How to Throw a Gazelle Hook Like Mike Tyson

The Hopping or Gazelle Hook

The gazelle hook or leaping or hopping hook is one heck of a great punch!

It is powerful

It comes out of nowhere

It can get you to your opponent’s back

You can land it on a retreating opponent

It makes a great counter punch

It makes a great follow up to a rear cross

Mike Tyson used this punch to dominate and knock out opponent’s and so can you.

How to Throw the Gazelle Hook

Stance

First start off in a good 45° stance.

Coil & Load

Next you want to coil and load your punch by doing the following:

Lower your self by bending your knees

Be on the balls of your feet

Rotate your knees toward your opponent… just think drop your rear knee inward

Rotate your chest and shoulders towards your opponent

And then let your lead arm come out to the side just a little bit

Begin Uncoiling

Start reversing what you did earlier.

Begin raising your body back up

Rotate your knees away from your opponent – just imagine dropping your lead knee inward

Rotate your chest away from your opponent

Leave your lead arm back – this will create a wicked stretch-reflex which is where the power will come from

Gazelle hook uncoiling – rotating away from opponent – leaving striking hand back as long as possible

Add the Hop & Release the Gazelle Hook

Once you get the hang of the coiling and uncoiling you can add a hop.

As you come up simply hop – just barely off the ground.

You will need to start the rotation as you hop otherwise if you hop straight up and then try to rotate it isn’t going to happen.

Once again leave your arm behind as long as you can to build that stretch-reflex but once it is at maximum stretch let it rip.

Gazelle hook mid hop – hook just starting to move

Gazelle Hook & Stop the Elbow

As your gazelle hook fires out you will want to stop your elbow before it crosses your centerline.

This will increase the speed of your hand like a whip adding a lot of impact to your strike.

Allow the hand to whip through… it should nearly smack you in the chest. In fact your fingers might.

And yes I’m using an open hand rather than a fist because if you break your hand in a street fight you are in for a rough time.

The palm heel can hit the hard bones of the skull and knock the absolute crap out of the opponent without risking you breaking your hand.

Gazelle hook stop the elbow — Gazelle hook stopping the elbow and letting the hand whip through

Power vs Non-Telegraphed Hook

You can choose to make your gazelle hook a power shot or a non-telegraphed lead strike.

If you want more power just follow the previous instructions to rotate the body first and then wait until you feel maximum stretch-reflex to fire the hook.

If you want it to be quicker and use less of a telegraph then you will let your hook release as you rotate and hop towards your opponent.

You will be sacrificing power for efficiency and a higher likelihood of your gazelle hook landing.

But frankly this is usually a follow up to a rear cross and is intended to be a power punch.

Gazelle Hook Off of a Rear Cross

A great application of the gazelle hook is to use it right after firing a rear cross, especially if you are in an opposite lead to your opponent.

This can allow you to use 45° footwork to move to your opponent’s back and away from their fists.

You can see above that I stepped at a 45° angle to fire the rear cross between my opponent’s guard.

Now I will use the gazelle hook to hop around behind them and land an open hand to the base of their skull.

Conclusion

The gazelle hook is a powerhouse and if you are willing to put in the reps applying the footwork to utilize it correctly then you will have one heck of a strike in your arsenal.

Until next time,

Brian