When you’re going from a beginner to an intermediate in boxing or MMA, you’ll have likely started sparring with partners.This one can take a lot of practice and repetition and can only be developed with a good coach or in drilling and light sparring.
How to block a punch
These shots will happen, and being less reactive is usually the best defense against them.With boxing gloves, the extra padding creates a much weightier and bigger surface area with which to cover your face.Maybe they have better movement or lucky predictions. You can’t continue fighting it with your face. You need to strategize with every single encounter and figure out how to overcome each challenge.
Keeping up your guard
For every other kind of block, it’s essentially the same as it would be in boxing or while wearing a full boxing glove. Keep the elbows tight to the ribs and hands high, then wait for your openings to counter.Luke Howard’s teaching methods are exemplary, and this online course will take a complete beginner from a dummy to a proficient boxer in just eight weeks!An open hand equals more surface area to protect your head.You want to have a very tightly compacted guard to deal with the incoming hook, as it’s one of the most powerful close-range shots.Get better and more resistant by keeping your hands up.
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The straight body jab or cross is intended to make you shell up lower and bring your arms close or further down to your body, dropping your guard and revealing your head.So let’s say your opponent throws a left hook:So in this article, I’ll break down how to block a punch — which is helpful for MMA and Boxing fights.You’re also going to want to learn about the variations of these and common combinations.
Learn punch variations and their counters
Aside from that, the last option would be to get good at moving backward or circling to one side when they are taking their in-step for the jab or cross.You have to be aware of how it can be challenging to predict whether your opponent’s hook is coming at your head or your body. Getting that wrong can be very risky.
- Jab
- Cross/Straight
- Hook
- Uppercut
But it’s usually too tricky to reliably detect when that kind of strike is coming to be able to counter on it.That last one is a personal favorite. It always works.Wearing MMA gloves during the fight means less overall material to cover your face. Boxers just don’t understand how good they have it, do they?
- Feints — mostly on jabs
- Body shots — most commonly on jabs when at a distance and hooks when in close
- Switched stances — great fighters can switch their stance (e.g., from orthodox to southpaw) and suddenly completely change the dynamic of defending it
And that’s not all. There are, of course, limitless combinations of those essential punches and these variations.These are the absolute basic punches that you should know inside out to start learning how to deal with them.
- Jab-Cross (1-2)
- Jab-Cross-Hook (1-2-3)
- Jab-Body Cross (1-2B)
- Jab-Body Jab-Feint Body Jab-Cross (1-1-Feint-2)
The classic MMA glove barely adds a couple of inches extra of coverage, and that’s only over the knuckles to avoid damage to the fighter’s hand.It’s so simple but so important. Look, if you want to stop getting bonked on the nose or caught on the chin with every movement you make – keep your damn guard up!
Blocking body punches
What they are trying to do is make you react.So you have two responses in dealing with the hook
Blocking jabs and cross to the body
Most straight shots to the body require the attacker to bring their own head closer to you, which does put them at risk.I know that has been my experience because it took the majority of my first year of regular boxing even to build up the stamina to keep my hands up and remember to keep them placed there, too.Holding your open palm to the side of your head is a typical way of defending your head from blunt force during an MMA fight.Here are some of the most popular combinations that get thrown, which you should definitely practice yourself both in attack and defense (drilling with a partner is perfect for this):If your elbows are tight to your ribs and without any space, then you have better protection for taking a side body punch into your arm rather than into your ribs where they do the damage.Learn the boxing fundamentals with Luke Howard, a professional coach, and MMA fighter. This course takes you from zero and teaches everything from how to wrap your hands to how to throw the perfect jab. It’s the ideal beginner’s manual.The strategy for defending against a jab or cross to the body is similar, as both are straight punches that are primarily meant to divert your attention.You can do it by holding your hands flat against the side of your head like a boxing guard.I’m talking about the essentials in a fighters toolkit, like:Blocking a side-body punch requires you to have trained reactions and a solid guard with elbows tight to the ribs.The more practice you put into learning these punches, like how to deal them out and getting awareness for how to deal with them on defense, the better you’ll get at blocking or even avoiding hits altogether.We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
Blocking hooks to the body
It takes some training and experience, but having a minimal reaction to this kind of strike is crucial so as not to put yourself in a precarious position after it.If you’ve had even a half-decent boxing coach, you’ll notice they keep gesturing to you to keep your hands up during your beginner stages.The way a fighter winds up their body for a hook looks the same at its starting point, and you won’t know whether it’s directed at your head or body — and sometimes it changes mid-throw based on your reaction.Intelligent fighters will use the body punch to vary their shots but, importantly, make you change the way you guard to find an opening.You can drastically improve your ability to detect and deal with punches once you understand what they all are.
- Keep a very tight guard with elbows tucked in while maintaining glove-to-chin protection
- Predict the hooks by learning the opponent’s patterns and footwork out of the way entirely
Boxing ProgramSparring is a critical part of the learning process in any fighting sport, especially MMA since the strikes can come from many angles. It’s where you will learn the most about how to block in MMA.So keep your damn hands up!Blocking with MMA gloves requires you to be more creative with the additional options you have available. For starters, an MMA glove lets you open your palm because of the need for grappling in the sport.You will always face a better fighter than you. If not now, later.
- Your defensive reaction should be to have a tight guard and sway from the waist to your right
- Bring your elbow further down the right side of your body while still protecting your head
- Brace for the impact, which should hopefully be mostly against your arm and not your head or body
A body punch usually comes in two forms, from the side or straight to the gut.
Blocking wearing MMA gloves
Now that you’ve got the essentials on how to block a punch, you’re likely going to find these next articles helpful for your training, too:By making a gesture while punching, you can strengthen your core and body and also provide additional safeguarding against the hook by using your elbow and arm.5.0As a beginner in fighting, one of the major obstacles you’ll encounter is mastering the technique of deflecting a rapid punch aimed at your face.That being said, if your reactions are good enough, then a defensive jab toward where their head is moving to (usually around your chest height) is a good strategy.Blocking a punch in MMA, Muay Thai, or even regular boxing is typically knowing the same factors. Let’s crack on with what those are.You can even learn boxing online with a good course. My pick is Boxing Fundamentals by Luke Howard:So having a strong core that can withstand body shots is probably one of the better defenses to this.Just that extra inch of the tip of your gloves protecting your face can count for milliseconds of additional reaction time for you to parry or successfully make a block.
Learn more fighting skills
If you’re tucking in your guard to take the punch, part of the reaction is to sway your body into the punch.
