A couple more tips

[Drew]

I left another of these in general, but this probably belongs here.

I just wanted to make sure some poor soul didn't go through the same things I did learning these things.

In boxing in particular, you want to watch for the following things:

When throwing a jab, which should be at the forefront of your mind for all time, you need to watch for the overhand. The overhand loops over the top of your jab and often avoids getting hit by a jab altogether.

If southpaw, when throwing a rear straight, you also need to watch for the overhand. It will *also* loop over the top of the rear straight and avoid getting hit by the rear straight altogether. In this case, it is your fault for leading with your rear hand. Don't do it unless you can't help it. This is karate forums after all.

If orthodox, you can prevent your jab being countered by an overhand. It is called (drumroll please), a 1-2 punch. The jab-cross is a stunning combo. Against a good boxer, you will need your jab. You will need your jab-cross also, because they will try to counter your jab. What the jab-cross does is bait out the overhand and punishes it. You may need to put up your jabbing arm to high-block when you throw the cross. This will result in you catching a committed overhand across your arm even as you land with your punch.

For kickboxers, here is a more detailed explanation of the above concepts:

When you throw a good lead front kick, or teep, or lead side kick, you can create a good set of conditions for your hands. when you have unbalanced them, either physically but especially mentally and spiritually, you have an opportunity to step in and use shorter, safer weapons. The roundhouse kick is more related to the hands than the other kicks. When you jab from such a position, the overhand counter will be what you are looking for. In this situation however, you are comfortable with kicking too. They may slip the jab, which allows you to kick them with your roundhouse kick. They may also throw the overhand, which can be countered with the 1-2 combo (add the high block for safety), and it can also be countered with a strong roundhouse kick. You need to aim at the liver if you're southpaw and short, or else you wont have enough oomph to keep them out of your space.

**I need to add, that this is a double edged sword.**

When you lead with you jab, expecting the opponent to overhand, they can use the motion of the overhand to hide the beginning of a roundhouse kick. This can have a nasty result, if you aren't careful. Just imagine it. You throw a 1-2 with your arm up to catch the overhand only to catch a face-full of shin. If their arms are long, they may even go over the top of your cross with their lead hook, in the midst of all this. There is really a lot to look out for.

If you use these strategies you will have good luck against all types of opponents. They will look for other methods of countering your jabs. They will gravitate towards moving around you in either direction. They will also often try to bait out more committed jabs so that they can slip your jabs and either 1) take an angle or 2) get inside the pocket, aka the reach of your rear hard. (They've surrounded us, those poor bleeps).

In the case of 1) you can neutralize the angle with you own movement, or punish their movement with a round attack. If you punish their movement you need to make sure you have a way to prevent them from moving forward into you if the punish doesn't stop them altogether. In the case of 2) you will find that your rear uppercut and your rear hook are coming into play. Your lead knee also works nicely.

Edit: One more thing! You need to be wary of round kicks to the head. This is because if your round kick can be blocked, your heal can be caught with the other hand, then you can be swept. The motions of the catch and sweep allow the defender to then switch kick you in the head as you fall! So that's why I say you need to be careful. You don't have to look far on various muay thai format sports shows to find this technique being utilized. Good luck!