yes, it sounds sooooo obvious, so Basic, ......yet most People seem oblivious to it!! sure, it s the first Punch you learn......but most Coaches dont emphasize the Jabs importance. i got so many beginners throwing three or 4 Punch Combos......on the pads. and they look darn good on the pads. put em in the ring and have someone punching back..........and all the Beauty is out the window and you get a toughman contest like brawl (as most entry Level Amateur fights are). so here is my advice: Forget Combos. not in your first fight. just practice the jab. throw it correctly........and time it right. thats all you Train when you spar. single Jabs. get the jab on target. get it there before your Opponent can. be first. Focus only on the jab. defense and jab. win the battle of the jab............and you win your first fight. 99% of the time.
Odd question but would you recommend turning and also jabbing with what would normally the cross hand? For example on a righty jab jab jab and keep going then turn as if you are a lefty and jab all day long with the right?
Actually the first thing I learned was how to counter/ react to a jab. If you have a powerful wide right your opponent quits jabbing.
well, thats the difference between theory and practice. in theory you can counter the jab with an overhand right, you can switch to southpaw to take away the guys jab. hell, you can even hook a slow jab and follow that with a straight right .......sure, on paper that works.....but what are we working with here?? the Punch you referr to is a counterpunch. so lets dissect what our fictional first timer has to do here: he Needs to Keep his eyes open and stay in front (not pull back). he has to slip punches effectively and not get discouraged or Panic when this doesnt work right away and he has to take a few flush Jabs. then, he has to land the right effectively........not the easiest Thing to do if the Opponent Jabs properly, meaning he tucks his chin behind the shoulder when he extends it. cause then the right wont even get Close to the chin but instead glances off the top of the head and has no effect. and all this while he is having his first or second fight?? have you ever fought?? even Veteran like me get an adrenaline dump when entering the combat area. when a first-timer goes into the ring, he´s probably had diaria and not eaten all day. you are scared, simple as that. scared to embaress yourself, scared you might get hurt. so here is what normally happens: both first timers Forget EVERYTHING and go hell for leather. wild uncoordinated punches, chins up way in the air. and both are completely exhausted after 30 seconds. That is what novices do. it´s like when youre 16 and have sex for the first time: you are not gonna produce a pornstar masterclass and pleasure your Girl for 2 and a half hours. no, if you last 2 minutes....you did good, simple as that. bottom line: in a Situation that is virtually out of Control, stay with the KISS strategy (Keep It Simple Stupid). so dealing with a novice, dont go for Combos, slipping puches etc. Keep it super simple: Hands up, land your jab. THAT your kid can remember, even in the chaos of the first fight. and 99% of the time, that gets you the win at entry Level. trust me.
so if i understand correctly you ask if switching from orthodox to southpaw is a good idea?? personally, im totally against it. alot of kickboxing Trainers like it when their pupils continually Switch.......but i view it as dangerous. first of all, i would like my fighter to get comfortable and proficient at one stance first. that in itself takes up ALOT of work. secondly, switching leaves you vunerable. because switching doesnt just confuse your Opponent. your own Body has to recoordinate for a few seconds. and in that period, you are vunerable. on monday i sparred a tall kickboxer and when he switched to southpaw, i just stepped in and threw a right Hand. boom, landed flush. after that, he took my advice and stopped switching.
As a matter of fact I have fought, several times, 47-19 and if you spar the way you're supposed to spar, do your semi sparring, pad and body protector work, impact shield work, it's not nearly as difficult as you believe. If your opponent can only throw a couple of punches and hide behind a stone wall he is easily beaten.
I'm more asking that if jabbing your way to a win or at least "competency" can you jab with both hands? Yes turn Southpaw and jab with that as well? Obviously, I'm a beginner here and is why I enjoy your detailed posts on what a beginner goes through, so take the question in that context.
I've only WATCHED first-timers, never been one (yet), so I see quite a bit where people go in and lose their minds and forget everything. I would think that if a person narrowed their focus and worked on THAT then there is a BETTER chance of implementing it. How narrow? Just the jab? Maybe a few more of the basics? It might depend on how much they train and how effective that training is. Heck I don't know. Again, I'm new.
You'll pretty much know what you can do and what you can't do before your first competition. If you can't do it in the gym don't do it in the fight. Like I could do the wide right under the jab the first time in competition. However, it took me a while to get the left hook down but eventually it became the punch for me---after a lot of hard work.
This is the best advice i've read in a long long time. To piggyback on the OP beginners do not spend nearly enough time working on straight punches in general. Your first goal should be the jab and your second the cross. Stay away from hooks and uppercuts as a priority. I've only been boxing for 3 years and my jab gets markedly better at least every few months. The longer you do it the more you focus on certain elements of your fast twitch muscles and how to properly leverage your legs to make your jab faster and more powerful. Im a heavyweight 6'3 230lbs with the reach of a 6'7" man and I'd challenge you to find anybody in the Washington DC area that can throw a faster jab than me over 145 pounds. Im dead as serious. There are plenty of small guys that can throw it just as fast but i doubt they can throw a single jab faster than me. I literally spend rounds on the heavybag working my jab from orthodox and southpaw. Both of my trainers did not spend enough time emphasizing the jab for me. It would have saved me a few sore jaws in sparing
The Jab and Cross. It's about when and where you throw them in context of the contest. If you throw the jab at the same speed with the same rhythm and the same power again and again your opponent will catch on. A very simple way of practicing rhythm variation is to shadow box and count beats between jabs. Mix up the count. 1,2 jab 1, jab 1,2,3,4 double jab. I found that helped and then I worked on varying the power and the position of my feet.
