Set ’em up, knock em down. It’s one of the most basic and important concepts of fighting: combinations. Sure every so often a big single punch will sneak in and connect, but most of the time you’re gonna have to build a bridge to their chin with a combo. One punch leads to another, and each successive strike is set up by the last.
In this series I’m going to go over the basic combos every fighter should know going into their respective striking sport. Most of them will center on punching combinations, since there’s no real faster way to get to your opponent. Punches are also more applicable in real life self defense, as closing the distance on someone for clinch strikes has inherent danger. Restrictive clothing such as jeans and shoes can also hamper your ability to kick. You’ll almost always have the option of throwing hands, though, which is why that will be our greatest focus.
Today we’re going to start with the most basic striking combo, and probably the first you’ll learn going into any striking sport. Boxing, muay thai, kickboxing, etc, all build off of the one two striking combo.
The Basics of Punching Combinations
Since this is the first edition of this series, I’m going to cover some very basic things. To start with, your fighting stance. Each martial art has slight variations, but boxing, kickboxing, and muay thai all are pretty close in how the fighters stand. You start with your feet shoulder width apart, and move your dominant foot back pivoted at around 45 degrees. Your lead hand will be up and about six inches from your face with your elbows close to your body. Your power hand, whichever you write with, will be held against your cheek.
Now I’ll tell you how to throw the jab for this combo. When you throw the jab by itself it’s usually light, quick, and you retract quickly into your stance. But when you throw the jab for this combo, you’re going to step into your opponent with your left foot.
The jab is your range finder. Stepping into the punch like this allows you to make sure you can connect with your right hand. As you step, your left hand shoots out with enough force to be felt, but don’t put everything into it. The jab is the appetizer, while the right hand is the main course. You should also notice that my power hand goes back to cover up my chin as I throw. Stepping in with the jab makes sure it’s strong enough that they can’t just ignore the punch and swing back.
The second part of this combo is your straight right. You throw the power hand just as the jab finishes retracting. As you throw, you pivot your entire body into the punch to give it it’s power. Your right shoulder comes forward at the same time as your right hip. While this happens, you also pivot your foot, and since you’re on your toes as you should always be, this shouldn’t put you off balance. Everything goes into this punch to really put the other guy onto his butt. This about covers the basics of this striking combo, and should be enough for you to throw it with decent competency. I’ll go more into the little things below.
The Details of the 1-2 Combination
I touched on bringing your non punching hand back home a little above, but here I’ll really explain why. This is because counters can come at any point, and there’s a lot of guys who will eat/avoid your jab and try to set you down with a left hook. Another counter can be the overhand right, which is why when I throw, my shoulder covers my chin. You don’t want to get punched in the top of the head, but the chin is called “the button” for a reason. You have to think defensively as you punch, otherwise a good counter puncher can end your night quickly.
The same concept goes for throwing your power hand, maybe even more so. After a jab you at least have a chance to move your head or dip out of range. But when you throw a power shot and really sit on your punches, you’re much more open to a counter. The hand that isn’t punching always stays home. To build on defensive offense, it’s important to move your head when you’re sitting on a punch. That’s why I move my head to the side I’m not punching with. Leaving your head straight up in the air will get you countered easily.
You’ll also notice that when I throw the right straight I don’t step like I did with my jab. That’s because when you throw the power hand, everything is going into it. When you throw with bad intentions, you set your feet and slightly drop your center of gravity. Doing this is what’s known as “sitting on your punches.” You gotta sit down on your hard strikes if you want to make the other guy sit down.
Conclusion
That’s about all the detail I can go into on what’s probably the most basic striking combo out there. As mentioned above, you can use this to build into way longer and more intense striking combinations. I’ll be writing more on this in the future, and you’ll probably see almost every combo starting with a one two and then moving into more complicated strings of punches. But for now, you need to get your one two down. Get your heavy bag, get some gloves, and please for the love of god wrap up your hands. Master this striking combo and get ready for the next article in the series. You can check out my home gym gear here.
