What’s in a good hook?

You can attain power in the hook by relying on the following principles:

1. Keep your arms tight to your body.

2. Use body rotation to place the weight and momentum of your body behind the blow. The faster the body, the faster the strike.

3. Apply the concept of weight transfer.

Because the hook is an angled attack that relies on the rotation of your body, keeping your arms tight lessens the rotational inertia and makes the technique faster. It also keeps the sides of your body protected while initiating the technique. Since the arms are naturally faster than the body, it is easy to cheat and throw with arm power only. But since the body is so much more massive than the arms, relying on body rotation throughout the technique vastly increases power. Synchronization between your body and arm is of utmost importance. The arm should not be allowed to lead or “finish the technique on its own”; nor should the body be allowed to move with the arm lagging behind.

Applying weight transfer, especially between alternating hooks, will further help you utilize the full weight of your body coupled with superior balance. When throwing the lead hook, the heel of your lead foot should come off the floor and not set back down until the strike is complete and your arm returns to its point of origin, and the rear hook starts on its way out. The heel of your rear foot should now come off the floor, allowing you to dig with the ball of that foot, repeating the procedure.

Note: When punching, never be up on the balls of both feet at the same time. The transition from one foot to the other should be smooth and in tune with your strikes.

Some pointers on hooking strategies

Most kickboxers are familiar with the one-two-three punch combination (jab, rear cross, lead hook), but less often do we see fighters throw a lead hook after a jab and be successful with it. This is one of the more difficult combinations, because:

1. Both strikes are thrown with the same hand. In order to gain power in this combination, you must reset your body before starting the second strike.

2. The strikes employ different directions of motion. The jab is thrown straight, and the hook is thrown at an angle perpendicular to the jab.

When practicing this combination, first throw the jab, then step forward with your lead foot to close distance. Now throw the hook, simultaneously digging with the ball of your lead foot, turning the knee, hip, and shoulder in the direction of the strike. A common mistake when throwing the lead hook is to drop your guard below the level of your chin. This must not happen, as you will open a knockout target for your opponent’s counter-strike. Keep your chin tucked down behind your shoulder.

You can also think of the hook as a hooking uppercut thrown at a forty-five degree angle upward with your elbows tight to your body, using body weight for power. Because the change in angle (direction) between the jab and the hooking uppercut is very slight, the beat between strikes will decrease, making this a fast combination.

Hooks are very effective when thrown in pairs. When the first hook lands, snap your body back to the point of origin as rapidly as possible. Think of it as a door opening and closing. Once you have achieved point of origin, the second hook should snap back out (opening the door again).

When hooking multiple times with the same hand, the heel of the foot on the same side as the punching hand should stay off the floor between strikes. You can decrease the beat between multiple punches by snapping only your body and arm (not your leg) back to the point of origin.