Japanese-Style Boxing Close-Range Techniques

Punches and body mechanics for when you're close to the opponent. Mostly uppercuts, body punches and short hooks. 21 techniques

• Two-one (cross, jab)
  21
  The two-one is a combination that starts with the right cross and finishes with the left jab. The order is exactly the reverse of the usual one-two, which starts with the left jab. After going in with the right, you place the left out front as your body turns back to your stance, so even in a close-range exchange you finish with your stance set.
• Two-three (cross, left hook)
  23
  The two-three is a combination where you throw a right cross and then come back with a left hook. If you only throw straight punches, the opponent can deal with them by tightening up in front and backing away. Mixing in a left hook that comes in from the side lets you aim around the outside of their guard. You can use it as the follow-up after the right of a one-two, or on its own.
• Left uppercut, recenter, right cross
  5Recenter2
  The left uppercut, recenter, right cross is a combination where, after throwing the left uppercut, you return your weight to the middle between your front and back feet and then throw the right cross as the power punch. The left uppercut breaks the guard from below, and you send the right cross through the opening in front. Putting the recentering motion in between lets you get your weight behind the right. The more you tend to lunge forward on uppercuts, the more carefully you should practice this recentering.
• Jab, cross, left uppercut
  125
  The jab, cross, left uppercut is a three-punch combination that drives a left uppercut up to the head after the left jab and right cross. The one-two gets the opponent to lock their guard in front, and you go up through the gap from below. You can throw it straight from the distance the one-two brought you to. Recentering your weight after the right cross puts power into the third punch, the uppercut.
• Short right body uppercut
  6b
  The short right body uppercut is a punch that drives your right fist up a short, vertical path to hit the opponent's body. You throw it small, in front of your body, without a big swing up, so it leaves few openings even at close range. Stop your fist where you won't need to raise your guard again after punching. Rather than driving it through hard, use it to land small and link into the next punch.
• Left uppercut to the head
  5
  The left uppercut drives your left fist up from below to hit the opponent's chin or face. When the opponent is close and has a tight guard in front, you put it up through the gap in their guard from below. Throw it by the shortest path without changing your elbow angle, and it's harder to read. Push your shoulder blade forward on impact, and it reaches a little deeper.
• Right cross into right uppercut
  26
  The right cross into right uppercut is a combination where you follow the right cross with an uppercut from the same right hand. When the opponent locks up their guard against the right cross, you drive the right up from below. Because you throw the same hand twice, you can surprise an opponent who is waiting for the other hand. Link the two without folding your elbow back in, and the second punch comes out fast.
• Right body uppercut, then left hook
  6b3
  Right body uppercut, then left hook is a close-range combination where you drive a right uppercut up into the opponent's stomach, then go for the head from the side with a left hook. Because you attack on the diagonal, from low on the right to high on the left, it's easier to get over the guard of an opponent whose attention has gone to their stomach. Use it at very close range, when you want to break down an opponent who is only guarding high.
• Left uppercut, right hook, left body hook
  543b
  Left uppercut, right hook, left body hook is a close-range combination. You change the direction of your punches from upward, to sideways, to low, so the opponent can't cover it all with a guard in one place. Use it when you want to put punches together with your bodies close. In an exchange where there's no room to back off and reset, it moves their guard high and low.
• Right uppercut
  6
  The right uppercut drives your right fist up from below to hit the opponent's chin or face. Use it at close range, when the opponent ducks their head or locks their guard in front. Carry your fist with body rotation instead of swinging it up with your arm, and you leave a smaller opening after punching. Don't follow through with the fist. Stop it at chin height and go back to protecting your face.
• Left body hook, then right hook
  3b4
  Left body hook, then right hook is a combination where you hit the opponent's stomach with a left body hook and follow to the head with a right hook from the tilted position your body ends up in. An opponent who gets hit to the body drops their guard, and you go over that lowered guard with the right hook. You turn the position you're left in after the left body hook straight into the next punch, so there's no gap.
• Two-three-two (cross, left hook, cross)
  232
  The two-three-two starts with the right cross, puts a left hook in the middle, and throws the right cross again. It's an attack built around the right, switching the direction of your hip rotation quickly: right, left, right. The opponent has to guard both the right and the left at once and can't settle on which one to cover first.
• Liver shot (left body hook)
  3b
  The liver shot is a left body hook to the opponent's right side. The liver is on the right side of the opponent's body, where an orthodox fighter's left hook reaches easily. Go for it at close range, when the opponent's guard is gathered around their head. Learn it as one motion, including how you recenter your weight after punching.
• Solar plexus shot (left body jab)
  1b
  The solar plexus shot is a left body jab to the opponent's solar plexus. Unlike the liver shot, which comes around from the outside, it goes straight into the center of the body. When the opponent comes forward bent over, you time it to their movement and drive it in deep. It travels under the guard that protects the head, so it reaches opponents who are covered up high.
• Short right hook to right body uppercut
  46b
  Short right hook to right body uppercut is a close-range combination where you land a short right hook to the head and then drive the same right up into the body. The first hook draws the opponent's attention and guard up to head height, and you hit the stomach it leaves open from below. Because you use the same hand twice, go to the second punch without a gap once the first lands.
• Left uppercut and left hook from the same start
  53
  Left uppercut and left hook from the same start is a technique for throwing either the left uppercut or the left hook from the same elbow movement. If the start is the same, the opponent can't tell which one is coming until just before the fist lands. Follow the left uppercut with a left hook, and you can hit the side of the face of an opponent braced for an attack from below. It gives your left hand more options at close range.
• L-step, then one-two
  L-step12
  L-step, then one-two means quickly pulling your front foot in near your back foot at close range, then moving out to the left so your feet trace an L, and throwing a one-two from the new position. You take a spot the opponent can't easily see, such as right beside them or toward their back, before you punch. Use it as a way out of standing square and trading punches face to face.
• Keep breathing at close range
  Breathe
  When you trade punches at close range, it's easy to hold your breath without noticing. When your breathing stops, your body tightens up and your next move comes late. Learn to breathe out with each punch and hold your breath only briefly at the moment of impact. This helps in close-range fighting with long flurries, and when you're close enough for your bodies to touch.
• Choose your punches by range
  Pick by range
  Every punch has a distance where it lands best. The basic split is straight punches from long to mid range, and hooks and uppercuts at close range. When you get close, the path of a straight punch gets jammed, so once the distance shrinks, switch to punches from the side and from below that let you use your body's twist.
• On the inside, push with your legs, not your arms
  Push with legs
  When you're chest to chest with the opponent and try to shove them away with your arms, it turns into a contest of arm strength. Lock your arms and shoulders so your upper body becomes a single wall, and send the force of your legs pushing off the ground through your core into the opponent. Think of a shoving match, not arm wrestling. Once you push the opponent off balance, gaps and angles to punch open up. This is a way of using your body for people who get pushed around at close range.
• Don't turn the fist over at close range
  Don't turn fist
  Twisting your fist inward as you punch so the back of your hand faces up is called turning the fist over. At long range this is the basic, but when you're close to the opponent, it works better not to turn it. This is for people whose hands get jammed up in close-range fighting. Choosing the fist position by distance gives you punches that carry power both up close and at long range.