How you doing? Ando again from SenseiAndo.com.
The hook punch is one of the most devastating knockout shots in all of fighting, but here's the thing.
You see a lot of people throw it by winding up their arm.
Now, that puts your shoulder and your chin in danger.
Who am I kidding? That's the way I threw it, too. Back in the day, I tore my shoulder from
throwing wild hooks, too wide and way too hard. During rehab, I swore I would
never throw a hook punch again. I was freaked out. But over time, I came to realize that
the problem wasn't the hook punch, it was my lousy technique. So, I figured out a
simple way to relearn how to throw the hook so that it would be safe and
powerful. And maybe this simple idea can help you, too. Here it comes.
My advice for training your hook punch is to work from the ground up instead of your fist down.
So, how do you do that? Simple.
Throw an elbow. That's right, I'm telling you that the best way to train your hook
punch is to not throw a hook punch. Throw the elbow instead. Here's why.
At least for me, when I throw the elbow, it feels just like a short hook.
So, that's your test. If you can't hit a bag with balance and power, especially since no
one's trying to hit you back, you're not under any pressure, well, then you're not ready to
throw the hook punch yet. Get the elbow right first.
Here's what I mean by getting it right. Let's work from the ground up.
Start off by looking at that front foot. The front foot has to pivot. There's no way around that.
Now you may choose to transfer your weight over to this leg or you may just sit down on that punch, but
no matter what, that foot has to pivot. When you're happy with your feet, move up into your knees.
I like to think about someone maybe kicking me behind that front knee just to add a little dynamic
pop to the pivot. Moving up from the knees into my hips. Remember, we're not winding up with our arms anymore,
so it has to come, the power has to come from your body.
So, make sure your hips are moving. That's what that belt is good for. You can see if you're using your
hip or not. All right, so, now, moving up. Then I'm going to make sure my shoulder
feels good, make sure my chin is tucked, and make sure my guard is up.
Oh, yeah. And don't forget to breathe.
Once you feel really solid with that elbow, then it's time to add your hand back into the mix
and turn it into a hook punch again. The only difference, instead of leading
with your elbow, you're going to lead with your hand. Make sure that when your hand hits the bag
your wrist is straight. You don't want some stupid injury at this point.
Now, I would start off practicing your short hook since that feels the closest to that elbow.
So, throw the short hook. As you're feeling a little more confident, you can back away and start throwing a longer hook.
If you're really cool and you want to add a little something fun to this, make sure you always follow through with your
elbow. That builds on the groove that you've been building all this time by training your elbow.
So, bang bang. Every single time. Just throw the elbow through there.
That's illegal in boxing, but it's great for fighting.
Two more tips. First if you want to add even more power to your hook punch,
make sure that you're always winding up with your body and not your arm.
How do you do that? Well, one way could be to slip and then come back with the hook.
You turn your hips a little bit this way and come right back. Another way you could do it is to work it
off of a combo. Let's say you throw a one and a straight right. That gives me a little
bit of a wind up for that hook. If you cross your centerline, cross, that gives you even more power.
So, whatever you do, just make sure your hand stays up and you're always protecting yourself,
and you're winding up with your body instead of your arm. Second tip. You hear a lot of opinions out there
about the best way to position your fist when you throw a hook punch. Thumb down,
thumb facing you, maybe thumb up. Well, what's the right answer?
If you saw my video, How to Throw a Punch in a Fight, then you'll know that my answer is always
"the best fist is the one that fits." So, depending on what part of the
head or body you're hitting, that's how you want to position your fist so that it hits flush.
But as a general rule, here's what I would tell you. I like to follow the natural line
of my body. I don't want to have tension in my arm if I can help it.
So, when I'm just standing here, my thumb is facing up. If I just start naturally
lifting up my arm, you'll see that my hand starts to rotate towards me, my thumb is now facing me,
and as it goes higher than my shoulder line, it starts to dip down. So, if I'm just
following the natural line of my body, that's going to guide me to throw
punches with my thumb up pretty much down here in this area, down to the body.
As it starts to get a little bit higher, my thumb starts to face me. And if I start going a little higher than
that, well, then my thumb starts to dip down. But again, the number one rule is
that when I make impact with anything, my elbow is behind my fist, my wrist is
straight, and my knuckles are hitting as flush as possible. That, my friend, is the best hook punch.
And that's my tip for throwing a safe, powerful hook punch.
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free email updates list. Until next time, keep punching, my friend.
And keep fighting for a happy life.