Hi guys, it's Daria Nova in Hockey on the Beach. Welcome to Florida. I guess we do talk about hockey over here.
In this episode, Travis Howe of Jax on the Leisman will teach me how to handle a fight. He's one of the best. Thank you and enjoy.
So, Travis, how to be a good fighter?
Well, you need to be able to take a punch.
You need to... it sounds kind of messed up, but you need to enjoy getting hit.
Some people do, some people don't. I don't know. I think that's what gets me going. That's what turns the switch on.
I've got to get crapped one good time, unless I'm already mad.
Do you need muscles for that?
I don't pride myself on being the strongest guy in the gym, to say the least.
But yeah, I think usually those big, big muscle guys could be a little overrated at times.
So it's not about muscles, it's about mentality.
Yeah, absolutely. You can't ever lose. It's life or death when you go into a fight.
What about height? Does it matter?
No, because some of the toughest people I've ever fought are 5'8". A guy actually in the KHO right now, Garrett Hunt, who I have the utmost respect for that guy.
We fought probably a dozen times in our career and he's one of the smallest guys I've ever fought, but he's also probably the toughest.
Who won?
We had good fights. We don't need to get into that.
Okay, so you have to show me.
Show you?
Yeah.
Do you have any gear on?
I've seen your fights. I think it's a lot about grabbing.
Yeah, so some people focus more on...
Do I need to wear my jersey on? Will that be better?
I will grab all this. I'm trying to grab anywhere from the middle of the jersey.
Hold on a second. I'll do the same to you.
Okay.
So it's in the middle.
I'm trying to grab anywhere from here or even if I come in here and get under the shoulder pad.
So say you grab me right here.
Does it matter? What about my hand? Left or...?
Are you a righty or a lefty?
Righty.
So yeah, you'd want to grab here.
Oh, really?
And then you don't want to be square. You want to be a little bit off to the side here.
Why?
So get this foot in front.
Okay.
So if you're square...
Oh, it's like...
Yeah, so like if you're square with me, like I can just...
It's easier to the target, right?
Like where if I'm a little to the side, like I have a little bit more room to, I guess, absorb a shot a little better.
I need your mic.
But yeah, I'd say anywhere from like here over...
I personally like to grab here and only the jersey.
It's like, I don't know, it's just more comfortable for me.
Like I also like to counter people.
So like I'll kind of just sit there, wait for you to like hit me a few times.
Okay. See, like if I have shorter...
I'm going for different grabs.
So like if you're a smaller person and you're coming up here and then you want to almost get both hands in this area and come inside more.
Because like if I'm just... These don't do anything.
Like you can kind of stay under and like stay inside and get like a lot more power.
That's more true from like a boxing standpoint.
Like the smaller guy you ever watch like Tyson fight, like he's fighting here and he's like punching up.
So like that's usually when you're fighting a taller guy, like we got our reach.
But if you can cancel that reach out and get under and get in close, then like you have essentially...
You've just equalized my reach advantage.
So now there is no advantage.
Now it's just a small guy versus little guy in a phone booth.
And sometimes reach advantages in those situations don't work.
What about pulling the jersey up like on my head?
That's an old school trick.
It's kind of frowned upon nowadays, but like usually like a ref will come in and stop it.
Like if you're pounding on a guy, it's kind of like one of those unwritten fighting codes between the guys.
Like if I got your jersey overhead, you kind of just stop.
You don't want to take advantage too much.
What if the guy is like trying to close his neck and you can't grab it?
What do you do?
Oh, no one's doing that.
Like don't fight me.
So like if I'm trying to grab...
Yeah, I'm like...
I'm just going to start hitting you.
I don't know, just swing, I guess at that point.
But like, or I mean, like, I don't know.
I've never really had someone like defend it like that kind of.
It's more...
Because they don't have the mindset.
It's like, yeah, come on, try this.
I don't know.
Like I've fought guys who are like, they're really good for like once you get a grab,
they're really good about knocking it away and like keeping it so that you can't
like I grab, they hit it away and I come back to try and grab.
They're really quick.
Like they're able to knock my hand away and hit me twice before I can blink.
And it's like, God damn, what just happened kind of thing.
And then like you get frustrated because you're like keep trying to get the grab.
They knock it off.
It's kind of like a little art, I guess, to it.
To like everyone has like a different technique.
I personally like don't really waste my time with all that.
I'd rather just like, yeah, I hit you, you hit me kind of thing.
How many times can you hit before you get stopped?
Or it doesn't matter?
It depends on the ref.
How does it work?
Is there like an art?
Well, if someone drops, that helps.
What if nobody drops?
Just keep hitting each other.
I mean, I usually just try and go until I can't breathe anymore.
I can't.
I'm just so like tired.
That's usually when I like...
Stop.
And like usually people are trying to stop a little earlier.
And I'm just like, got to get your money's worth.
Okay, try to grab me.
See, I'm prepared.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You got the karate.
I don't care.
That's my technique.
Oh yeah, Willie, yeah, come on.
Willie, she's teaching me how to fight.
She's doing some karate on me.
Yeah, hi.
That's funny.
Try to grab me.
Don't be scared.
Get your feet.
Oh, okay, so because I'm righty, that's why I'm doing it.
Yeah, so you'd be like...
This would be self-paw.
That means your dominant hand would be your left.
So you'd want to stay right here.
And I come in, go for the grab.
So I tap, I tap, I tap.
So that would...
You would be not short, but shorter person.
So it would be you grab and then you'd want to essentially like act like you're throwing
an uppercut, but you're really trying to get like...
I'm trying to get your like, almost your bicep to like hit my forearm and just like pull
it off.
So like if I'm like, if I'm fighting or whatever, you want to pretend like you're throwing
something like this.
Yeah, yeah.
Exactly like that though.
You're trying to like power yourself through so it knocks his hand off.
And then once, my thing is, is like once I...
If someone ever with me like wants to switch up to their left, the second I feel this hand
getting taken off my jersey, I don't stop throwing this punch.
So like if you're ever in that situation, well, hypothetically...
Yeah, self-protection, yeah.
You'd knock that off and then you don't stop with this and you'd still be holding on here.
Oh yeah, that's right.
And you're like pulling in with this, meeting and like the way I do it, like I try and aim,
it's like I'm just aiming for the top of my hand.
Because if I'm here, that's where I'm aiming.
Okay.
So that's a...
But what if like I'm shorter, where do I aim?
Same, right there.
You'd still be punching up, but you'd still want to...
Especially if you have a grab right in the middle, right here every time.
Oh yeah, that's right.
It's perfect.
Because it's, I mean you can hit them anywhere you want really, but if this is where people...
Bring it on.