The check smash is the first in a series of basic smashes. Mastering these three is a must for a big man or an inside fighter, and must be learned by other types as well, if you are a move and jab kind of stick fighter you must learn the mash for when you get jammed by the in-fighter and as a way to jam a slasher who is tearing you up at mid-range.

The check smash must be learned on a bag, tire, post or training shield held my partner. The best tool for the smash is the heavy bag as it permits you to practice driving into the target. I prefer a free standing heavy bag for smashes so that you know when you would have stepped on his foot.

Begin in guard.

Step up to the bag and check what would be the opponent’s stick-hand shoulder.

Step back.

Step in with a short #1 diagonal forehand stroke and smash the sweet spot of your stick into the head-shoulder target area, checking the bag with the open hand and flexing your tricep into the blow at contact, driving the stick into the target.

Step back.

Smash with the #1 stroke, the diagonal forehand, never taking the elbow away from the body, and timing the landing of the stroke with the landing of your heel on the floor. You want to heel step with this. The foot should land right in his wheel house, in the MMA “pocket.”

Look, if he reads this, it’s bad news. This is the beginning of a chain of a progression. Learn how to smash here from the pocket, and then we will advance to more tactically sound applications. In the long run, against good fighters, this is something you usually only uncork when they are low and inside and have essentially screwed up. It is, of course, good for imposing your will on a guy who cannot hang with you and prefers the outside line.

Step back.

Take another half step back.

Now spring off of your rear foot into a slightly bent knee lunge and smash the stick into the bag.

You have established your distance. Yoyo back and forth between heel-stepping and a high lunge [not a low fencing lunge, you want to be able to press down with your checking hand].

This is your work shop:

1. step and check

2. step and smash with a check

3. Lunge and smash with a check

4. Step and smash with a check and a half pivot, torque your hip into the stroke but not turning the foot much to preserve your ankle on off steps. [Pivoting with a lunge is a good way to rip up an ankle, by the way.]

5. Step and smash at the head with a high check that would go over his shoulder and check his neck, bracing his head to receive more force.

6. Stay at clinch range and practice checking, then slightly raising the lead foot and stomping town as you torque the hip. Stay here for a while and learn how to smash hard from the clinch.

7. Step back and lunge, making sure not to torque your hip and half pivot in order to save your ankle. The lunge smash is about using your weight and timing, not your muscle. Avoid torquing off of a lunge. It is a sweet move but will pop your ankle eventually.

The best tactical application against a man of your own size and strength is to read a highline attack on his part that involves reaching with the forehand [#1], not committing enough with the diagonal back hand [#2], over committing with the lateral backhand [#3], and high stepping in with a vertical backhand [#4], or coming out of a roof block into a counter.

My best short wins have come from feinting at the head against a guy that will respond with a roof block, then when he realizes it was a feint and begins looping the stick away from the roof block angle to counter me, I lunge in, just shooting my left hand over his shoulder and driving his forehand stroke into my lats where I can snake it [not an option in a sword fight] as I short chop into his ear to collarbone area. This entire process takes maybe 2 seconds.

The success stems from the fact that this #1 stroke launches and remains on their inside line as your weight is brought into it and your target area becomes too proximate for their maximum power or preferred hit location to be realized.

In 2010 I did this to Charles in front of a bunch of college girls. He was so pissed that the next time we got together to spar Cory wouldn’t even bring his gear, just came to watch and then cart my body off after the two hour whooping. The point is, Charles had been killing me in sparring before and after this. Yet this lunge smash, if timed correctly, can take out a better more active fighter in a second. It is ideal against a high work-rate stick-fighter.

Keep in mind that the application is a jamming tactic, not a finishing one, and that the bulk of your work will consist of learning how to sink your weight into a stick stroke.

From the Check Smash we will advance to the Oblique Smash and the U-Combination.