Kickboxing technique: hook

Video Transcript

" Hi this is Tristan at the Austin Martial Arts Academy. We’re online at http://www.austinmartialarts.com. Alright this next punch is called the hook and we’re going to start out with a parallel stance just so you can see the mechanics clearly. The very first thing, just parallel legs, slight bend in the knees, as you recall from the first clip, elbows up, elbows in excuse me, hands tucked in tight. The hook punch, tendency is for people to do this. Big wide swing. Well, that’s a great workout, you’re getting lots of movement, but not necessarily the best punch in the world. A good hook is tight and clean, there’s a rotation in the body that starts the wind up that starts the kinetic momentum, the elbow comes up and there’s the hook. The wrist and elbow about the same height. You’ll notice now that the punch is in the vertical position. This for safety reasons is important. Sometimes when people turn a hook punch turned sideways they’ll clip their last two knuckles. Don’t want to do that, you want to hit with all four knuckles. So when we throw the hook punch, we have got to be rotating foot. So the heel rotates and that’s what drives the punch from your hips. Without that you’re going to torque your back out. And there’s the position of the punch and there’s the position of the foot. Other side. It rotates. Back to the punch itself. The wrist and the elbow are the same height. Okay. Here’s what it looks like from parallel legs. Let’s go back to the on guard position. The hook can be thrown with either the rear hand or the front hand as opposed to the jab which is always the front and the cross which is always the back. So here’s a rear hand hook. Not this. It’s in tight. Look at the feet, they rotate. Let the breath go. "