Jab Like Larry Holmes

**FarisadDin** · Posted On: 9/14/2011 11:29pm

If you havent seen Larry Holmes' jab go here

NOW!

Who here reading this knows of anyone who punches as hard with their jab or harder than Holmes? I cant think of anyone who can snap it out as quickly and powerfully as Holmes.

My Question is this how do I put real power behind my Jab and before anyone tells me the jab is just for keeping people off you to find your range etc thank you but thats not what i want to know.

many many thanks for anyone who can help me

**patfromlogan** · Posted On: 9/15/2011 12:11am

There's a lot of better videos of Holmes. Here he often attacks with hooks and straights as Tex is open and tired.

Holmes' jab was accurate and was a piston move, not a flick.

After I was taught form (I'm assuming you have a coach/sensei? I'm assuming that you have the basic punch down... watch the elbow) I was instructed to do jabs at the mirror, often. I was told that when your hands are hard to see, you are getting fast. In general you sacrifice speed for power; sinking power into the strike takes time. Holmes' was fast and powerful and I don't know how he did it. I'm assuming that you know the hand possitions and foot movement for basic jab. I don't know how Holmes did it, but what Ali added was lifting the back leg to put his body into the punch. That makes me off balance, but Ali could commit and recover to guard.

**FarisadDin** · Posted On: 9/15/2011 1:54am

I have seen other videos of Holmes doing exactly as you described, from my observations the power in his jab came from pushing off from the rear foot and the power traveling up through his hips and out his hand and into someones face, When I try the same its little more powerful than my jab as is. Theres something Im missing i know it but cant quite place it

**jdempsey** · Posted On: 9/15/2011 8:26am

:Thoughtful:What worked for me was playing around with my stance. I turned a little more side on,(probably to where I should be , I tend to walk up a bit) loosened up my shoulder, arm and hand. postured it in a bit of a loaded position- not enough to be tense though, with my lead foot turned in just a little.
I stood a little taller than usual and put some springs in my shoes.
A big thing that I played with was my guard.
By dropping my jab hand I felt much looser and able to generate power.
Getting a little heavy on the lead leg and finding that perfectly chambered position helped too.
I see you are pushing off your rear foot, driving every joint up to the hip but then you went straight to hands on face.
Try using just a tiny twist of the torso or tiny situp type action and play around with how much movement you can get out of your shoulder.
Then its just a matter of getting that explosive wipping motion just a little more starch if you know what I'm sayin. And try to land the jab a split second before your lead foot bears any weight. Or still driving through a tiny bit, Imagine you are holding a roll of coins.
Hope that helps a little.

Oh yeah, drill jabs, slips and counters on a slow double end bag/ floor-ceiling ball.

Oh and timing is everything.

Oh... and mess around having your hand loose till impact...

**patfromlogan** · Posted On: 9/16/2011 10:40am

"Try using just a tiny twist of the torso or tiny situp type action..." reminds me of when I started Wado karate and we'd line up in horse stance ("lower!") and throw punches, singles, doubles, triples. After awhile I realized that the browns and blacks were not doing stiff rote punches like me. They were putting their bodies into it - and while I was hardly warmed up they'd be covered in sweat. As in jdempsey's advice, they were using their guts and torsos (tiny situps + tensing). I don't know how many times I heard in karate drills and sparring, "Loosen your shoulders, relax, breathe, relax your shoulders."

Later in Kyokushin we drilled jab + six inch step a gazillion times. We actually had the Sensei do jabs and lunges etc by himself and made him go slower and slower until we figured out what the hell he was doing that made his techniques so good, and then we slightly changed our training. Having good instructors and some great fighters, including a bb who'd trained under Benny the Jet we analyzed techniques and eventually went more in a kickboxing direction and added gear. We weren't ignoring advice and we looked for the best techniques we could find.

Which brings me to this http://www.bullshido.net/forums/show...=101830&page=2. FarisadDin, I think you'd have gotten more answers if you'd have answered and/or dealt with the responses in that thread.

You said some pretty stupid things and I think that by ignoring the advice you have shown yourself to be an ignorant n00b with a shitty attitude. Sorry, but you really should deal with it.

**MMAMickey** · Posted On: 9/16/2011 11:52am

There's no real secret to it, just make sure you throw your jab using the same principles as any other straight punch. You just need to put your bodyweight behind it.

It might help if you emphasise touching your shoulder to your cheek bone while throwing the jab on the bag. It'll make sure you're right behind that shoulder.

**dwkfym** · Posted On: 11/04/2011 12:58pm

Originally Posted by FarisadDin

I have seen other videos of Holmes doing exactly as you described, from my observations the power in his jab came from pushing off from the rear foot and the power traveling up through his hips and out his hand and into someones face, When I try the same its little more powerful than my jab as is. Theres something Im missing i know it but cant quite place it

I have only average punching power but my jabs got a lot stiffer when I did exactly this. I started feeling my rear leg really stiffen up right when my jab would make contact.

Now keep in mind you need to get all of your other mechanics right before you start adding that to your jab mechanics; mild rotation of your hips shoulder and lead leg first, then worry about adding your rear leg into the mix. It all needs to eventually work in conjunction

**Einstein McFly** · Posted On: 3/28/2012 10:41am

My two cents:
Watch Holmes' left foot and see how he steps forward with it every so slightly when he jabs. That's what others have said about pushing forward with your back leg and getting that strength into it. Now, try to get that front foot to hit the ground at the same time your jab lands. That timing will give you more snap. It's harder than it sounds but it's something you can work on while shadow boxing.

**OZZ** · Posted On: 3/28/2012 10:56am

Power off the back leg..as suggested.
The jab has always been my best punch. I use it as a flick to keep people off balance sometimes, and as a ' here's a taste ' semi-power shot other times.
If you are doing pure boxing, I personally think its the most important weapon you can have in your arsenal. It is less useful in MMA..
Practice, practice, practice do lots of pad work.and remember, try to bring your hand back as fast as you shoot it out when you punch.
I'd also incorporate it into your skillset when backing up in the ring. So practice a combo like jab-jab-hook to the body-hook to the head-jab and back up.