The Uppercut: This is a very powerful punch, which is a great tool for taking the air out of their lungs by hitting and pushing up into the solar plexus area. Many boxers train for hours just to get this technique right, for in the ring an uppercut under the other boxer's guard hitting the jaw and chin area will weaken or maybe knock him out. As you can see from the pictures below he comes from the guard, then drops his body using his feet, legs, hips and shoulder. (Please note that he has not dropped his guard but just moved his arm and fist slightly to the front of his face.) Still turning his body down then up to pushing his feet, hips, shoulders up gives him the power to push his fist up into the target area. As in all the punching pictures you can see how he keeps his hand, arms close to his body and covering his face and head only moving when punching, then back as fast as possible when his fist or elbow have reached their target to protect himself.
The Elbow:The elbow works in the same way as the hook does, but uses the elbow to make the point of contact, which can be the point of your elbow up to six inches back giving you more chance of hitting the target area. As you can see from the pictures below he guards with his left arm and drives his right elbow into the bag keeping his eyes on the target at all time.
The main point you must remember that when punching or using the elbow it's your feet, legs, hips and shoulder which drives your fists and elbows in to the target area and not big swings of the arms.
The best tip I could give you must use your guard first, punch and kick second!
Please click onto the "Art of Kicking button" to begin our Kicking programme.
