Miesha Tate: Should You Keep Your Hands Up or Down?
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Miesha Tate, the former Strikeforce Bantamweight champion, wants your opinion: When you fight, do you keep your hands up, or leave your front hand down?
The argument came from a recent video on Facebook that showed Tate hitting a heavy bag.
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Posted by Miesha Tate on Monday, June 1, 2015
Commenters, who are obviously the most knowledgeable people in the history of the Internet, told Tate to keep her hands up. Today, Tate rebutted, stating the reasoning behind her posture during fisticuffs.
She is, in fact, emulating some of some of the greatest boxers in history.
"I have really been looking forward to making this post because I think it will spark a good amount of controversy," Tate wrote on her Facebook page. "So after I posted my last video of me hitting the heavy bag I got many 'keep your hands up' remarks and 'keep your chin down' remarks and the list goes on.
(I'm) sure by all very credible sources *insert sarcasm* but either way I would just like to point out how the best boxers in the world ACTUALLY throw punches.
Yes the goal is to keep your hands up, yes the goal is to protect yourself perfectly while delivering damage but in reality it just isnt so."
"Typically," Tate continued, "the punches thrown straight in and out are easier to see and counter/slip/anticipate than the sneaky off angle ones.
I have included the photos of a few of the best boxers in hystory and if you will notice that their hand that is supposed to be "up by their chin" is not.
Its down but ready to fire the next punch which will be coming from that angle is out of the line of sight for their opponent."
If you are looking to have a civilized discussion, Internet debating is not your best choice.
Still, do you agree with the former champion? Does she need to keep her hands up more? Let us know in the comment section below.