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This Article is part of the Kickboxing Beginers Series.

Ok, now you should have your stance down and feel comfortable standing and moving around in your kickboxing stance.

If not then go back and read the article on developing your kickboxing stance.

Today, we are going to talk about what will be your most used punch and possibly the most useful punch to you.

The Jab.

Like I sad, the Jab is your most used punch, it is your fastest punch and it is because of this you will use it the most.

The Jab is probably your weakest punch. You throw it from your weak side (your front hand) and because of this coupled with the fact that it is closer to your opponent and has less distance to travel over which to develop power, it is difficult to get a lot of power into a jab.

If it is your weakest punch then why would it be the one that you throw the most?

Well, it comes down to two reasons. Firstly, as I have already said, it is fast. You can throw your jab out and have it reach your target very quickly. And secondly, it requires very little energy to throw so you can jab a lot without tiring yourself out.

If you look at professional boxers fighting, you will see that they jab an awful lot. They are almost constantly flicking their jab out.

So, what is your jab good for?

Well firstly, it is very good for messing with your opponents flow and getting in his way.

If you are just standing still, even if you try to move when a punch comes, you are a very easy target and are going to get hit a lot!

If you start to move around and keep on the move all the time (especially by never leaving your head in one place for any time) you become much more difficult to hit, but still, your opponent can wait it out, time it, work out where you are going and hit you.

Now, if you keep moving, but also start throwing out Jabs at your opponents face then suddenly you become a much, much harder target.

Now, if your opponent wants to hit you, he must first find a way past the constant jabs that you are flicking out at his head.

He also has he problem that when he starts to throw a punch, there is a good chance that one of you fast jabs is going to hit him before he can land it and disrupt his flow.

The second major use for the jab is as a range finder. It is a surprisingly difficult task to judge the range of a moving target visually but if you can touch the target first then you are much better equipped to hit it.

Your big punches are expensive in terms of energy so you want to make them count when you throw them.

If you flick your jab out and make contact first, you are much more likely to be able to land your knockout punch.

Don’t get me wrong, you can still get a lot of power into a jab with training, it is just that it is never going to be as powerful as a trained cross or hook.

On to the technique then.

Firstly, remember that the power for all of your punches comes from your back foot so when you land it, your back foot needs to be firmly planted.

A lot of people will launch themselves forward so they are leaning forward and their back foot comes off the ground.

DON’T DO THIS. Keep both feet planted and don’t lean forward.

So, start from your stance.

There are number of parts which I will have to describe separately but you should try to do them all at the same time. They should begin and more importantly end at the same time for maximum power.

Your hips legs and feet should rotate round with the punch.

You should be on the balls of your feet and they should rotate freely to allow your legs and hips to rotate round. Push through your back foot and feel the power move up into your hips.

From your guard, your arm will move out in a straight line. Keep your elbow down and your shoulder should rotate round and up to finish in a raised position in front of your chin.

Your shoulders and upper body rotate round so that on contact, your upper body is side on.

Remember, all these parts happen together as one smooth movement.

Tips.

Keep your wrist straight. If it is bent, it will be weak and could break on impact.

Keep your backhand on your chin. At first, imagine that it is glued there. This will help you to develop a good habit of keeping your back hand high. Later, when the habit is formed, you can loosen up a bit if you want.

Make sure that you turn your hips. If you leave your hips square, you will not be able to generate any power from your lower body.

Your feet must turn. Again, if you don’t, you will rob yourself of power from your lower body.

Aim for speed and snap and to get everything moving together.

When you get that perfect jab, you will know it!

Tags: Boxing, Cross, Jab, Kickboxing, Learn to Punch, Punch, Punching

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 20th, 2008 at 3:29 pm and is filed under Basics, Technique, Training, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.