Sylvie's Technique Vlog #41 - Designated Tension In Clinch & Other Techniques (14 min) (Patreon)

The term "designated tension" is something I made up on the spot when talking about guard a few years ago, so if you haven't heard it or can't google it, that's why. But it's exactly what it sounds like, it's creating tension in one area in order to allow relaxation somewhere else. I think the perfect example is the Titan in Attack on Titan who can make the back of her neck into diamond when she's being attacked. She doesn't make her whole form diamond, just the back of the neck where the weakness is, and only when she's guarding it.

The idea came back to me recently when I was working with some guys who were new to clinching. Newbies in clinch are always very tense, using tons of strength, which is understandable. Your body doesn't know what you're doing and when someone pulls or pushes, you pull or push or resist back. But what I've called "Building a Frame" for how I clinch requires this same designated tension that I talked about years ago for keeping your guard up while striking or balancing, etc. 

This is something you can work on in shadowboxing and on the bag, which means you don't need to bring it into the "live" situation of pressure right away. Feel your way into it, then go into sparring or padwork with it and see what it does.

All my Technique Vlogs for Patrons

Check out all my other Patron-only technique vlogs:

#40 - Whole System Learning (22 min) 

#39 Committing to Throwing 3s in Sparring (22 min)

#38 Head Diving, Small Changes In Balance (21 min)

#37 Training Around Injury (15 min)

#36 Improving Your Footwork Using a Footwork Grid (17 Min)

#35 Pressure Fighting Working on Getting In / Staying In (28 min)

#34 Experiments In Sparring pt. 2 (1 hr)

#33 The Importance of Head Alignment (13 min)

#32 How to Train Clinch in Shadowboxing

#31 Things to Try In Sparring (38 min)

#30 Training Stiff Arms and Shoves (15 min)

#29 Training The Lead Side Only (16 min)

#28 Training Through Fatigue and the Feet (15 min)

#27 Why You Should Slow Down on the Pads (17 min)

#26 Barefist Training vs Training with Bag Gloves (18 min)

#25 The Non-Switch Lead Kick (9 min)

#24 Getting on Your Toes (13 min)

#23 How to Use Bagwork in Thailand (17 min)

#22 Guard: Palms Facing Outward (17 min)

#21 Your Ambient Footwork (15 min)

#20 Jang-wa, Rhythm and Timing (15 min)

#19  Training Ruup & Composure  (13 min)

#18   Closing the Door in Long Guar (11 min) 

#17  Static Block for Balance (9 min)

#16 The Diamond Guard (20 min)

#15 Mental Gym, Beginning to Advanced Visualization (19 min)

#14 Getting the Right Hand In (13 min)

#13 Rising on Techniques (6 min)

#12 Control of the Kick (6 min)

#11 Body Position First (11 min)

#10 All About How I Recover (12 min)

#9 Creating Power and Distance At Close Range (9 min)

#8 Where Are Your Feet? Foot Position (9 min)

#7 Evolving in the Long Guard (10 min)  

#6 The Power of Eye Contact (10 min) 

#5 Dieselnoi's Lowkick in the Clinch (12 min) 

#4 Air Knees in the Corner (8 min) 

#3 Acceleration at the End of Strikes (10 min)

#2 The Kem Pivot (12 min) 

#1 Dealing With Fear, How to Cut it Out (13 min)

Remember you can browse the entire Muay Thai Library here

If you haven't seen the clinch basics seminar video I reference in the vlog, where I talk about the clinch frame, the full hour is here on YouTube free for everyone:

watch it here