Perfecting the straight punch – For beginners

Generating fear in your opponent through your punch

At Tigon sports we believe mastering the basics is a fundamental step towards becoming a champ. Whether its Kickboxing, Muay Thai, or Boxing, working on your jab and straight punches is critical.  

"Everybody has a plan until they get punched …." - MikeTyson

We’ve collated some striking tips from boxing with a focus on the straight punch for you. You can adapt these tips freely to your own fighting style. 

Why the straight punch? Attack at a distance and open weaknesses

If you’re a beginner, you should be working on a straight punch alongside developing a good stance and posture.

Benefits of the straight punch:

  • enables you to attack at distance
  • creates opening opportunities against your opponent
  • relatively easy to set up from initial fighting stance 

“If you train 100% your results will be 100%” - Former UFC Mid-weight Champion Anderson Silva

Components of a straight punch

When learning the straight punch there are three basic components you need to be aware of:

  1. Your bodyweight
  2. The muscles which put movement into your body: toes, feet, leg muscles and back muscles.
  3. Your delivery method through the fists and arms

Having a strong delivery method (strong arms) is one thing. But being able to arm your fists with the force of your bodyweight multiplied by the speed you can generate from your muscles is how you will develop the ability to deliver powerful punches.

In a straight punch or a cross, ideally you want your opponent to feel the force of your whole body weight through your knuckles. 

In order to bring these three components together its a good idea to work on each one separately. Either work though the material below from top to bottom or pick a specific area which suits you:

  • Your Stance
  • Getting your bodyweight into the punch
  • Delivery
  • Further exercises on power

Your stance is important

Being able to engage your bodyweight starts with having a good stance - we think GB Boxer Luke Campbell demonstrates stance well:

Important: feet should face around two “o” clock.  For balance and mobility keep your back heel slightly offset.

Getting your bodyweight into the punch

Cornelius Carr Former WBF World Middleweight Champion goes through some basic but very important techniques for getting power into a range of  your punches. (Here).

Important: Carr emphasises the importance of staying ready and relaxed in the ring.  It’s very difficult to use these techniques if you don’t learn to relax. 

“The fight is won or lost far away from the witnesses – behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights” - Muhammad Ali

Delivery - The punch

Expert Boxing shows you how to deliver the straight punch in isolation and then how to use it whilst training. 

Important: Look out for over-rotation which can slow you down: deliver a quick straight punch and don’t forget to twist the back foot towards the target.

In conclusion, practise, listen, refine, practise! 

Practising these techniques at the gym or at home in the mirror as a beginner will mean you’ll be generating more power  - good luck in the octagon and ring!

Mastered all of the above?

If you’ve got all of the above down, you may find JT Van’s video on Isometric Exercises for power useful. He also provides you with a clear workout: