Hardest punch to learn

StopDucking said:
It's not the hardest punch, it's the most useless punch. There's a big difference.

99% of the time, if you feel like throwing a rear hook, a cross or an uppercut would do the same job, only better.
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Right uppercut to the body?
 
Having an actual straight right hand isn't easy, as we've witnessed in MMA. A guy with a decent 1-2 and some takedown defense already makes the top 10 ranks.

Guys throwing uppercuts and hooks randomly is what tends to get them KOd most often though.

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TheGreatA said:
Having an actual straight right hand isn't easy, as we've witnessed in MMA. A guy with a decent 1-2 and some takedown defense already makes the top 10 ranks.

Guys throwing uppercuts and hooks randomly is what tends to get them KOd most often though.

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Anyone with a decent jab becomes addicted to throwing the jab.

If a guy doesn’t spam the jab, it’s always because his jab sucks compared to his other punches. If your jab is at least as good at your other punches, you don’t even want to throw other punches.

However, since the jab is the most unnatural punch, getting a decent jab requires a lot more work than any other punch. That’s why it’s the hardest punch.
 
I would say the double jab.
Shitload of things you can do wrong, needs to perfectly dose how to bring back the hand.

mozfonky said:
they all take a lot of work but the ironic thing is, the hook is the hardest to learn, at least to where it's any good. it's natural to throw wild punches but I haven't seen beginners ever have any power on it.
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I still don't really understand how to throw a right hook (in orthodox) properly. That shit is weird.
 
StopDucking said:
Anyone with a decent jab becomes addicted to throwing the jab.

If a guy doesn’t spam the jab, it’s always because his jab sucks compared to his other punches. If your jab is at least as good at your other punches, you don’t even want to throw other punches.

However, since the jab is the most unnatural punch, getting a decent jab requires a lot more work than any other punch. That’s why it’s the hardest punch.
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Having a decent jab is of course most important. But guys throwing shitty hooks and uppercuts with bad timing nearly gets them killed all the time.

Throwing a bad jab is safer although you can still get countered with a right hand (not a big risk in MMA since most guys can't throw a straight punch). There's plenty of great boxers who to their dying day could never throw a jab without dropping their hands and being slow to put them back up. A great jab is a rare thing even in boxing, and almost nonexistent in MMA (Strickland actually has the closest thing to a good jab right now).

Generally speaking, just throwing straight punches, whether it's jabs or right hands, seems to be the most difficult task. It's only recently that MMA guys started throwing straight punches and more compact hooks instead of haymakers.

Like I said, having a decent 1-2 and some takedown defense automatically gets you in the top 10 in MMA and even wins championships we saw with Strickland and O'Malley recently.
 
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spinup said:
I would say the double jab.
Shitload of things you can do wrong, needs to perfectly dose how to bring back the hand.


I still don't really understand how to throw a right hook (in orthodox) properly. That shit is weird.
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I tend to think of a right hook as being pretty much the same as an overhand right, guy throws his jab, you slip the jab to your left while looping your right over his extended arm. The weight transfer is similar to a regular straight right in that it all goes to your lead leg. Lots of great examples, Tyson had beautiful body mechanics on just about every punch, check out his over right hook that kayoed henry tillman. Sugar Ray Robinson had a beautiful right hook, sugar ray leonard as vicious with his and was trying to kill Tommy with it.

But really, they are all hard and it's even harder to put them in combination to great effect, not everyone has the coordination to do that well. Tommy Hearns never had great combo coordination, as great as he was. Sugar Ray (both) Tyson, Floyd Patterson all beautiful combo punchers.
 
spinup said:
I would say the double jab.
Shitload of things you can do wrong, needs to perfectly dose how to bring back the hand.


I still don't really understand how to throw a right hook (in orthodox) properly. That shit is weird.
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The double jab isn’t a punch, it’s two punches. It’s like a 1-2 or a hook to the body-uppercut to the head combo. It’s two punches.

Struggling with the rear hook is a sign of a bad stance (too much weight on the front leg, rear foot not at a 90-degree angle). You won’t be able to have proper hip rotation and weight transfer this way.
 
StopDucking said:
It's not the hardest punch, it's the most useless punch. There's a big difference.

99% of the time, if you feel like throwing a rear hook, a cross or an uppercut would do the same job, only better.
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Mayweather had a sick jab feint to right hook around the guard…

Pretty sure he was smacking Cotto around with it. Despite his tight guard
 
Mechanically? The lead hook.
Application and variations? The jab.

listrahtes said:
You have a point. Still its also the punch I suck the most at and as a tool for a close up body punch I think it has its value. .
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I’ve got a kid on the team who just scored a knock down tonight with his right hook. He’s probably dropped or 8-counted half a dozen guys in his 10 fights with it. He’s a tall pressure/counter type and he always finds it in exchanges. Keeps it shorts and finds it off his head/shoulder movement in the pocket
 
biscuitsbrah said:
You can call it what you want but it’s real close to a right hook. It would be very disingenuous to say it looks like a typical overhand

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Wow just beautiful. Thx for the clip. disagree with the other poster that all are overhands. Some are much closer to a hook in execution.
 
As I mentioned, they're all hard to learn, especially if you're older when you start. Most of the teachers I saw really didn't seem to care about focussing on one thing at a time, i guess out of fear the student would think they aren't learning anything new or maybe get bored. Takes time and repetition but most teachers will start teaching with a jab and then a right, then maybe a hook but with never enough focus on one thing. At least that's the way it was in my martial arts and mma classes. I know that one of the very best trainers I had drilled the hell out of the jab with me, nothing else and it was a lot of repetition and work. I haven't seen anyone else put that sort of attention into a student which is a shame really. So, anyway, a lot of shitty work is accepted which was never good enough for me personally.
 
listrahtes said:
Wow just beautiful. Thx for the clip. disagree with the other poster that all are overhands. Some are much closer to a hook in execution.
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for some reason, i've heard it said, "there's no such thing as a right hook". Just semantics. If it's looping at all it certainly isn't a classic right cross. And a good overhand, a punch that should go over the jab doesn't have to be that looping, just enough to slip over the jab.
 
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