Quote Originally Posted by jahmez View Post
Don't get too carried away with parrying. Definitely add it to your utility belt but also start trying to get the right cross down pat. Clever guys will let you catch the jab a few times then clock you with a hook off it right on the chin. Feinted jabs can start freezing you up as well. Your upright looking to catch something instead of punching and bang your hit with a different shot. Slipping the jab over your left shoulder is nice too because it gives you an opportunity to follow up with a right to the head or body, move under and inside and at the very least your trying to be a moving target.
The advantage of parrying a punch is that is allows you to upset the opponent's balance, by letting the punch come to you and then sliding it off to the side.
If you are doing it right, the chances of getting hit with the hook are miniscule because you don't reach out to parry the jab, you let it come to you. A feinted jab shouldn't upset you much for the same reason- you let it come to you. A feint can, however, get you to tip your intention if you slip the feint.
You can get a lot of mileage with parrying the jab over your left shoulder- you can hook off the move to the head or body, and you can bring your left hand up. Real jolting punch. Get him really stepping with the jab and then parry it aside like that and you catch him coming forward.