the jab

[donnydarkoIRL]

do you transfer your body weight when you throw the jab?

It depends on what you are trying to achieve with your jab.
There are different types of jab which can be used to achieve different objectives.
A jab can be used as an offensive weapon to push the opponent back, in which case you probably would transfer your body weight with the punch.
However, a jab can also be used simply to draw a reaction, in which case weight would not be transferred.

There are many variables.

[Yuzo]

do you transfer your body weight when you throw the jab?

It depends on what you are trying to achieve with your jab.
There are different types of jab which can be used to achieve different objectives.
A jab can be used as an offensive weapon to push the opponent back, in which case you probably would transfer your body weight with the punch.
However, a jab can also be used simply to draw a reaction, in which case weight would not be transferred.

There are many variables.

the more i think about boxing and the more time that passes the more i think that the jab is not actually a punch at all. perhaps it was always wrong to think of punches as being punches, but i am becoming a little too abstract now. i like your thinking on the jab. only you are taught, rightly so, not to transfer your weight when you throw the jab. the thinking goes: no weight transfer when you push off the back leg to jab --> weight transfer onto your front leg when you throw the right hand --> weight transfer from your front leg back to your back leg when you throw the hook. thus completes a cycle, as each punch contributes into the next punch, and returns to its starting point: the back leg. the first combination ever thrown was this one, probably before anyone ever knew what boxing was, and probably with these very same mechanics as well.

but can you think of any reason why you will need to jab with a weight transfer?

[Master]

do you transfer your body weight when you throw the jab?

It depends on what you are trying to achieve with your jab.
There are different types of jab which can be used to achieve different objectives.
A jab can be used as an offensive weapon to push the opponent back, in which case you probably would transfer your body weight with the punch.
However, a jab can also be used simply to draw a reaction, in which case weight would not be transferred.

There are many variables.

the more i think about boxing and the more time that passes the more i think that the jab is not actually a punch at all. perhaps it was always wrong to think of punches as being punches, but i am becoming a little too abstract now. i like your thinking on the jab. only you are taught, rightly so, not to transfer your weight when you throw the jab. the thinking goes: no weight transfer when you push off the back leg to jab --> weight transfer onto your front leg when you throw the right hand --> weight transfer from your front leg back to your back leg when you throw the hook. thus completes a cycle, as each punch contributes into the next punch, and returns to its starting point: the back leg. the first combination ever thrown was this one, probably before anyone ever knew what boxing was, and probably with these very same mec mihanics as well.

but can you think of any reason why you will need to jab with a weight transfer?

I think Donny answered it when he said when you want to make an offensive move. That is the time to transfer weight to your front foot.

[Yuzo]

theres a couple of reasons why you would need to transfer your body weight when you throw the jab.

every straight right hand is connected invisibly to you on an imaginary straight line from the tip of the fist to the point of your jaw.



but jab circling to your left and you will get behind that line.



that jab circles you to your left, an act that is the cause for a feeling of anxiety in so many fighters as it will deliberately circle them into the right hand. a hairy proposition but only so until you have cleared that line which invisibly connects his right hand to you. once cleared, home free.



believe it or not, you are only standing on one leg when you throw that jab: your front leg. to throw that jab, press down on your front foot and in the same motion swing over your back foot. you are looking for a smooth, break away action as you throw that jab, as though you are trying to discretely escape through an imaginary side door. the reason that you press down and anchor the front foot is so that you are able to free up the movement of the back foot. this is what gives you that break away action you want. but to do that, your jab must have a weight transfer onto your front leg, to both anchor your front foot and free up your back foot. properly done, and you will have placed yourself just a little outside his right shoulder. finding it very difficult to hit you there, he will turn, trying to position you back in front of him like someone pressing a return lever on a typewriter to put you back where he can hit you with his punches. jab that way again, and you will turn him again.

[Master]

I love the jab in boxing. You can win a fight with that punch alone. George Groves had a beauty of a jab.

[donnydarkoIRL]

but can you think of any reason why you will need to jab with a weight transfer?

I suppose my first thought would be as a first phase in attacking the body.

believe it or not, you are only standing on one leg when you throw that jab: your front leg. to throw that jab, press down on your front foot and in the same motion swing over your back foot. you are looking for a smooth, break away action as you throw that jab, as though you are trying to discretely escape through an imaginary side door. the reason that you press down and anchor the front foot is so that you are able to free up the movement of the back foot. this is what gives you that break away action you want. but to do that, your jab must have a weight transfer onto your front leg, to both anchor your front foot and free up your back foot. properly done, and you will have placed yourself just a little outside his right shoulder. finding it very difficult to hit you there, he will turn, trying to position you back in front of him like someone pressing a return lever on a typewriter to put you back where he can hit you with his punches. jab that way again, and you will turn him again.

If the weight is placed entirely on the front leg, the boxer's lower body has no contribution;
the jab would be an arm punch and unable to generate the power seen in the jabs of Quartey, Lopez or Seldon for example.

The action you have described is useful when maneuvering out of tight angles, but would not work if you were on the offense or attempting to open up an attack by combination. It's a specific type of jab for a particular situation.

Traditionally the boxers fundamental position saw them with 60% of their weight on the rear leg, 40% on the fore.
Modern boxers have adopted a more balanced stance more suited to mobility, almost certainly benefiting from modern footwear.
In either era, boxers were not trained to carry their weight on their front leg, as this would see them 'leaning-into' the opponent's attack.

The most common method of teaching the jab sees the boxer pushing the lead foot forward simultaneously with the jab and then returning the lead foot to the fundamental position.
This allows the boxer to establish the jab, but retain their mobility.

Just my thoughts.

[Yuzo]

the right way to teach the jab is to push off the back foot and slide the front foot. heres emmanuel steward showing how to throw the jab.



but when you add a weight transfer to the jab, you free up the back foot, giving the jab a couple of useful effects.



by freeing up the back foot you can jab and circle left. the idea is to side step the opponent's punches and keep him locked in a perpetual state of turning to try to return you back in front of him.



by freeing up the back foot you can jab and step back. it has the same action as the jab emmanuel steward was showing, only in reverse: you push off on the front foot and slide the back foot. when you press down on your front foot on the end of your jab - a weight transfer - you are always ready to push off on it and step back from a counter, should you need to. throw enough jabs, and you will.

what both these jabs have in common is that the front foot will need to be anchored down and the back foot will need to be free to move. one more thing they have common is that they will keep you from getting hit back. fighters who will not learn these jabs will tend to become stationary - and hit more.

Traditionally the boxers fundamental position saw them with 60% of their weight on the rear leg, 40% on the fore.
Modern boxers have adopted a more balanced stance more suited to mobility, almost certainly benefiting from modern footwear.
In either era, boxers were not trained to carry their weight on their front leg, as this would see them 'leaning-into' the opponent's attack.

joe montana said he used to throw with a 90/10 weight distribution on each leg; meaning 90% weight on the back leg and 10% weight on the front leg. can you imagine getting hit by a guy throwing a right hand at you with a 90/10 weight distribution? well anyway, i don't agree that a balanced stance, lets say 50/50 on each leg, is any better than a 60/40 stance or for that matter that a 60/40 or 40/60 stance is wrong. watch niccolino locche fight. he stood up on his front leg just like an egret. how is it that one of the greatest defensive fighters ever could stand on his front leg and lean into the opponent's attack and get hit less?