Today you will get 100 reps of your jab and cross punches focusing on 5 different rounds.
Punching Tip 1) Shift Your Weight 60/40
When jabbing your lead hand with power shift about 60 percent of you weight to your back foot.
Likewise when crossing with your read hand shift about 60 percent of your weight to your forward foot.
This will help you to deliver more powerful strikes by getting your bodyweight behind your strikes.
Punching Tip 2) Create Rotation
If you want to get maximal power from your upper body punches (palm strikes or fists) then you must create rotational force throughout the body. We are going to keep it simple for now and focus on rotating the pelvis by aggressively dropping the striking-side knee in immediately before your punch.
So if jabbing with the lead hand then drop the lead knee in just before you strike. You should feel that by doing this it creates a stretch reflex or rubber band response that makes you want to rotate your upper body in the same direction. Great let it! Then fire the punch out immediately afterwards taking advantage of the kinetic energy.
Punching Tip 3) Protect Your Money Maker
One problem I often see people make when they punch is that they don’t have any answer for protecting themselves when they strike. You see even professional fighters get smashed in the face while they are throwing their own punch.
One solution that you should make sure to always practice is to project your guard hand in front of your face.
Don’t leave your hand by your ear or god-forbid chamber it down to your waist. But actively project it out at a 45° angle in front of your face. Put a little stiffness to it. One drill I use with my fighters is that as they hit a focus mitt I will simultaneously jab their face. They learn quick how to hold their guard hand.
Punching Tip 4) Use Footwork to Create Power
In addition to shifting your weight you can use your footwork to shift your weight. You don’t want to get hit do you? Then you should be moving anyway. They are punching where you are after all so be somewhere else.
You can step in any direction and still fire off a decent lead jab. But for a rear cross you will notice the most power moving forward or stepping away from the hand that is crossing. For instance if you are in a left side forward lead and will throw a right cross then stepping to your left, forward, or at a left / forward diagonal will generate the type of weight shift you can use to create more power.
Punching Tip 5) Reps Reps Reps
The way to become amazing is by getting your reps. How many? Thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands. If you aren’t bored you aren’t doing enough reps. Learn to be ok with boredom it is how champions are made.
Winners know something that losers don’t… well they know a lot of things losers don’t but one is that you have to be willing to put in the boring fundamental over and over and over when other people get bored and want to do fancy crap.
Until next time,
Brian
