Q: Whats the best way to improve the amount of damage you can sustain to the body? – Ciaran
A: Assuming you missed your opportunity to block and you’re forced to take a shot to the body, there are a few things you can do to reduce the damage caused:
You should breathe out quickly and flex your stomach and core at the very same time in one quick movement. It should be as if you’re trying to bounce the body punch off with a quick breath and quick flex. This tactic will form a temporary shell which can stop your opponent’s fist from penetrating deep into your body and cause internal bruising and lasting pain.
At the same time, it helps if you rotate your body in the opposite direction of the punch. If you’re taking a left hook, pivot your upper body counter-clockwise.
If you’re taking a right hook, pivot your upper body clockwise. If you’re taking a punch straight on, you can quickly dip your head forward as your throw your hip back–this will look as if you’re temporary ducking down and sticking your butt out. If you time this right, your opponent will hit air or it will take a lot of steam off the punch. Miguel Cotto does this a lot. I’ve also seen Chad Dawson jump straight back and lift his hands when his opponents go for the body shot.
As for training yourself to take body shots, you have to work on timing your explosive shell. Many fighters will lie down on the floor while their trainers drop a medicine ball straight down on their stomach. Right as the ball lands, you have to breathe out and flex your “shell” at the right time. Start with a 5lb and then 10, and then up to 25lbs once you get the hang of it.
Train well and prepare for body shots. They are very painful. A head knockout may leave you unconscious in dreamland but A bodyshot knockout leaves you sprawled on the canvas in total pain. I hope this helps. – Johnny
thank you this is very helpfull Ill bring the medicine ball training up with my trainer as soon as possible
Injury
I just started taking self defense class for about a month now. I am a female in pretty good shape but kind of new to exercise. anyway my instructor dropped a 12 to 15 pound med ball on my stomach. first few times i kept getting the wind knocked out of me cause i did not know i had to hold my abdominal tight breath out. i never did this before. I did 2 sets of 20 it really was not to bad once i got the hang of it but i did have my period. well i have not stopped bleeding and its been over a week. i never ever bleed this long and im wondering if i have some internal bleeding. i have no pain just lightheaded. its the weekend so my doc is not in
Body Injury
Hi Debbie,
Most likely, I think you are fine. Unless the ball was perfectly aimed at your liver or kidney…I doubt that you have internal bleeding. As long as your piss isn’t coming out bloody red, you should be ok.
Body Injury
Thanks Johnny! Im just going to ask him to use a lighter ball next time. I am very small framed and only 120 pounds so maybe a 12 or 15 pound ball is to much to start off with. Just wondering is this exercise supposed to tone my abs because im not a fighter so i dont need to worry about body shots, just wondering why he is doing these. i guess i should ask.
medicine ball drops
Yes… 12-15lbs is very heavy. To be honest, that exercise is more for timing, mental toughening, and defense than it is for toning any muscle. Some trainers insist on re-using the same exercises they learned because that was how “they did it”. You should tell him to use another exercise if you don’t like it. If you’re not a fighter, you don’t need to do those.
Hi johnny,
thank you soo much for your articles.
when you see the body punch coming, what is your reaction ?
i mean if you automaticly start tighten your body to be in the right state at the impact moment, you cannot do :
“Chad Dawson jump straight back and lift his hands when his opponents go for the body shot”.
i mean tightening will lock your stance.
soo isn’t going for this automatic counter by tighetning your body limiting your options ?
i mean i will prefer to gather my concentration when i see the punch coming and let the brain choose what is the right reaction in stead of imposing any contraction to it.
tell me what you think please ? or is the time between see it coming and feel it in the stomach not enough to the brain to find an other solution ?
sorry for my english, and thank you.
HICHAM,
There are many ways to avoid the body punch.
– You can tense up to create a shell and repel the power of the punch.
– You can move yourself out of the way.
– You can counter it. Or block and then counter.
When I fight, the response is natural. I don’t really think about how to block the punch. For any punch, not just body punch… my body tightens up AND/OR makes a defensive movement at the same time, then I release my body into a counter-punch.
thank you soo much for your answer johnny.
i have an other question please,
after taking the shot is there any other tips to minimize the pain ? sometimes the pain comes late after taking the shot ( when the body is releasing the tension of the created shell i think) ?
I THINK doing more muscle conditioning will strengthen the muscle allowing it to withstand a little bit more abuse. Most people do hundreds of core work everyday for that purpose. The pain comes late after the shot because you don’t realize your muscle is in pain until you try to use it. It’s kind of like when you have a pain in your body, it doesn’t hurt that bad until you try to move it.
thank you again Johnny.
how do you create openings (catch your opponent off guard) for body shots like getting past his elbows or whats protecting his mid section when his arms or elbows are down? Can you punch through it, come in from the sides, use faints, jabs? What would you recommend? hope to hear from you soon.
look at the article : How to set up hooks to the body
https://expertboxing.com/counter-punching/how-to-setup-hooks-to-the-body
There’s so many options, Curtis.
Try a hook to the elbow, uppercut into his wrist, then more hooks and crosses. You can repeat that until he breaks. Instead of punching through it, you can try a push punch so he falls off balance and you take advantage of that. You can also try fast little tiny jabs and wait for the moment he peeks his head out, then knock it off with a cross.
how do i open up my opponents guard to throw punches? I mean how do you get past a airtight defence to the body? i’ve heard so much about this but i just dont know what to think. I’ve heard the best body shots often happen on the rebound but still what do you think are the most important shots and combinations to the body is should be trying to learn to throw and what punches should i come up with to the head? hope to hear from you soon.
Open your opponent’s guard by baiting him to throw punches. You bait him to throw punches by feinting or punching at him. You can attack the head and body with any punches really…it’s the setup that matters.
you can also redirect the punches away from the body using your forearms on the outside. just be careful to keep your chin in and watch out for uppercuts and high hooks
Hi, i wanted to know how to fight against a more experience lighter boxer who always slips the longer punches and attacks with hooks?