Cover (combat technique)

Cover during a jab in lethwei

In combat sports like fencing, boxing, karate, etc., the cover is a defensive movement permitting to protect oneself against strikes by placing a weapon or a body part like the fist, forearm, elbow, arm or shoulder before the aim aimed by this attack.

This form of defence, so-called "passive", is different from the block or parry that are considered "active". The cover has nearly the same meaning as "protection" especially in boxing when a fighter raises his arm in order to protect his face or head against a possible attack.

One puts cover to use:

  • in expecting way in case of the opponent's attack, especially in order to protect his or her own forward movement (example: raising the shoulder before the jaw, covering oneself with the arm and the glove)
  • in instantaneous (i.e. happening at once) way when the opponent's attack is launched.

In boxing and boxe pieds-poings

The cover in boxing is a form of defence commonly used in the hand-to-hand situations and when the fighter suffers by a large number of strikes.

Sources

  • Georges Blanchet, Boxe et sports de combat en éducation physique, Ed. Chiron, Paris, 1947
  • Alain Delmas, 1. Lexique de la boxe et des autres boxes (Document fédéral de formation d’entraîneur), Aix-en-Provence, 1981-2005 - 2. Lexique de combatique (Document fédéral de formation d’entraîneur), Toulouse, 1975-1980.
  • Jack Dempsey, Championship fighting, Ed. Jack Cuddy, 1950
  • Gabrielle & Roland Habersetzer, Encyclopédie des arts martiaux de l'Extrême-Orient, Ed. Amphora, Paris, 2000
  • Louis Lerda, J.C. Casteyre, Sachons boxer, Ed. Vigot, Paris, 1944
  • Marcel Petit, Boxe: technique et entraînement, Paris, Ed. Amphora, Paris, 1972

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