23.07.2024
Hour six of my client’s course on Boxing brought us onto the lead hook punch. Embracing live teaching concepts, I decided to conduct something of an experiment. Taking an individual with no prior martial arts training (at least in striking arts), I created games where he would find a lead hook rather than being shown.
This experiment was far from perfect and I probably should have had more confidence in my approach because I did model some versions of the punch first. This was to describe its versatility at different ranges. However, I then presented my client with different scenarios where he would have to think about his positioning. We trained the following 2-minute sparring rounds:
- Teacher aims to touch centre of client’s chest with their rear hand. Client aims to protect against the touch and touch the side of teacher’s head.
- Right cross versus left hook
- Right cross versus right cross and left hook
- Jab/cross punching machine versus jab/cross/hook
- Jab/cross versus jab/cross/hook
- Body shot sparring
We then finished the session with 2 minutes on the focus mitts. Here I was able to see what my client’s lead hook really looked like. Interestingly it mainly resembled the upward angled hook or shovel hook.