Hello Andrew, Nice find. Now as far as this crazy monkey boxing being
a new form of boxing, I'm just not so sure about that. After looking
at your link and doing some googleing myself this appears to be 52
Blocks aka Jailhouse rock, 52 shuffle, ect... They are all forms, or
the type of boxing/fighting style, that has been developed in
the "ghetto" areas and prisons of most major cities in the U.S. for
years and years. It's main goal is Close quarter fighting and
fighting in handcuffs or with the hands very close together. Because
of the poor areas and structured criminal systems in the South
African jails, it's no surprise it appears there in much the same
fashion. 52 Blocks relies heavily on defense as an offence. With your
blocks also being strikes, as well as a lot of elbow use in blocking
and sticking, which helps you to stay on the inside and stay tight on
your opponent leaving no room for the big haymaker type strikes. It
also has a lot of short powerful hooks and not a lot of straight 1,2
style punching. It's an art of the inside. Rashaad Evans
(http://www.fightgood.com/article/crazy-monkey-post-2/) in MMA
employs this method in his own boxing (52`s not crazy monkey), Mike
Tyson studied this as well both also lean toward the peek-a-boo
style. This crazy monkey doesn't look too far from 52 blocks Google
it or check it out on youtube and I think you will agree.--Ellis

--- In classicpugilism@yahoogroups.com, Andrew Flach
<andrew_flach@...> wrote:
>
> Have any of you gentlemen had any experience with Rodney "Chico"
King's Crazy Monkey Boxing? If so, what is your estimation of it, and
what parallels do you find between it and classic pugilism?
>
> For the curious, Crazy Monkey Boxing is a method of boxing, founded
by South African Rodney King (no, not of police battery fame!), that
allegedly lends itself more readily to light-glove and bare-handed
use than it's modern cousin. It's most widely-known characteristic is
its defensive posture--a high guard, in which the hands rest atop the
head and blows are deflected using the forearms. In ways, it reminds
me of the Mendoza stance. However, King is quick to point out this is
only one facet of the curriculum, and he presents it as an integrated
system.
>
> The stance is highly squared, for reasons of power generation and
to address the needs of the MMA athlete in countering take-down
attempts. Likewise, Crazy Monkey does include elements from Muay
Thai, but largely, it seems of Western influence.
>
> King contends that evasive defensive tactics, such as bobbing and
weaving, should actually be taught to the novice, at a latter date,
after he has become accustomed to taking blows, using a more
rudimentary non-attribute based defense such as the one he teaches.
Otherwise, he's gonna get nailed too many times and lose heart.
>
> As others have commented (perhaps Ken, Kirk, and company) that for
boxing to be effective in the light-glove arena, it has actually had
to regress, or return to an earlier point in its evolution. Hence,
Crazy Monkey.
>
> King reportedly forged his methods, in a variety of environments,
but
> namely, door work in Johannesburg, which as we all know is an
extremely
> violent city. He started out in Eastern martial arts as a lad, but
> moved on to the Western Boxing, when he took note of its generally
> superior combative utility.
>
> Here's a link to the Crazy Monkey Defense YouTube channel:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/user/CrazyMonkeyDefense
>
> I feel this is actually of more use, for our pruposes, than the
website (so expansive, it's difficult to navigate) in gaining an
> understanding of the physical elements, but here's a link to the
web site
> as well:
>
> http://www.crazymonkeydefense.com/cmdp/content/view/13/28/
>
> I'll be curious to read what you all have to say about it. Feel
free to express approval or its opposite.
>
> Andrew
>