The empty hand, when I stroke with the left, is kept low to guard against the shoot or the knife by stiff-arming under my weapon and kept high when stroking with the right, as most punches and all extension weapon strokes on the street come in on that gate, to the left side of the head.

In the last 10 seconds, note how I shift grips after passing the bat through the target and bringing the bat handle to my waiting empty hand away from the foe. In a fight after you stroke forehand with the left while passing right you hand the bat to the right and then check with the left as you shift off or weak pivot. I did a crap job on this one and just handed it instead of hitting while changing hands.

[Why we should have age divisions in our new T-Ball bat combat league…]

Despite the fact that Arуas is stroking too wide, the speed and work rate of the young man would spell curtains for his diabolic mentor.

A tip for Arуas: Try starting your session from a shoulder load and striking without letting the elbow leave the body, then travelling to your power points: hip, elbow, shoulder, top of head. This will help with close stick work and punching mechanics. Begin slowly—like as slow as I am and build up tempo gradually at the end of each round. When you feel like you’ve got a good grove and are warmed up, start at a blitz and keep up the heat until you gas, then stiff-arm away.

For Dennis: Don’t open up your shoulder before stroking, but throw the bat off the shoulder. This will help you with throwing the hook punch from guard without telegraphing. Don’t lock your elbow at any point but train a slight bend as your end of motion. When back-handing and for-handing lateral pass to the outside and get your head out of the pocket.

When I’m training it’s for defending against the knife and I keep the off hand as a gut guard when stroking with the left hand. You fellows, when you have the empty hand in guard, try to check [which you are doing well] and also shield the head, to help prep for your MMA fights. Overall, use the T-ball bat to build your forearm elastic strength and for passing. Staying tight and stroking from the shoulders will help generalize your workout to boxing purposes.

Fighting Smart: Boxing, Agonistics & Survival