Distancing is the appropriate selection of distance between oneself and a combatant throughout an encounter. Distancing is significant in an altercation as it determines both attack and defence options for all parties involved.
Timing and tactics are also important elements of combat which are often used in conjunction with distancing by experienced martial artists.
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Distancing is an important concept in all combative sports and arts. It applies to both un-armed and armed combat. In a martial sense, armed combat takes the form of traditional weapons practice. Given the enormous variety of martial arts weapons in addition to the various ranges of un-armed combat, it is possible to divide distancing up into many sub-distances or ranges. Indeed, many martial arts have their own uniques expressions for various distances or ranges derived from those they specialise in.
Distances may be divided up in a number of ways which include various combinations of major and sub-ranges. Although many styles train practitioners at varying ranges, most styles specialise in one or two major sets of ranges.
In a general, most arts describe each of the following ranges (from longest to shortest):
*Non-contact range
*Kicking range
*Punching range
*
Clinch
Clinch may refer to:
* Nail (fastener) or device to hold in this way
* Clinching, in metalworking
* Clinch fighting or the clinch, a grappling position in boxing or wrestling, a stand-up embrace
* Clinch County, Georgia, USA
* Clinch River, near T ...
fighting range
*Ground fighting range
In addition, a great many sub-ranges may be included. One example is the division of the punching range into:
*Finger striking range
*Punching range
*Palm-striking range
All other ranges may also be subdivided in a similar manner.
Many martial arts focus on specific distances. Examples of this are as follows:
*Kicking range:
Taekwondo
''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...
*Punching range:
Boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...
*Clinch fighting range:
Muay Thai
Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterise ...
*Ground fighting range:
Brazilian Jujitsu
See also
*
Maai
, translating simply "interval", is a Japanese martial arts term referring to the space between two opponents in combat; formally, the "engagement distance".
The concept of incorporates not just the distance between opponents, but also the ti ...
Notes
Martial arts terminology