I often seen boxers throwing their straight right without turning over the fist and wondered if there is a reason for it? Does it penetrate the guard better, sort of like a splitter. I often see videos of guys throwing that punch on the heavy bag, and thought that one would generate more power by rotating the fist. Any thoughts?
I think they teach that punch in karate. I remember some dude telling me that it lines the bones up in such a way that your less likely to break your hand.
it can work if you want to throw the straight right up close and you want a short snappy quick punch, id never use it when throwing a long shot from range, works better for a jab i reckon
The bones of your fore-arm/ wrist are more naturally aligned when punching with your thumb pointing up. There are still some trainers that teach this method of throwing crosses. You can use this, as mentioned earlier in the thread, to attempt to split a guard. I think Jack Dempsey had wrote quite a bit about this in his Championship Fighting book. He spoke about a "Power Line" that ran from you shoulder down to your pinky knuckle. Landing your punched upright like this is technically the most "correct" form. It is a a remnant of the classic prize fighting era, as taking care of your hands was very important, so punching in a way that minimized potential injury was ideal.
So does this technique generate the most power? I would think that turning the fist over would accomplish this. Also, do you guys routinely throw the jab with the thumb up as well?
It becomes a matter of preference. You have to keep in mind that for every great trainer that will tell you this or that form is correct or advantageous, another trainer will tell you differently. It all comes down to what works better for you and what tools you use proficiently enough to add to your overall game-plan. On the Jab question. I personally always turn my jab over. I was taught that way and have practiced as such for years. That being said, I HAVE seen some fighters occasionally throw the jab "thumb up" and it is typically for the same purpose as the straight. sometimes you can split a guard and other times it is the result of a lazy jab being stuffed by an opponent. Other times it could be a "chopping jab" which happens to land "thumb up" on most occasions. Keep in mind that because of the vast amounts of knowledge and technique available, you are going to be bombarded by multiple ways to do the same thing, or multiple variations on a particular technique. Learn all of it and then use whatever techniques best suit your style/ body type/ etc. It all becomes part of the developmental portion of your boxing experience and unfortunately only you can make technique "x" or "y" work for you. Think of all the jab variations you can think of off the top of your head. There are that many for every punch, and then variations of the variations. It is all personal preference. Just keep the fundamentals in mind. Defend yourself at all times and keep your balance. Remember, when boxing was in its infancy, everyone threw the jab palm up. Yeah palm up. This maximized the potential to land with the knuckles only, which was another attempt to minimize damage to the punchers hands.
another side effect of punching with the thumb up is that it ensures that the elbows return to the sides of the body automatically,and that's better as far as protecting the body goes. I have been pondering this style of punching from either hand for a few years now and i haven't found anything that disqualifies it from being marked as a legitimate and safe method of punching. That being said,i have trained for nearly 2 decades with the cork screw method like every other boxer,so im still hesitant to change my teaching methods......I must experiment with some fighters and measure the results.....heck they have been punching this way in th Wing Chun style of martial arts for centuries and i havent read any bad effects it has on the hands long/short term, but i read about the power being increased. The alleged "power increase" needs to be measured,and i dont know how to go about measuring it without scientific instruments.
