many people, during a professional martial arts match, focus on hitting the head. This is the reason they keep defending their head, and they have developed many ways for it. So the chances of hitting the head of the opponent become very low as compared to hitting the torso of the opponent because they will not be defending their torso as much as their head.

• During the fight, both fighters think of hitting each other on the head. So this makes hitting the torso easier. The next misconception is that hitting the torso is not as effective as hitting the head. But this is a myth, and people suffer more when they get hit on their torso as compared to being hit on the head. The only condition is that you have to make sure that you hit the sweet spots. These sweet spots will be very effective and give you a lot of advantage over your opponent. For example, if you hit the liver or sternum, it will be more effective than hitting the head of your opponent.

• Another benefit you get by striking the body of your opponent is that it is effective on everyone. You do strike both at a much stronger and bigger opponent, and a smaller and weaker opponent. The strike will be effective on both equally if you are hitting at the right spot.

The following are the body shots and the ways to hit them at your opponent, getting an advantage over them:

• Just like the backbone in your body, which provides strength to all of your body, the ribs are the source of protection, strength, and defense to your chest, heart, lungs, and liver. So if you are at the front of your opponent, you should break this great defense and protection wall, i.e., their ribs.

• Hitting the ribs will interrupt their breathing. They will start having breathing problems. When you hit them at their ribs, at the first stroke, they will not have any damage. But if you continue striking them at their ribs, this will have an effect on their lungs. There are muscles between your ribs, which are known as the intercostal muscles. By hitting the ribs, these muscles are affected. If these get affected, your opponent will not have a normal breathing pattern. They will have difficulty breathing, which will cost them their match.

• How can an opponent continue the match fighting their opponent if they can't even breathe properly? They will find it very difficult to continue fighting, depending on the intensity and frequency of rib shots they get from you. If you can continue hitting their ribs for a considerable period, they will start feeling fatigued. With fatigue, they can't fight you, or even if they are fighting somehow miserably with you, they will only defend themselves and cannot make any attacks.

The following is the way to make the rib shots at your opponent accurately:

• The ribs are of three types in your body. All three types do not have equal sensitivity to your shots. The three types include true, false, and floating ribs. Floating ribs are in the lower portion of the ribs, which are less dense and less strong than the other parts of the ribs. So this makes the floating ribs the most sensitive part of your ribs, and they are almost 11-12 in number. So direct your shots at the lower part to make the most of your hits.

• The second point to keep in mind is that you should point your attacks from lower to upward direction so that if they have elbows on their ribs, then your punches and shots can slip from their elbows and reach their lower portion of ribs. So this will have two benefits, and this includes that you are hitting the right part of the ribs, and also they are slipping from their elbows.

• You can use kicks, elbows, uppercuts, and punches to hit the ribs of your opponent.

• The second body shot you should add to your learning list is the liver shot. The liver is also protected by the rib cage. So it has natural defenses for protecting itself against the hits. It is an organ in your body that is responsible for removing waste from your blood, i.e, it filters your blood. It is the main metabolic organ in your body. It makes your blood clear. It has a network of vagus nerves.

• These nerves connect the liver to the brain and the heart. So if you are hitting the liver, the damage will not only be on the liver, but it will also be transferred to the heart and brain through the vagus nerves. The ultimate result will be alterations in your heart rate and blood pressure. So if you are hitting the liver, you are indirectly hitting their heart and brain.

The following is the way to make the liver shots at your opponent accurately:

• For throwing the perfect liver shots, you should be a boxer following the southpaw stance. Southpaw boxers can more accurately and easily hit the liver as compared to orthodox stance boxers. If you are in a southpaw stance, you don't need to switch to a particular stance to hit them at the liver. You are already in a position that is perfect for the liver shots.

• For better results, aim to the right of your opponent, which is in your left direction. This is because the liver is on the left side of the person, just below the rib cage.

• If you are a leftie, you can easily hit them at the liver. This is again due to the same reason that the liver is on the right side of the body. This is the reason if you watch the leftie playing the match, you will notice that they are winning and finishing the match mostly due to the liver shots.

• For hitting the liver, you first have to make sure that the liver is clear for smashing, and that they are not covered with their elbows or hands. If the liver is not clear, you should hit it on the head. If you strike their head, then they will shift their focus from defending the liver to their head, and then they will have all their defense on their head, as the head is considered one of the most vulnerable parts of the body. Then their liver is ready for you to attack.

• The solar plexus is also known as the celiac plexus. It is the network of neurons and ganglia that is present in the abdomen. It lies behind the aorta near the diaphragm. Hitting the solar plexus will serve mostly the same function as the rib shots. This plexus is responsible for controlling and regulating the diaphragm.

• Your breathing pattern and flow depend on this muscle. So if this is not functioning right, you cannot breathe normally. So, hitting the solar or celiac plexus of your opponent will cause them fatigue, and they will not be able to breathe normally. When they cannot breathe, they can't fight. They can't attack, and they can't even defend properly. So this will lead you to a victory over them.

The following is the way to hit the solar or celiac plexus at your opponent accurately:

• You should try hitting the center of their torso because this is where the rib cage is, and the solar plexus is just below it. So aim correctly and you will get the desired results. Many boxers keep on hitting above or below the solar plexus, and then they complain they are not getting the expected results. The reason is the wrong direction. The celiac plexus is difficult to hit because it is not a major organ that anyone can easily locate. In a fighting situation, it becomes more difficult to locate this organ. So if you locate it right, then you can hit the solar plexus easily.

• Just like the strategy discussed in the liver shots, aim for the head. Once you start hitting their head, they will switch their defense from the solar plexus to their head to protect from your shots. You don't need to hit many times. Just one or two hits and your opponent will clear the target area for you to attack. Once this is done, quickly shift your shots to the solar plexus. But after every two or three shots at the plexus, make sure you are hitting at least one shot to the head. This will force them to keep their defense on their head and not bring it back to the plexus.

• Body shots are truly the secret for you to dominate your opponent and win the match. They are like the secret sauce that, when you add it to the food, makes it so spicy and tasty that everyone loves it. Without this spice or sauce, the food cannot be tasty. So the same role is played by the body shots in your martial arts game. Whether it's Muay Thai, boxing, MMA, or you fighting in the UFC, utilize body shots to supercharge your power and game to attack your opponent.

• You should add this to your training routine. Practice this daily so you can adopt it in your professional fighting match. If you are training using the heavy bag, don't hit only the upper part of it, thinking of it as a head. Make sure you are also hitting the lower part, imagining it as the body shot. Keep on training and practicing body shots until they become your muscle memory. So you don't need to do it intentionally. It becomes a part of your natural game plan.

• The ideal strategy is, however, not to do and practice only the body shots. You should practice both head and body shots, and also in a professional fighting match, make sure you are using the combination, not a single thing. The benefit of using the combination is that you confuse your opponent. They cannot predict your next possible move. So, another benefit was added to the body shot. It will shift you in the winning direction. Another thing is that if you are using the mixture of both, your opponent will defend their head. They will prioritize defending their head over their body. So you have a clear way to attack the body, however you want. So hit them hard and lead the game.

Body shots are the most effective technique in martial arts. Despite their effectiveness, they are the most underrated technique. If you are just starting your martial arts journey in boxing, Muay Thai, or MMA, you should practice it as much as you can. Ideally, you should practice both and use both in your match. The one using both will be at an advantage over the opponent only if they are hitting the right sweet spots on the opponent’s body.