The Martialist: The Magazine For Those Who Fight Unfairly

His wife was having a night out with the girls, so he had his 3-year-old son
and his 11-year-old stepson Phillip along with him. Phillip is not his real
name, but it’s a way cool name, so I thought I’d use it here. In the midst of
me showing my guests all the new books and training weapons I’ve acquired
lately, Phillip walked up to the heavy bag and reared back into the next state
to through a Gen-u-ine Idaho Cowboy Haymaker Punch. He popped the bag and
stepped back shaking his fist a little like it hurt or something. I can’t
imagine why that would be.

Being a part time instructor and a full time busy body, I could not resist the
temptation to pass along some of my worldly wisdom to this young lad. I
started Phillip out with how to make a “proper” fist. I had him hold his hand
out flat, then curl the fingers into the palm and make sure the thumb was
tucked firmly on the OUTSIDE of the finger wrap.

The art in which I train does not advocate the general use of the boxer’s
punch. Indeed, we rely on the meaty part of the palm to do hammer fists,
chops, and palm heels well into the advanced ranks. However, given the period
of time available to me to show him a thing or two, I opted for the more
traditional path.

Once we agreed that he knew how to make a fist, we then addressed the “proper”
stance: left lead (weak hand lead) with the hands up (keep ‘em up, dangit!),
shoulders relaxed, chin tucked, knees bent, and hips centered. We angled his
stance to yield a slimmer profile. Then we proceeded to cover a basic jab.

To jab, you have to keep the hands up.  The fists are firm but not tight.
I demonstrated the difference when I held out my arm for him. I showed him the
difference in flex from firm fist compared to the
super-tight-clenched-mad-as-hell-not-going-to-take-it-anymore fist. The
muscles in the forearm were clearly visible on me (even under all that
blubber) and he seemed to understand what I was talking about.

The next step was to jab the bag. Distance and footwork were of key concern.
My man Phillip kept standing too far away to be effective. I had him get a
little closer and pop the bag. He kept trying to hit a home run, wanting to
blow the bag back like Ivan Drago. We had to slow everything down and just
have him lightly touch the bag. I explained that proper form – and form alone
– would move the bag. Until he had form, speed and power would be elusive.
Power does not come from the fist, or the arm, or the shoulder. All power in
the body is generated from the hips. So go through the motions slowly,
focusing on proper technique until you become comfortable and relaxed. THEN
you worry about moving the bag.

Another topic of concern was keeping correct body alignment. As he moved to
the right, Phillip did fine with body positioning, but when moving to the left
he shifted his right shoulder to the fore and was jabbing across his
centerline. I attempted to correct this issue by explaining that it’s okay to
lead with the right shoulde, if you want to switch stances and go with a right
lead. It is equally permissible, I explained, to punch cross body with a left
punch – just NOT with a left jab.

We regained focus on a left lead stance, hands up (HANDS UP! I must have
reminded him sixty times in the span of thirty minutes!) and worked more on
the jab. Continuing on, I touched on the concept of distance. This target is
too far away and this target is too close, but this target is juuuust right
for boxing. Since you cannot control where the target is going to be, you must
use footwork to adjust the distance and bring your weapons to bear. It is much
easier to move yourself than to attempt to move something or someone else.

Whatever you do, don’t lock out your elbow. Don’t lock out your hinge joints
as this can cause all kinds of problems, I explained. I then proceeded to put
him into a front arm bar and give him a refresher course of what a
hyper-extended elbow feels like. I told him that if you overextend your
punches this pain is likely – and likely to hurt far worse than my simple
demonstration. If you’re really unlucky, your opponent will grab hold of your
arm and help you extend it just like this…

So, I instructed: keep the hands up, body aligned, jab quick and light with
about 85% extension on your arm. Don’t leave your arm out there for someone to
grab or leave yourself open for a counter punch when you’re hands should be in
and up.

Hey, you, stop holding your breath and shaking your wrists! Each time our
young champion would throw a punch or two he’d shake his fingers out. Then, as
he’d get ready to punch, he’d hold his breath in anticipation. Talk about
telegraphing with a bullhorn – not to mention settling into a pattern for your
opponent to register. This is something his stepdad used to do in our sparring
sessions as well. His wrists didn’t hurt, nor did his hands particularly
bother him; it was simply a mental routine. Just like Brett Maverick said in
the movie: you have all kinds of tells. Anyone who’s paying attention
will pick up on them and you’re back to square one with your Gen-u-ine Idaho
Cowboy Haymaker Punch.

After a good dose of jabbing, we worked a little on the right cross. This was
easier for him to maintain after getting the gist of my basic training course.
We progressed to open-handed strikes. I explained that these were better for
him to know as the padded palm was much better at taking an impact that the
“Rams Head” boxer’s fist. I demonstrated by doing a palm heel against my solid
wooden door and invited him do the same with a punch. He wisely declined.

We had to adjust distancing, lateral movement, breathing, and keeping your
gosh-darned hands up. All in all, our thirty minutes together greatly improved
his outlook on hitting the heavy bag. I’m hoping some of it will stick and
prove useful to him some day. I can’t imagine why no one has shown him this
stuff before.

This article is kind of meandering, but so was the training session. I wanted
to keep him interested and didn’t have any set amount of time in which to
erase what he thought he knew and replace it with hardcore structure. I think
(at least I hope) he picked up some things to think about and won’t be going
around Cowboy Punching things anymore.