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How to Punch: Essential Boxing Principles

Congratulations! You’ve finally decided that it’s time to head over to a fighting gym and learn how to box so you can punch like a man (or, if you’re a woman, so you can punch men).

Good for you!

Boxing does seem pretty straightforward, doesn’t it? Step one: put on gloves; step two: start punching. You might even think you already know how to throw a pretty decent punch; maybe you’ve used it before and it worked out alright for you. How difficult can it be, anyway? Just make a fist and swing your arm at the target.

That is, unfortunately, a gross misconception. Worse yet, if swinging fists is any reflections of how you picture boxing, you’re seriously running the risk of making more than just a fool of yourself. Chances are, you’ll show up at the gym and think you’re doing a great job when, in reality, you probably look like an arm-flailing idiot who is somehow under the impression that they’re doing some actual damage.

Give yourself a head start by getting acquainted with these seven basic but sometimes counter-intuitive principles of boxing so you can put your best foot forward when you get into fighting stance.

(1) Make a fool of yourself sooner rather than later

To quote Uro Pavi, one of the finest boxing trainers I’ve had, “Every fighter has to walk in the gym at some stage as a fresh-faced beginner.”

Be humble. Don’t walk into the gym thinking you know exactly what you are doing just because you have biceps and you’ve thrown a punch or two at a party.

If you haven’t taken boxing classes from a proper trainer, it’s practically guaranteed you that you are making mistakes. If you act like you know what you’re doing when you don’t, you won’t learn. Besides, the worst fool is an ignorant one and the unforgivable fool is one who doesn’t learn.

Instead, walk in as a newbie. That way, you can walk out having learned something new with every session.

Don’t be afraid of looking stupid when you’re going through beginner drills, nor of having people who don’t look nearly as intimidating as you show you how to throw a proper jab. Everyone starts at the bottom.

(2) Start from the bottom up

In boxing, starting from the bottom doesn’t only apply when it comes to having a humble approach: it applies to your body, too.

At any good boxing gym, your training will begin with footwork. You might not even be allowed to wear gloves until you’ve started moving your feet properly. That’s because punching starts with your feet: if your footwork isn’t right, you will fail as a boxer.

Here are a few essential footwork tips to get you started.

Footwear

Before we talk about how to move your feet, let’s talk about what you wear on them. While Muay Thai and MMA fighters will go barefoot, boxers wear shoes. Proper boxing footwear is important for two big reasons. Firstly, boxing shoes allow you to pivot while preventing sliding. Secondly, boxing shoes allow more transfer of power.

how to punch

You may find it more difficult to move smoothly around the boxing ring on bare feet. On the other hand, trying to train in tennis shoes will give you even more of a disadvantage. Most sports shoes will have either too much or too little grip.

They also have thick soles that are built for shock absorption, which is exactly what you don’t want. Thick soles will decrease the amount of power you transfer from the ground and prevent you from being able to firmly plant your feet on the ground.

A good boxing shoe, on the other hand, will hug your feet like a glove, giving you a sense of agility in the ring even before starting your footwork drills.

Footwork Drills

Jumping rope is something you’ll see every boxer do as a part of their training routine, and it’s a great place to start if you want good footwork. It’s an excellent way to improve your foot coordination while also strengthening your legs.

After that, get into your shadow boxing stance, with your hands up in front of your jaw but don’t throw any punches yet. Simple move front to back and side to side until you feel both solid on your feet and agile. To that end, be sure you’re landing on and pushing off of the balls of your feet and that your stance is not too wide. Once you have a decent grasp of these movements, you can add pivoting and do all manner of useful drills.

Now that you’ve solidified a good stance, you’re ready to move up in the boxing-gym food chain and start finding your power.

(3) Punch with your body, not your arms

The power in your punch doesn’t come from your fist.

Most of the power in your punch will come from your legs and hips. A good drill to learn the importance of full-body movement is shadow boxing with your hands behind your back. This might sound awkward but it is a fundamentally effective exercise.

Doing drills such as this one will help you understand that a good punch comes from having your whole body in the right position.

Picture yourself as a spring that you need to load up. Get into that solid stance you’ve been working on. Bend your knees like you’re setting up to pounce. Imagine this sequence: slip to the left, slip to the right, and follow with a straight (reverse for southpaw).

After having slipped to the right, you’re ready with your strong arm loaded up and waiting to be unleashed.

When you throw the punch, imagine your whole body uncoiling: the energy in your legs is released up your body; your hips swing and your right shoulder comes along for the ride; your arm straightens, fist ready to transfer every pound of weight in your body into a jaw-crushing blow.

Fun fact: A study of Olympic boxers showed that they could generate 446 pounds to 1066 pounds of force. These boxers ranged from flyweight (108 to 112 pounds) to super heavyweight (over 200 pounds).

A few other helpful points to keep in mind when it comes to using your whole body advantageously are keeping a straight spine and a relaxed upper body. Remember, the power is coming from your legs. Keep those muscles tense but your arms and shoulders relaxed.

(4) Imagine your fist is a rock and hurl it

Along the same lines, you could think of your body as the canon and your fist as the ball. Or imagine your arm is a spear and your fist is the point: you use your whole body to throw a javelin, and you should do the same with your fist.

The idea here is simple: your fist is the final point of contact, through which the force your whole body has created transfers into your target.

In that light, there are some key principles to keep in mind.

First, straighten your arm as much as possible. If you keep your arm slightly bent at the elbow, you’ll be hindered the transfer of force. Sure, you’ll probably overextend your arm the first few times you try this and that won’t be pleasant. When you get the hang of it, though, your punches will have that much more impact.

Second, keep your fist as hard as possible. Again, it will take some trial and error to get the hang of this, and time to toughen up your knuckles but it will pay off in the end.

There are a couple of ways you can start conditioning your knuckles right off the bat, for example, by doing knuckle push-ups and performing hand exercises.

how to punch

(5) Don’t Discount Defense

In boxing, and just about any fight sport for that matter, defense is not something you want to learn the hard way. Unfortunately for certain stubborn individuals, it can end up being the only way.

Here’s the problem with–and something I learned the hard way about–punching first and learning the rest later: in addition to overlooking the foundation of your punches, as we discussed earlier in starting from the bottom up, you’re shooting yourself in the foot by not learning how to block, slip, duck, and weave.

It’s easy to punch a bag that doesn’t fight back. Though it might seem silly to practice defending yourself from one, focusing on defensive sequences in your bag work will help make it second nature when you face off against an actual opponent–even if he or she is just your sparring partner.

(6) Understand Basic Boxing Combinations

Punching sequences were not designed to be mindless drills. Each progression serves a purpose, and if you ever want to be able to use them effectively, you have to understand them.

Here are the six punches in boxing:
Jab (left)
Cross (right)
Hook (left)
Hook (right)
Uppercut (left)
Uppercut (right)

If you’re southpaw, the left and right will be reversed.

Let’s look at the 1-2 or jab-cross combo. Even if you’ve never boxed, you are probably familiar with this sequence. It’s where every boxing match begins and can be how they end. First, you throw a jab with your weaker hand to throw your opponent off, then you knock them out with your strong hand.

Taking that a step farther, you can use the 1-1-2 or jab-jab-cross. This is essentially a trick since your opponent will be expecting those jab-cross combos. This sequence can surprise them and help you find the right opening for your heavy cross.

While that covers basic jab-cross combos, it certainly doesn’t end there. In fact, there are five different jabs which can be used in different situations, so expect plenty more drills in that arena.

Moving on, you’ll start to incorporate hooks and uppercuts.

By adding a left hook (or a right hook if you’re southpaw), you can do 1-2-3 (jab-cross-hook) and 1-2-3-2 (jab-cross-hook-cross). The left hook is a big power shot: if your cross doesn’t land in the 1-2-3, the hook still has knockout potential.

The 1-2-3-2 is also known as the basic boxing sequence. It begins with the jab, which sets up the whole play. Then comes the cross, which should do a bit of damage. Next, the left hook comes from the side and has the potential to surprise. It also opens up the next angle, which is when you land the finishing blow with your cross.

In the 1-2-5-2, you replace the left hook with a left uppercut. This uppercut again has the advantage of surprise as it comes from below and you can again use it to catch your opponent off guard. If your opponent is guarding his head too well for you to land a left hook, go for the uppercut. It will force his head up and expose him to that finishing right hand.

(7) Change it up

Always adapt. Never fall into a pattern.

We’ve learned that there are different punches and combinations for different situations. As you drill these combos, you’ll probably develop a few favorites in which you’re particularly strong. You can absolutely use these strength to your advantage but make sure you’re not becoming predictable in how you apply them.

Are you countering every jab with a jab-slip-right cross? Be careful: your opponent will catch wind and use it against you.

how to punch

Also, don’t load up every punch. Why not? Because you’ll become predictable. Do load up the right punch. Why? If it’s set up right, it could be your knockout blow.

The same goes for your defense and stance in general. Don’t get into a pattern of bobbing up and down. Why not? Because it lets your opponent predict where your head will be and plan his or her shots accordingly. Variety is the space of life. Switch from a high stance to a low one, bob from left to right, but do so deliberately as you react to your opponent and plan your moves–not out of habit.

If you want an advantage in sparring, keep these two things in the front of your mind: obverse your opponent’s patterns while making sure you’re constantly changing up your own.

Getting started with boxing can feel overwhelming–there are countless important principles to keep in mind–but if you can wrap your head around these seven, you’ll be off to a flying start.

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