Often, we hear the words knockout and concussion used improperly.

They are not the same, and — as a fighter — it is important for you to understand what these words mean. Your continued good health may depend upon it.

Please don’t try to diagnose your head injury by reading articles on the internet. If you get rocked by a punch, see a doctor immediately. Just because you didn’t get knocked unconscious doesn’t mean you are not injured.

What causes a knockout?

The brainstem joins the spinal cord at the base of the skull.

But this doesn’t tell us why some people get knocked out cold — unconscious — and other don’t.

When someone is hit in a way that causes knockout, their skull is violently jerked around by the blow. The brain’s inertia causes it to smash against the inside of the skull, near the base of the skull.

Areas of the brain — usually the brainstem or cerebellum — bang against the skull resulting in a loss of consciousness and/or motor control.

Although this can be a serious injury, other times it seems fairly benign. Some people liken it to getting hit in the elbow’s funny bone. That is, it’s a temporary trauma to the nerves near the base of the skull.

In how to take a punch, I describe how some folks believe that there are several ways you can increase your ability to resist knockout.

Nevertheless, if you’re not knocked out by a blow, that doesn’t mean you haven’t suffered a brain injury or a concussion.

What is a concussion?

Concussion is a bruise on the brain.

Simply put, a concussion is a bruise on the brain.

The dangerous thing about concussion is that you can suffer this injury without suffering a knockout. This is especially bad for boxers because it makes it difficult to detect brain injury unless you’re familiar with the symptoms of concussion.

Most boxers are required to abstain from boxing for a minimum of 30 days after suffering a knockout. But since concussion doesn’t always involve loss of consciousness, boxers might not adhere to this mandatory recovery period.

In the worst cases, concussion causes swelling of the brain which ends up causing more brain damage than the original injury. This can lead to permanent brain damage or even death.

Symptoms of concussion

According to the Mayo clinic, symptoms of concussion can be divided into two groups: those that appear immediately after trauma, and those that may appear days after the injury.

Symptoms that may appear quickly after injury:

• Confusion
• Amnesia
• Headache
• Dizziness
• Ringing in the ears
• Nausea or vomiting
• Slurred speech
• Fatigue

Symptoms that may appear later:

• Memory or concentration problems
• Sensitivity to light and noise
• Sleep disturbances
• Irritability
• Depression

Learn how to use protective equipment when you spar and fight. It doesn’t make you a tough guy to take blows to the head, it just puts you at risk of a life-altering injury.

So you think boxers just stand there and punch, right? Wrong.

A good fighting stance gives maximum mobility while offering protection to the vital areas.

1. Relax

   Don’t be nervous and tense. Be loose, supple, and relaxed. Conserve your energy. Many fights are won by the man who can keep going longer. So, don’t burn off energy in nervous tension.

2. Feet in the proper positions

   Never get your feet crossed, proper balance is critical to being able to deliver punches or to subtly shift your body so your opponent misses. During training, think about your footwork first; without good footwork, nothing else will work right.

3. Knees slightly bent

   Never lock the knees. If your knees are locked, the only way you can move is by flexing your ankles. But when the knees are slightly flexed, the entire leg is involved in stepping. Mobility demands loose knees.

4. Hips and shoulders parallel to the ground

   Keep the hips and shoulders level. If they’re not level, your center of gravity will be skewed off to one side, making it difficult to move fluidly and quickly.

   Obviously, if you’re slipping a punch or otherwise engaged in the execution of a technique, your shoulders might momentarily be tilted. But when you’re in your basic fighting stance, keep them level.

5. Bend slightly at the waist

   To avoid getting hit, bend slightly forward at the waist. You’ll still have maximum power on your punches, but your range will be greater and you’ll have a safety margin so you can pull back slightly when your opponent tries to hit you.

6. Power hand back

   Unless you have a very good reason not to do so, keep your strong side to the rear. This gives you maximum distance to generate and deliver a power shot.

   There are some boxers who switch it up and fight ambidextrously, but this is usually seen as a sign of desperation rather than sound strategy.

7. Chin down

   Keep your chin down, tucked against the top of your chest. There is never any reason to lift your chin up when you are in the boxing ring. It’s your most vulnerable spot, so protect it at all times.

8. Look from the top of your eyes

   Learn how to watch your opponent from the top of your eyes. Never lift your chin up to see what’s going on. You have to get in the habit of looking out from just under your brows.

9. Lead hand guards in front

   Your lead hand should be up and out in front, approximately level with the eyes. The farther out you carry your lead hand, the quicker you’ll be able to jab your opponent. If you carry it low, your jab will have more power but it will be slower.

10. Rear hand guards the chin

    Your rear hand must be in place to guard your chin. It guard the side of your chin when your opponent throws a hook, and it moves in front to block your opponent’s straight punches.

11. Elbows in

    The elbows guard your sides. There’s no reason to carry them out, away from the body. Always keep them tucked in for safety and to ensure power on your punches.

There’s always a temptation to use bare knuckles on the heavybag. After all, it seems more natural than punching the bag while wearing wraps, knuckle guards, and gloves.

Plus, lots of guys start training so they can win a bare knuckle street fight.

These guys reason that hitting the punching bag bare-handed is more realistic. After all, they’re training for a real fight, not a sporting event. The reasoning is: if I ever get attacked on the street, I won’t be wearing gloves, so why should I wear them when I punch the heavybag?

This reasoning is fallacious. Let me explain why.

You need to protect your hands and wrists

Hands are delicate. You can’t bash them against something over and over again without causing problems:

• Punching without padded gloves causes sore knuckles and bone bruises.
• Avoiding the use of hand wraps leads to sore wrists, inflammation, and repetitive-stress injuries to the delicate bones and connective tissue of the hands and wrists.
• The heavybag will scrape up your knuckles. If you work out in a gym with others, this can cause a serious skin infection.

If you practice bare-handed punches, your technique will suffer

Once your knuckles start hurting, you’ll try to reduce the pain by altering your punching technique. This just leads to stress and eventual pain in some other part of your hand.

The ultimate in stupidity: This poor fellow will be lucky to avoid long-term damage to his hands, and ironically he can't train anywhere near as hard as someone who wears proper hand protection. All that pain and damage for what? To prove he's a tough guy?

• You won’t punch as hard as you are capable of.
• Your progress will stall.
• Without realizing it, you will alter your technique to accomodate the pain instead of using the good form which maximizes power, speed, and precision.

The bottom line is: hitting the heavybag barehanded means you’ll never be able to work out as effectively as you can when you’re wearing wraps and gloves.

Martial artists punch bare handed, so why can’t I?

Yes, you’ll find karate guys who have practiced bareknuckle fighting for many years, and they’re still OK.

But consider what they’re actually doing. Most of their workouts consist of punching nothing but air. And when they work with a partner, they are very careful to let the partner know exactly what target area they’re attacking. There are few surprises in traditional martial arts training.

Most importantly, they are very careful to always punch safely in a controlled manner, with the knuckles landing first. You’ll never find a martial artist swinging away with an overhand right, for instance, because although it’s a very powerful punch, it’s difficult to control how the punch lands. And when it lands wrong the result is injury or broken bones.

You have a choice, you can work out like a traditional martial artist — by limiting yourself to a select number of relatively “safe”, straight punches, or you can wear wraps and gloves and work out at full intensity, with a full range of punches and maximum power. Even karate experts wear gloves and wraps when they practice non-traditional punches like hooks and uppercuts on the bag.

So sure, you can play around with the punching bag and whack it barehanded a few times. But if you want a serious workout that is sustainable, do what all the professionals — boxers, bouncers, security guys, mma athletes, etc. — do: wrap your hands and wear padded gloves.

It’s a bad idea to mount a heavy bag from the structural elements in your house. I understand that it’s tempting to hang it from the rafters in your basement, or from the ceiling joints in your workout room, but this is a recipe for trouble.

Unless you only use your punching bag once in a blue moon, you can literally shake your house apart during your punching workouts. The noise, jarring, and vibration not only destroys your drywall, it also drives your family and neighbors crazy.

But fret not, there are some options for you to try.

Modern construction is all about efficiency

An old timber frame house

These days, it’s a different story. Modern frame construction relies on plywood to tie all the parts of the framing together. There are no oversized timbers or diagonal bracing; the plywood keeps it from all falling apart. Two-by-fours — which, in the past, would have been far too flimsy to use as structural elements in house construction — are braced and held in place with sheets of plywood or oriented strand board. Modern construction methods save labor, they require no real skill to implement, and they are efficient.

But modern construction methods are vulnerable to the stress of heavybag training.

How to hang your heavybag in a modern house

It’s not a good idea. Really.

But if you must, here are are a few things you can try.

Heavybag spring on top, bungee cord on the bottom

Stick a heavy-duty spring between the heavybag mount and the chains. This is a good way to reduce the pounding vibration that might otherwise destroy your drywall.

This heavy bag is secured to the floor with a bungee cord.

Rubber bushing between the mount and the attachment point

You want to reduce vibration and transfer of kinetic energy through the heavybag mounting hardware to the ceiling joist or rafter to which you’ve attached it.

One way to do this is to make a rubber bushing and put it between the hardware and the rafter. Try using an old piece of auto tire tread or some other long-lasting, wear-resistant rubber. Cut it to shape with some heavy shears.

Too much vibration? Change your heavybag mount

If you currently use a mount that attaches to a single rafter, you should consider changing to one that is screwed into two rafters.

Supporting the heavybag from two structural elements instead of one helps share the load and reduce the vibration in vulnerable areas.

This sort of mount gives you the added benefit of raising the bag up higher between the beams, so if your heavybag is mounted too low, this is a way to fix the problem.

Reduce heavybag vibration by changing from ceiling-mounted to wall-mounted

If you have masonry walls (like in most modern basements), you can use a wall mount. If your walls are made of framing, forget it.

Punching bag wall mounts range from the el cheapo $30 dollar models all the way up to super-strong $500 designs that do everything except give you workout advice.

Make sure to get a wall-mount that lets you swing the bag out of the way when you’re done working out. A little touch like that will gain your appreciation over time. If the heavybag takes up too much room, you’ll be tempted to get rid of it. Switching to a wall mount just might save your workouts.

Free-standing heavybag stands

If you just can’t make the ceiling or wall mounts work, take down your punching bag and hang it from a heavybag stand. There are models ranging in price from less than $150 all the way up to more than a thousand dollars.

You can check out lots of stands at Amazon, click here: Free-standing heavybag stands.

While heavybag stands are not as nice as a ceiling-mount, lots of times they’re the only viable option for using a traditional heavybag.

Free-standing heavybags

When all else fails, you might have to bite the bullet and get rid of your ceiling-mounted heavybag.

Free-standing punching bags are not my favorite, but they’re great for people who need to work out indoors.

Check out the selection at Amazon: Free standing heavy bag.

If you’re reading this, it’s probably because you know all about the benefits of a punching bag workout. So let’s get right to the advice about how to use your heavy bag.

Ceiling-mounted or free-standing

There are two considerations:

• The height of your heavybag
• The space around the bag

What you should know about heavybag height

The problem with many heavybag stands is that you can’t mount the bag high enough. Unless you’re short, you’ll be jabbing right near the top of the punching bag. This means you’ll miss the bag’s “sweet spot”, which isn’t very satisfying. Read how high should you hang a heavybag for more details.

So, if possible, mount the punching bag from a ceiling, tree branch, or other high place. This way, your bag will swing when you punch it. However, don’t mount it in your house (or any other structure you care about). Your punching bag will literally destroy your house bit by bit; it will shake your house apart and give everyone a headache. If you can’t use a garage or outbuilding, either get a heavybag stand or use a free-standing bag. Read Don’t let your heavybag shake your house apart for information and options on how to avoid excessive heavybag vibration.

The bag’s movement is a big part of why heavybag training is such a good workout. Bags that are rooted to one spot (like free-standing punching bags) won’t give you as intense a workout. When you don’t want a free-swinging bag to swing or move excessively, just connect a cord from the bottom of the bag to a weight or tie-down point. Most good heavybags have a D-ring at the bottom for this purpose.

Space around your punching bag: What you should know

The more room around your punching bag, the better. This is especially true for free-swinging heavybags.

You want a minimum of 5 feet (2.6 meters) all around your bag so you have enough room to work the bag. If you plan to kick the bag, you’ll need more room because kicks are longer-range attacks than punches.

It’s OK to mount the bag so you have less than 5 feet around one or two quadrants, but obviously it’s best to avoid that if at all possible.

How heavy should my punching bag be?

A good rule of thumb is to get a heavy bag that weighs approximately 50% of your body weight. So, a 100-pound bag should be OK if you weight 200 (or less).

If your bag doesn’t swing free on a long chain, the weight is not as important. It’s only when the bag is free-swinging that the weight has a real effect on the quality of your workout.

Other equipment needed for a heavybag workout

Handwraps

Don’t hit the heavy bag without hand wraps. Yes, I know that many of you want to practice punching for self-defense, and you think punching bare-handed is more realistic and useful than punching with wraps and/or gloves. But this has been proven incorrect.

Without wraps, you won’t be able to work out anywhere near as hard as you can with proper safety equipment. And more importantly, you’ll set yourself up for wrist injuries.

Repeatedly hitting the heavy bag without hand-wraps (especially as a beginner) will almost certainly result in sore wrists or an acute injury.

Padded gloves

Again, don’t fool yourself. You won’t be able to train with good intensity unless you wear padded gloves while hitting the bag.

Wear padded gloves and avoid sore knuckles and abrasions on your knuckles and fingers.

Read don’t punch the heavybag bare-handed for more information.

Boxing footwear

Boxing shoes or boots are not just for the boxing ring.

Anyone who practices punching regularly will benefit from wearing good boxing shoes.

Boxers and other strikers do a lot of pivoting. This pivot gets the body weight behind a punch and increases the effective range of motion. But it has a drawback: if your footwear “grips” the ground, friction during the pivot stresses the ankle and knee joints. Protect your joints during boxing workouts by wearing good shoes that were designed for boxers. Over the long term, this will contribute to your continued good joint health.

Knuckle guards (optional)

Just like padded gloves, knuckle guards keep you from bruising and scraping your knuckles.

Some people stick some sponge in their handwraps to cushion the knuckles, but knuckle guards are better because there’s no chance they’ll shift around during a workout, and because they don’t take up as much room in the gloves.

Round timer (optional)

Heavybag workouts lend themselves very well to interval training. An interval timer is a great addition to your workouts because you can use it for all sorts of things, not just striking training.

Increase your cardio training intensity while decreasing the amount of time needed for your workouts by using intervals.

Shin/foot guards for kicking (optional)

Kicking the heavy bag is practical for self-defense. And, it’s fun. But don’t do it without wearing protective equipment.

Although there are kicking bags designed for muay thai or kickboxing training, you probably have a bag that was designed for boxers. Boxer’s punching bags are hard and you don’t want to kick them without protective gear. Trust me, you can work out harder if you’re properly protected.

Cross-training equipment

Simply put, this is any sort of fitness equipment that you want to use in conjunction with your bag work. Examples include: a jump rope, medicine ball, or exercise mat. You’ll get in much better shape by mixing it up and combining several types of exercise than you will by sticking only to punching training.

A punching bag workout isn’t just for boxers, martial-artists, or would-be tough guys. No matter who you are, it’s a great way to mix things up and keep your workouts fun and practical.

Work on your heart and lungs

A punching bag workout is a fantastic cardio workout. Until you’ve tried it, you might not realize just how physically taxing it is to hit the heavy bag. If you’re not used to it, a few rounds on the heavybag is guaranteed to exhaust you.

This sort of workout lends itself to interval training. This means you can dial in just the intensity you need, while saving time compared to long, slow cardio workouts like running or biking. It’s also a perfect component of circuit training to get yourself in tip-top physical condition.

Core strength

Punching with power and speed develops core strength; in fact, you can’t punch effectively until your core musculature is properly developed. This conditioning greatly enhances your quality of life because its benefits carry over to other activities.

Develop explosive power

Heavybag workouts develop explosive power. Short of high-impact plyometric training, few (if any) sports or training methods are as effective at boosting your upper-body explosiveness.

Self defense

If you diligently work the heavy bag with good punching technique, you’ll be better able to defend yourself in a fistfight. Of course, sparring against an opponent is the most important component of self-defense training, but punching bag workouts are indispensable too.

It’s fun!

Face it: few fitness activities are as much fun as taking out your aggression on a punching bag. Sometimes, it’s good to just beat something up!

Boxing training isn’t easy. New boxers have to deal with soreness, and a lot of it.

Here is a list of the aches and pains experienced by all boxing beginners, and some tips to help you deal with the soreness.

Shoulder soreness

When you practice new punches, the number one problem is shoulder soreness. The front of your shoulders — called the anterior deltoid muscle — is a small, relatively weak muscle that doesn’t typically get very much training during normal workout routines.

In boxing workout routines however, this muscle is heavily stressed.

The only way to deal with shoulder soreness is to work your shoulders over and over until you build up your muscular endurance. While you can try to punch your way into shape by relying on shadow boxing and other punching drills to improve your shoulder fitness, many boxers also use light dumbbells (2 to 5 pounds maximum) and very high reps during a shoulder workout. Either way, until you build up the endurance in your shoulders, this will be the weak link that holds back the rest of your training.

It’s virtually impossible to overwork a muscle if you are training it exclusively for muscular endurance, so while it’s OK to rest the muscle, make sure you get at least 3 days per week of good, hard shoulder training. This should get your shoulders in shape so you can participate fully in a proper boxing training session.

Elbow soreness from boxing training

Sore elbows caused by boxing training is serious. Soreness in this area can represent two serious problems:

• Ligament damage in the elbow joint
• Tendon damage near the elbow

In either case, you must rest until the soreness goes away. Then, when you feel OK to train again, you have to make sure not to reinjure yourself.

To avoid this sort of injury, never fully extend (or hyperextend) your elbow joints during shadow boxing (especially if you are punching hard and fast). Your jab gets its speed and power from the rotation of your shoulder joint, not from the (hyper)extension of your elbow — always remember that.

Sore wrists

Lots of people experience sore wrists when they start using the heavy bag.

To avoid it:

• Learn proper technique.
• Start with the straight punches like the jab and straight right.
• Don’t practice the hooks and uppercuts (at full power) until later, when your wrists get stronger.
• Always wrap your wrists with handwraps.
• Wear padded gloves so you can punch with proper technique.

Sore knuckles

Sore knuckles from hitting the heavybag can be common if you don’t use proper padded gloves when you work out.

Get a cheap pair of boxing gloves and use them as bag gloves. The thin, leather gloves that came with your punching bag are not padded and don’t protect your knuckles.

Sore calves from boxing training

Skipping rope puts a lot of stress right on your calves. Get yourself in condition because there is no trick to preventing calf soreness from boxing training.

Knee or ankle pain

If your knee joints (or ankles) are sore, you should evaluate your footwear. Proper boxing shoes let you pivot effortlessly. Improper footwear grips the ground too well. This can tear up your knees and ankles when you pivot over and over again during long-term boxing training. Avoid these repetitive-stress injuries or you’ll regret it later in life.

Lower back soreness caused by boxing

Pivoting during punches puts a lot of stress on the lower back and the spinal stabilization muscles.

The key to avoiding this is to work up to things slowly. Don’t try to do it all at once.

You want to get your core muscles — abdominals, lower back, and others — strong and conditioned. This takes time and lots of effort, so don’t neglect your boxing floorwork.

Avoid excessive soreness with a sensible boxing training program

Don’t try to do it all at once.

Work on your overall fitness levels and on your sport-specific fitness. While soreness is OK (especially in the beginning), injury isn’t. Listen to your body and don’t let your enthusiasm get the better of your common sense.

There are as many boxing combinations as there are stars in the sky. But like stars, some boxing combos shine brighter than others.

I have an opinion about which boxing combination is the best: I think the classic 1-2-3 combo — the Jab/Straight Right/Left Hook combination — is far and away the best boxing combination. Let me explain why:

The best boxing combinations

The best boxing combinations let you deliver punches without moving unnecessarily or squandering energy

In the top 5 boxing combinations I explain that combos are not just collections of punches thrown together randomly. Rather, they’re carefully crafted so each punch naturally flows out of the previous one. This is important because it allows you to conserve energy and punch with maximum power.

In fact, other than the basic ways to increase punching power that are taught to all beginners, this method of crafting a combination is the best way to hit harder. When you do it this way, no power is lost through extraneous movement. All your power ends up in your punches.

The 1-2-3 combination in boxing

Every good combination starts with a jab. The jab is your most important punch because it helps you find your range. If you’re not jabbing, you are wasting the opportunity to hit your opponent when you are still at long range.

If you can touch something with your jabbing hand, you can punch through it with your straight right hand without moving your feet.

The straight right or right cross is your power punch. As long as the jab lands — even if it just brushes your opponent’s face — you know that you will be able to punch him very hard with your straight right hand. This is because the straight right has a longer range than your jab. From a good boxing stance, your straight right hand will reach several inches farther than the range of your jab.

Finally, the left hook is the finishing punch. If you manage to land the straight right hand, you can knock him down with the left hook to the chin. If he doesn’t go down, you are in perfect position to throw another strong right hand punch.

But if he blocks your first right hand, you can use the left hook to clear yourself out of danger and protect yourself against his counterpunch.

How to land the 1-2-3

It’s not enough to just walk up to your opponent and throw this combination. If he’s an untrained fighter, you will probably land something, but if he’s skilled, he’ll just slide out of the way.

In a boxing match, you need to set up your combinations. Otherwise, you don’t have a chance of landing a punch.

The best way is to start out just throwing the jab. Mix in some feints and some jabs to the body. Later, you can try the double jab.

Once you get your range with the jab, you have to follow it up with the straight right hand. This jab — straight right combo (known as the 1-2) is effective in many situations. You will begin to really get your opponent’s attention with the strong right hand.

But eventually, you need to follow up the 1-2 combo with the left hook. If he blocks your right hand every time you throw it, you should follow with the left hook. Now, you’re throwing a full-fledged 1-2-3 combination (the best boxing combination).

Why this is the best boxing combination

• It consists of the 3 most important punches in boxing, the jab, straight right, and left hook. If you know these punches, you’ll do well.
• It is a long-range combo, but the left hook can be used close or at longer range, depending on the situation.
• It doesn’t require you to fake out your opponent very much. You’re already throwing jabs and right hands, right?

You generate a lot of power when you punch something with all your strength. And where is all this power concentrated? That’s right: in the tiny square inch that comprises your knuckles.

This is true even if you’re a beginner. Beginners don’t punch anywhere near as hard as people who know how to use good technique, but they still give their knuckles a bruisin’ when they bang.

Sore knuckles: is the damage serious?

Odds are, your sore knuckles are nothing to worry about. In most cases, bone bruises (which is what sore knuckles are) heal up as good as new.

Arthritis — noun — Degenerative inflamation of a joint, resulting from trauma.

But this assumes that you stop punching and give your knuckles a chance to heal.

If you are hard-headed enough to keep training with sore knuckles, you’re just asking for trouble. Repeatedly re-injuring the same area causes all sorts of nasty repetitive-stress injuries that are completely preventable. So, unless you want arthritis when you’re still young and strong, take it from me: give yourself a chance to heal.

How long do sore knuckles take to heal?

I can’t give you a one-size-fits-all answer to that question. You’ll have to rest your sore knuckles until they’re no longer sore to the touch. Then, give them another week just to be safe.

How to avoid sore knuckles from the punching bag

There are two schools of thought about this:

1. Condition your knuckles so they resist damage.
2. Use safety equipment so you can hit harder without damaging your knuckles.

Conditioning your knuckles

Tall tales about conditioning the knuckles are common, especially among martial artists. But this is mostly a joke played on gullible young folks who want to be tough. In reality, there isn’t much you can do to toughen up your knuckles unless you want to spend years pounding your hands into oblivion.

Yes, it’s possible to make the bones in your hands stronger, but this takes years of training and it will destroy your manual dexterity (not to mention put you at high risk of degenerative arthritis).

There are only a few types of hand conditioning that I recommend.

• Knuckle pushups. They’ll make your knuckles a bit tougher after a few weeks, and they’ll strengthen your wrists and forearms.
• Hand-strengthening exercises like grip training are a good idea too.
• Forearm-strengthening work like the wrist roller and wrist curls. Use high reps to stimulate and strengthen the connective tissue in your forearm, wrist, hand, and fingers.

Safety equipment prevents knuckle soreness

If you are not using safety equipment when you practice your punching, you are making a big mistake.

Safety equipment lets you work out harder. If you try to train bare-handed on the punching bag, you won’t be able to work out with anywhere near the intensity.

Let me put it this way: no professional boxer, mma fighter, or member of a security force (bouncers, bodygyards, etc.) works out with bare-knuckles, because it just doesn’t work. In the long run, unless you protect your hands, your training will be a joke.

You need at least two things when you use the heavy bag:

1. Handwraps
2. Padded Gloves
3. (optional) Knuckle Protectors

Handwraps don’t really prevent knuckle soreness. But they are still essential because they prevent damage to the small, delicate bones in your hand and wrist. When you wrap your hands, you can try to put some extra layers over the knuckles to act as a cushion, but this doesn’t work very well. Knuckle guards are better.

Padded gloves are essential. Forget those flimsy little “bag gloves” that came with your heavybag. Use padded gloves or you won’t be able to work out as intensely. Get an inexpensive pair of boxing gloves and use them as bag gloves. You’ll be glad you did.

Nobody can win consistently by being a one-punch wonder. The easiest thing your opponent can do in boxing is to make you miss your punch. So, you need to throw your punches in combination if you want to be able to actually hit anyone who has more agility than an octogenarian.

What characteristics are shared by all the best boxing combinations?

It’s no good simply throwing some unrelated punches one after the other. Odds are, it won’t do you any good.

Instead, you need to construct your combinations out of punches that are related in some way. Without going into it in too much detail, I’ll just say that you should be able to shift your body weight naturally with each punch. Pay attention to the combinations I recommend and you’ll begin to see how each punch leads into the next with no wasted movement.

Since the jab is your most important punch, every combination that I recommend will start off naturally with a jab.

A list of good boxing combinations

Here are some classic boxing combos, in no particular order. I assume that you are an orthodox fighter — one who jabs with his left hand. If you’re a southpaw, simply reverse these combos.

Jab — Straight Right — Left Hook

This is the classic 1-2-3 combination. It is one of the most famous — and most popular — combinations in boxing.

You’ll get your range with the jab, then throw out the straight right to get him to cover up in front of his face. As you throw the straight right, you’re shifting in towards your opponent while shifting your weight onto your lead left foot. Then, you should be able to land the left hook to the side of his head because both his hands are still in front of his face.

It’s a mistake to try to land the left hook from the same distance that you can land the straight right. You need to be closer to land a proper left hook. Therefore, the right hand is just a set-up punch. It’s not thrown with knockout power; rather, it’s just there to get his hands out of position and to allow you to shift your weight in preparation for throwing the left hook.

Jab — Straight Right — Left Hook to Body — Left Hook to Head

Like the previous combination (the 1-2-3), this combo relies on getting your opponent’s hands up and in front of his face by peppering him with your straight right hand.

But this time, you go to the body first with your left hook.

In this case, the body shot isn’t a true left hook because you don’t really shift your weight from your front foot to your rear foot. It’s actually more of an upperhook which is a blend of an uppercut and a hook. That is, your weight remains on the lead leg like it does when you throw a lead-hand uppercut, but instead of punching straight up, you’re punching in more of a rounded, hooking motion. Some people refer to this punch as a dig, a shovel-hook, a bodyshot, a liver shot, or even a rip.

After the body shot, follow up with a true left hook to the head. Use full power and make sure to shift your weight and pivot. You can even step back a bit during this punch. The left hook is a good punch to end your combinations with because you can step back to clear yourself out of danger while simultaneously guarding yourself against a counter right hand.

Jab — Right Uppercut — Left Hook

This is a close-range combination. You use the jab to get him to put up his guard while you move into range.

The right uppercut is designed to get his head up. If it lands, that’s fine, but you really want to use it to set up the left hook.

While it’s possible to throw the right uppercut without shifting your weight, to make the most of this combination it’s best to let your weight shift to the front leg so you are in position to throw a powerful left hook.

Once you get his chin up with the right uppercut, knock him out with the left hook.

Jab — Left Hook

This is a deceptive combination.

Your opponent will probably expect you to follow up your jab with a right hand punch. This is especially true if you’ve been throwing Jab — Right Hand combos at him; he should already be used to the pattern.

But instead of throwing the right hand, you simply dip over to the left without moving your right, then throw a powerful left hook. The movement you make while preparing to throw the left hook should fake him out if everything goes well. He’ll assume you’re throwing the right and he’ll bring his hands up to block his face. But the left hook will come instead.

Some people refer to this combo as “Hooking off the jab“.

Jab — Right Uppercut — Left Hook — Short Right Hand — Left Hook

Here’s one that’s a bit longer.

Again, you want to get his chin up with the uppercut, then clip it with the hook. But the short straight right hand will hit with a lot of power if he’s covering up against your left hook and not trying to throw punches back at you.

If you manage to land something, use the final left hook as a knockout punch. If not, use it to clear yourself out of danger and regroup back into your boxing stance.

Ways to modify these boxing combinations

A great way to increase the effectiveness of these combos is to add a double-jab or a feint at the very beginning. Or, jab (or feint) to the body and try to get your opponent’s hands down before you launch into your combos.

I hope you get something out of these basic boxing combinations. They should give you some things to think about, and if you master them you’ll be well on your way towards learning an effective offense. Let me know what your favorites are!