The Jab: Elements of an Effective Strike

The Jab is a near-perfect weapon for a striker: It's quick. it's hard to defend, defensively it doesn't open you up very much and it sets up a variety of other attacks. A very large variety.

Elements of a good jab:

• Use the lead hand. The hand closest to your opponent.
•  Proper distance.
• You need to know how long your arm is. You don't want to flail at empty air. You want to make contact but not try to go too deep, that will only jam the jab, decreasing its effectiveness. The jab should make contact right at the end of snap when you throw it.
• Make it snap.
• The Jab should snap out like a whip and return just as quickly to the starting position.
• The fist should turn at the end of the strike, adding to the snapping effect. I only turn my fist about a quarter rather than a full turn, maybe it's my imagination but it just feels quicker to me. By that I mean I turn it from a vertical starting position to just a slight turn at the end of the punch, as illustrated below.

Beginning of jab

End of jab



• Throw your lead shoulder with the punch. Your shoulders should end up somewhat perpendicular to your opponent.
• Put your weight into it.
• Shift your weight onto your front foot with the impact of the punch.
• Typically, you move your front foot toward your target. I'll describe in more detail in later blogs but here are a couple of ways to do this:
• Move your front foot forward, toward the target. I call it "splitting the middle". Draw a line from your opponent's nose or chin straight down to the floor and step forward onto that line as you jab.
• Step out as you jab coordinating front and back feet as they move to the side, in order to reposition yourself and avoid a counter. 
• Snap your hip into the jab, same hip as the jab.
• On impact, your front foot, shoulder and hip should have shifted sharply toward the target.
• Hit with the big knuckles.
• As always, keep your chin down and tucked and stay loose.

This video shows how I do a jab:

That's enough for now. I'll talk more about the jab and footwork that goes along with it in future posts.