Follow along and develop an amazing lead jab. The vanguard of your punches.
Watch the video for more detail but here is a bulleted list of what is on the video:
Stance & Guard
Angle your body at about 45 degrees to your opponent
Feet are about 1 ½ times body width apart
Keep your feet roughly parallel to each other at a 45 degree angle from your opponent
Keep your hands up around cheekbone level and keep your elbows tucked in to your sides
Fist, Palm Heel, or Eye Jab
Punching with your knuckles carries an inherent risk of injury. Specifically a boxer’s fracture or a sprained wrist.
If hitting with knuckles make sure to use the 1st two knuckles as your striking surface
Hitting with your palm heel on the pinky side ensures you won’t injure yourself and is a viable alternative to a fist
Flicking the back of your fingers into someone’s eyes is generally the best lead jab that you have as there is no risk of injury and it will temporarily stun your opponent no matter how tough they are
Power in Your Jab
Drive your lead knee inwards towards your rear knee as you allow your lead heel to lift slightly off the ground
This creates rotation that travels up through your body and out your striking surface (fist, palm, or eye jab)
Speed in Your Jab
Speed comes primarily from eliminating your telegraphs – the movements you do before you jab
Eliminate those unnecessary telegraphs and speed just happens
1st make your knee and fist (or palm or eye jab) move at the same time, not knee first
Check that your elbow doesn’t move first but rather the fist or palm or fingers are the very first thing that moves
Eliminate any leaning or stepping that happens before you jab as those will telegraph
Guard Your Nose & Teeth
The center line to your face is super vulnerable as you step in to punch
Raise your non-striking hand’s palm to nose level
Project it away from your face about 1 foot
Now you have a shield in front of your nose and teeth
Guard Your Jaw
Your punching side jaw is exposed to a knockout blow
Tuck your chin and raise the punching arm shoulder (the lead shoulder in this case)
Your jaw is now fully blocked by your shoulder, only the top of your head is exposed which is far more resistant to a knockout
Step Offline as You Jab
Never be a still target that is easy to hit, always be moving
Push off of your rear foot and move at a 45 degree angle towards your opponent
Ideally move towards their exposed back side… away from their rear power hand
Do this again and you might wind up fully to their side where they are vulnerable
Double Jab
Doubling up your jab is a great way to throw your opponent off-balance
If your opponent swats at your first jab the second one will have a clear path to land
Ideally make 2 of those 45 degree forward steps, 1 for each jab, this moves you even further to their side and makes you even harder to track
Stop-&-Go Jab
Just like the double jab the stop-&-go jab can get your opponent to swat at the first fake jab, then as you finish the jab it has a clear path to land
In a traditional fake jab you throw a jab half way out, pull it back, then jab again.
In the stop-&-go jab you throw it about 1/3rd of the way out and stop it. Your opponent swats. Then you continue the jab straight to their chin.
Don’t pull your arm back to throw a second jab, simply freeze it in place, let them swat, then continue firing it forward.
Laser Focused Training
Only work on one of these techniques pointers at a time, ignore the rest
When you try to focus on everything you get meh results. When you focus on one thing at a time you can give it your 100% focus.
As you accumulate more reps you will be able to maintain your skills in multiple areas at the same time.
Keep practicing until you can’t do it wrong!
Until next time,
Brian
