Blow by Blow: A Look at MMA Techniques-The Jab

When boxing was first created—back when it was practiced by the Greeks and Romans—the array of punches was good. But, there was one punch that was left out. It was the ugly duckling, if you will, of early boxing. The jab.

When the Greeks and Romans were practicing the sport of boxing, where two men would stand in front of each other and throw punches in bunches, there was no room for a punch such as the jab.

A straight punch throw with the lead hand had no place in boxing in a time when the participants would mainly throw bombs. Big power shots to try and end a fight quickly were all that were necessary, as far as they knew.

As time went on, boxers began to realize that the jab could play a crucial role in the sport. If they could figure out how to use it in a technical way, then it could be an extremely useful tool in a match.

Eventually, MMA fighters began to use it more and more rather then the big bomb shots that can end the fight with a single hit.

One fighter who utilized the jab in a very useful way was Chuck Liddell. During his fights, Chuck keeps his lead hand (his left) slightly extended and moving. When his opponent would move in he would fire it off and almost always nail them in the jaw as they moved in on him. He was also incredible at using the jab as he moved backwards away from his opponent. The amount of times that Chuck knocked out opponents while moving backwards and just using the jab is very impressive.

The two ways that I've seen fighters successfully throw the jab other then the way that Chuck did is first by taking a tiny step with the lead foot with the rear foot planted as they throw the punch.

The second way is by throwing your lead arm forward while leaning into the punch. Not in the way that you would lean into a right cross, but more of leaning your body sidewise almost.

I prefer the tiny step way of throwing the jab because it gives it more power and can help you advance your position and move in on your opponent.

The jab has proved to be useful over and over, and anyone who thinks that it isn't a vital part of any fighters striking arsenal should probably go off and watch some videos of fights.