Japanese-Style Boxing Repetition Drills

Patterns for practice that you repeat in shadowboxing or on the heavy bag until your body remembers them. 5 techniques

• One-two-hook (jab, cross, left hook)
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  The one-two-hook is a three-punch combination that adds a left hook after the one-two. If you only throw straight punches, your attack gets monotonous and easy to read, so here you work in sideways rotation on purpose. The key is to use your hips turning back from the right cross as the load for the left hook.
• Parry, then left jab
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  Parry, then left jab is a routine where you parry the opponent's left jab and fire back one left jab of your own right away. It's a basic pattern for teaching your body to hit back after defending instead of stopping there. It's the first answer to the opponent's left jab, and one you'll want to drill again and again. Because it's simple, how small your parry is and how fast you fire back show up as they are.
• Two-three (cross, left hook)
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  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.
• Slip, then left body hook
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  Slip, then left body hook is a counter where you slip the opponent's punch and drive a short left hook to the body on the way back. Unlike a counter to the head, you can go for the stomach from the low position you slipped into, which splits their defensive attention between high and low. It's also a set pattern you repeat to teach your body to go straight from defense into a counter.
• Angled step-in with a right cross to the body
  1Angled step-inPivot2b
  The angled step-in with a right cross to the body is a technique where you draw the opponent's attention to their head (up high) with a left jab while stepping your left foot in at an angle, then pivot around to their side and throw a right cross to the body. The outside of the opponent's right arm is a weakly guarded spot, so it's easier to land than punching from straight in front. It's also good practice for combining footwork with punching.