There’s no doubt that the Superman Punch is an extremely powerful striking technique. Not only is it powerful, it’s pretty flashy. I’ve never bothered to use it until recently because I thought it was just showing off and silly. Well I finally decided to try it out during sparring a few weeks ago and it is indeed effective is used properly.
Set That Shit Up
Like the video shows, if you open up with a superman punch you can get kicked. It is pivotal that you setup the Superman punch so you don’t get countered. The best scenario is setting up the superman punch with leg kicks. When getting a good amount of leg kicks on your opponent you’ll see their hands start to drop, so the probability of landing the punch is greater.
What I did a few weeks ago was set up the punch with a good punch/kick combination. I opened up with a jab, straight cross, jab, leg kick then superman punch. The goal was to “overload” the opponents defense so they’re defending high then low which will cut their reaction time.
Personally I feel that once you get the punch off, don’t keep trying to go for it just for the sake of showing off. Chances are your opponent will be ready for the next one. The best case scenario is executing it after a combo that causes the defender to be dazed
May 5th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Very interesting and different post.
Think that you describe when to use this technique very well.
Everybody should take a look at James Irvin’s almost scary execution of this punch against Houston Alexander.
May 6th, 2008 at 12:00 am
James Irvin’s punch was too surreal. GSP is also great at executing the superman punch.
Glad you found the post interesting. Thanks for checking it out.