Q:  When someone throws a punch, should I duck and then do a takedown, or  just do a take down. How do u duck. Is it getting low with ur legs,  swaying ur torso, or both. I do a do a takedown and avoid getting  kneed or uppercut. Should I do a single leg takedown on the side of  the punch or the opposite side? Or should I just do a double leg.  How do u avoid getting rained down with punches to ur back and the  back or ur head during a takedown cause the guy can easily hit ur during a takedown. Im small so I don't think boxing would be good with my small reach.

A:  I  always advocate staying ALL THE WAY OUT of the guy's reach or getting ALL THE WAY INSIDE of his reach.

So I would keep backing up, backing up and backing up (circle away from his power hand) forcing him to advance until he commits to the punch. [Note here: if, as you are tactically retreating to set him up, he fails to advance on you -- guess what?  You're not in a fight.  He can curse and yell all he wants, but your tactical movement has served to tell you that he really doesn't want to fight.  If, for some reason, you WANT the fight to continue...that's a different subject.]

Keeping your hands up in front of your face, you get ready for him to 'set' to try and swing at you. When he does, suddenly reverse your movement from retreating and quickly close the distance jamming your forehead against his sternum (chest).  Now use the takedown of your choice.

At the advanced level, you'll want to add a knee kick/leg check as you enter.

Some thoughts on this method:

• You are not ducking or bending -- both of these make your face/head susceptible to his knees, kicks or uppercuts;
• You do not have to try and 'block' or 'evade' his punch;
• It relies on gross body movements instead of fine motor skills which hold up better in combat;
• He can hit my back or the back of my head all he wants because

(1) they will be little pitty patty hits because I am all the way inside of his range and (2) I'm going to SLAM him with a takedown in about two seconds and he won't have time to hit me but once or twice.

Regarding the single-leg vs. double-leg takedown:

I've seen them work for real in real fights with no problems.

Most of the time the guy's wild punch goes over your head as you drop in for the takedown. When the guy is concentrating on punching, most non-trained fighters are not going to be able to fire off a kick or a knee. Having said that, I've eaten a knee to the collar bone during 'live' sparring drills. But this was against a trained fighter who was throwing combinations.

If you are a short guy, have a wrestling background, and/or have good timing, both the single or double-leg are an excellent choice for takedowns.

I'm taller and have a strong stand-up game, so the really low takedowns don't work as well for me. I use the method for clinching I first described most of the time.

The exception to this would be when I am working a two-on-one takedown with a partner and I am the designated officer to go low (I go low for a double-leg while my partner goes high and we take the bad guy down).

In the end, you're going to have to find out which works best for you. I will offer you this one truism: YOU WILL FIGHT THE WAY YOU TRAIN. So you will need to find partners or instruction that can give you the tools you need for different combat scenarios.

Get out there and train. You will find out which way is "best" for you. If you can't find any partners, sign up at a school somewhere.

Best of luck.