Knock Out Your New Year’s Resolution Part 4

Posted February 14, 2008 at 03:00 PM by Donnell Peavy

Section: His Fitness, Cardio Training, Alt. Therapies, His Health, Physical Health, Lifestyle Health

This article is part 3 in the series, “Knock Out Your New Years Resolution.” To read other parts of this series, click here.

I trust you have been working your basics in your free time and are now ready to move on to the final punch I will talk about for now – the uppercut. The uppercut (like the hook) is an arching strike, and (like the hook) it is meant to be used at close range. The uppercut can be used at medium range (so can the hook) but be advised that the further away you are, the better your chances of leaving yourself open long enough for a counter to land.

An uppercut can be a pretty powerful blow, or it can set up other strikes, such as another uppercut (first to the body, second to the head) or it can be followed by a hook or cross. The uppercut can also be used to break through an opponent’s tight guard.

From your stance, step forward slightly with your lead leg and sink your weight, so you have more of a bend in your knees. From this position, thrust upward with your legs, pivoting your waist clockwise and snapping your arm upward. The arm should form a 90 degree angle, perpendicular to the floor.

Your fist shouldn’t rise above eye level – no wasted movement. As with the hook and all other punches, you do not want to telegraph this strike. Since it is close range and feels awkward, newbies tend to wind up for the punch by bringing the hand down, giving them room to generate more momentum. The act looks a lot like a person throwing a bowling ball. And that’s what we call this motion – bowling. Save it for the lanes; don’t do it in the ring – keep your arms in tight.

When thrown with the rear hand, you will still dip as you did with the lead hand, but as you rotate (counter clockwise now) you will drive off of the ball of the rear foot, just as you do with the right cross.

The key points here are the same as with the other punches: keep your chin lowered, do not do any unnecessary wind up in an attempt to add power to the strike, keep the rear hand on your cheek for defense and punch with your entire body - arm punches don’t cause knockouts.

Now that you are familiar with the four basic punches, we can delve a little deeper into boxing and figuring out how this will all tie into your new year’s workout. It’s rare, that you ever see a boxer only throw one punch. As the phrase goes, “punches in bunches.” So, with that being said…

Punching in combinations Chances are that you won’t be dropping your opponent with one punch. Chances are that you will not drop him with two punches. You need to punch in flurries, or combinations. The theory behind this is simple – the more punches you throw, the better your odds of inflicting damage – enough damage to set up your big finishing punch.

Most of your combinations will begin with the first strike you learned – the jab. The jab has a long range and is quick, which makes it great for setting up techniques. The purpose of the set up is maximizing your ability to land big punches, either by hiding the big punches or overwhelming the opponent so that he cannot defend the big punches. I will start small and then slowly begin to add complexity.

Double jab – as simple as it sounds. Throw two jabs. Keep them clean. Throw your first jab, bring it back to your face and throw another.

Jab / Cross – this is something everyone has heard of at some point in their lives – the ol’ one two. Throw your jab. As the jabbing hand is retracting, begin to drive off of the ball of your rear foot and throw your cross.

Jab / Cross / Hook – As the cross reaches full extension, use the torque built from the cross to snap your hook across your opponent’s jaw line.

Jab / Cross / Hook / Uppercut – As with the above combination, use the torque and momentum to power your rear uppercut.

Jab / Cross / Hook / Uppercut / Hook

Jab / Uppercut

Notice a pattern here? All of the above combinations, sans the double jab all involve using the momentum of the previous strike to add power to the follow up. This shows economy of motion. You have to return to the starting position anyway, so you may as well strike as you do so, right?

The following are a couple of combinations that will feel awkward, because the movement in them is…not as natural.

Jab / Cross / Cross – reset after the first cross and then fire off another.

Jab / Hook – this is a very valuable, yet under used combination known as “hooking off the jab”. As the jab is returning, launch a hook punch. The element of surprise here is what makes this an effective combination.

Remember that you don’t always strike to the head – this is known as head hunting, and will make you fairly predictable. These same strikes can be used to attack the body.

Jab / Cross / Body hook – as you are throwing your jab, step forward and at an angle to the outside of your opponent’s body. Throw the cross, and then dip the body as you do with the uppercut. From this position, throw a hook punch to the body.

Jab / Cross / Body hook / Hook to the head – after finishing the body hook, reset and immediately throw a hook to the opponent’s head.

Jab / Cross / Body hook / Hook to the head / Uppercut / Hook to the head

Be creative. You can come up with your own combinations. Once you are comfortable with these, tie them in with some defensive movements and footwork, which I will cover in the next article. After you have footwork and basic defense down, you will know enough to begin training. Until then, keep your hands up!

Research sources and for more information: [picture]