Tag Archives | hook

Circular Strikes (diary entry)

November 3, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

03.11.2021 My two self-protection lessons for Kingham Hill School looked at the hook (power slap) and the offline (rear elbow/hammer fist) strike. These are both circular strikes delivered pre-emptively but under different conditions than the straight strikes. The hook might serve as a preferred variant on the straight strike some people, but these days I tend to teach it from a more sophisticated set-up such as the invisible fence or with a deception. We also trained it from a restrictive […]

Adapting Combination 14 (diary entry)

May 18, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

17.05.21 Monday night’s lesson provided me with an interesting challenge. My two partner clients arrived at number 14 again, for the first time on the focus mitts, and there were a few adaptations I needed to make for one of them. You may recall during our previous Zoom sessions that one of my two clients underwent a knee operation. He trained all the way up to the operation and only took out one less afterwards. We have been working hard […]

The Hook is important (diary entry)

March 17, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

15.02.21 Monday night’s second lesson was the third in Athena Karate’s course on Boxing techniques. Tonight we covered variations of the hook punch and a selection of legendary boxers who exemplified its use. For details on the hook in self-defence and its relationship with boxing, please check out my private lesson/teacher consultancy blog post. Before we moved onto techniques, I warmed everyone up with a routine inspired by the late “Marvellous” Marvin Hagler who died last week. Hagler was an […]

More on the Hook Punch (diary entry)

February 13, 2020 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

10.02.20 On Monday night my client reached the sixth hour of her third Muay Thai course and we looked at more details on the hook punch as well as the v-step and combining punching combinations with kicks. We began with a warm-up on the basic combination. Here we took a closer look at both the hook and the v-step. We looked at pivoting the front foot whilst keeping the rear foot pointing at the target. The v-step emphasised […]

Chaining Punches with Everything Else! (diary entry)

February 4, 2020 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

03.02.20 Monday night brought my client up to the fifth hour of her third Muay Thai course. We are focusing on punching specifically and tonight we looked at better chaining of all the punches with each other and then in combination. The lesson began with some a warm-up of line work, just looking at the individual punches. Four types of jab, the basic cross, four types of hook and two types of uppercut were covered as trained them […]

Power to the Round Kick (diary entry)

August 6, 2019 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

05.08.19 My client’s fourth lesson on Basic Muay Thai for Martial Arts Cross Training focused better development of the round kick and maintaining a good defence. I also introduced the hook punch and some longer combinations. The lesson began with a gentle warm-up followed by a circuit of agility ladders and agility cones. We went through forwards, backwards, lateral and angled footwork as well as chopping steps. The ladders reinforced simple individual movements whereas the cones dealt with […]

The Hook, The Hammer-Fist & The Invisible Fence (diary entry)

May 17, 2019 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

15.05.19 Wednesday’s first lesson saw the continuation my summer term course for Kingham Hill School on Self-Defence. Today’s focus was entirely on the hook. This was largely delivered as an open-hand strike although variations with the more classic punch were also offered for those who had more experience. We warmed up with a series of ground exercises for a change. This also segued into the transitional warm-up that followed. Movement is such a key thing in combat that […]

Combat Conditing Continues (diary entry)

March 6, 2019 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

02.03.19 The first lesson of this morning saw my client complete his third hour of Combat Conditioning. We moved onto the reverse side and also focused a lot on circular techniques – hooks, round kicks, single-leg takedowns and kimura sweeps. We warmed up with a series of sport specific calisthenics, dynamic stretching and mobility exercises for all ranges of combat. I did a good number of exercises that looked at working the oblique muscles and rotational movement of […]

Transitioing from Western Boxing to Muay Thai (diary entry)

February 8, 2019 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

07.02.19 Tonight my client began his new and first course in Muay Thai for Martial Arts Cross Training. Having just completed the Western Boxing course two days ago, his goal is to be competent in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. We looked at how Muay Thai resembles certain aspects of Western Boxing and yet differs from them in many ways. Besides all the obvious elements found in Muay Thai such as the inclusion of kicks, knee strikes, […]

The Hook under Pressure (diary entry)

January 30, 2019 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

30.01.2019 Today’s self-defence lesson at Kingham Hill School introduced the hook and aspects of live training. This sandwiched in revision from lessons, where we covered the pre-emptive strike and both passive and aggressive fences. We began with a warm-up, coordinating punching and movement. We also revised the cover and tactical escape; running in different directions and accessing the nearest exit points at a moment’s notice. We then had a quick discussion on responses under pressure. I […]

Early Clinch in Boxing (diary entry)

January 15, 2019 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

12.01.19 My second lesson of the day was for my two junior clients who are currently on the fifth hour of their course in Basic Boxing for Martial Arts Cross Training. We warmed up on the heavy bag varying footwork with basic combinations. Then we covered different tactics for drawing and fighting defensively. This brought us onto clinch-work. I was looked to cover clinch-work at a later stage in the course, but once I had used Jack Johnson’s […]

Hooks and the Basics (diary entry)

December 22, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

22.12.18 This morning I taught the third hour of a 10 hour course I am holding for two junior students in Western Boxing for Martial Arts Cross Training. We looked at the lead hook and worked on tightening up stances and footwork. The first part of the lesson was entirely dedicated to positioning and footwork. If there are three things that every fighter needs to have in their physical skills foundation it is to be on balance, to keep their […]

Here’s the Hook (diary entry)

October 31, 2018 | Uncategorized [ssba]

30.10.18 Tonight’s lesson was my new client’s second hour of a scheduled 10 hour course on Basic Western Boxing for Martial Arts Cross Training. We looked at better for force generation for the cross punch and I also introduced the hook. We began with some shadow boxing, focusing on footwork. This changed to mirror footwork, where I layered in upper body movement – slipping, ducking, and bobbing and weaving. Training then went onto the focus mitts. Here we […]

Slip/Jab & Hook (diary entry)

August 31, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

30/08/18 Tonight brought my client up to his fourth hour in Basic Western Boxing for Martial Arts Cross Training. We continued working on building strong connections between footwork, upper body movement and the jab and the cross punches. We also continued to develop better muscle activation for the hook. Training began with a punching warm-up. We went through some basic line-work and speed exercises, taking time to train through the various links of a punch; striking off the […]

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