The Theory of the Sweet Science
The Theory of the Sweet Science
I have mentioned before in some articles that I don't believe that boxing can effectively be taught through a medium such as the Internet. The reasons for me straying from my belief are that I see some benefits that might be derived from such an article. What I wanted to show was the basic movements of the jab in order for readers to get a fundamental understanding of the basic biomechanical aspects involved with this particular punch.
Before you can learn any punches within boxing, you need to know firstly how to shape up and where to position your feet. I'll be assuming that you are a right hander and will give instructions according to that trait. If you are left handed (south paw) just reverse the movements. You need no gym equipment for this tutorial, just yourself. If you have never boxed, the movements will feel unnatural and awkward, that's normal.
First up, you'll stand with your feet shoulder width apart and then move your right foot back about the distance of 2.5 of your foots length.
Now that your feet are in right position you're going to shape up properly as if you're about to engage in fight. Below is an overhead view of how things should look when you shape up.
The side view below shows the guard held high and protecting the chin. Slightly bent forward, knee's slightly bent aswell.
Below is the front view. Again, the guard is held high (you can even rest your hands on your face) the elbows are tucked in to protect the ribs, chin is down and the front foot is pointing directly forward at the opponent. This is an important point and you'll see why further down. First timers will have trouble holding their elbows inwards especially if you are of a solid build. The thing to remember is that it's all a new experience and things will feel better the more you practice this. You need to program or condition your central nervous system to accept this posture so that it becomes second nature.
Besides the boxing stance, the jab is the very first movement that you learn in boxing. I’ll be teaching the jab in the way that I was taught. The fundamental aspect of a proper jab is having your body weight behind the punch. Anything less and you'll simply be 'arm punching', which serves absolutely no purpose. The best way to break a bad habit is don’t start it, get the basics right from day one.
Now from your boxing stance as illustrated above, you'll throw the jab and you'll have your body weight behind the punch - the way to achieve that is to lean forward as you throw the punch (See below)
Three things have happened here:
The picture below shows the same movement from the front. Notice the right elbow remains tucked inward and the right hand is protecting the chin.
Look at my left foot, it's pointing directly at the target (in this case, the camera) and you could draw a straight vertical line from my punching hand to that foot. In other words the jab is sent directly over my lead foot. My foot isn't pointed outwards or inwards, it's pointed directly at the opponent/target and that is important for proper balance, weight transference and execution.
Below is the top view of the jab being thrown. Again note how the punching arm is directly over the leading foot, and with that same foot pointed directly at the intended target.
After throwing the jab, your hand has to immediately come straight back and in a straight line to your face to protect the jaw. You cannot drop your hand when retracting your hand from the jab, otherwise your opponent will follow that lowered hand in and then come right over the top of your lowered hand with their straight right and knock you out.
1. Make sure your hand always come back to protect the jaw, rest them on your face.
2. Tuck your elbows in.
3. When you throw the jab it's common to let the right hand drop low, do not let this happen, keep your guard high at all times.
4. Keep the toes pointed directly at the target.
5. Lean forward to get your body weight behind the punch.
6. Practice this slowly to begin with. Just concentrate on getting the technical aspects right.
7. Practice in front of a full size mirror so you can keep an eye on what you are doing wrong and make adjustments.
The jab is considered to be thee punch within boxing circles. It can be used to keep your opponent busy and on the defensive. However, one of the most important reasons for using the jab is finding your range so that other punches such as the straight right can be delivered effectively and all of that is for another article.
