The jab is one of the most important punching techniques in Muay Thai. It’s a versatile punch with many uses.
It can be used to:
- Attack opponents.
- Setup other punches and combos.
- Create angles and openings.
The jab is thrown using the lead hand, and it’s your closest weapon to your opponent.
The jab also travels the smallest distance before impact, when compared to other strikes. These two factors make it the quickest strike in Thai Boxing, and it’s something you’ll frequently use.
The Types of Jab
There are various types of jabs used in Muay Thai. Many of the jabs that are used in boxing are used in Muay Thai. However, unlike boxing, the jab can be used to set up many more moves.
Some of the common jabs used in Muay Thai include:
- Standard jab
- Jab to the body
- Stepping jab
- Defensive jab
- Long jab
- Shotgun jab
- Up jab
- Stiff jab (posting)
- Axe jab
Uses for the Jab
There are other uses for the jab other than attacking someone.
The jab is a great punch for probing the distance of your opponent. If you ever hope to hit your opponent, you need to establish if they’re within your range. The jab is the quickest way to determine the distance of your rival.
Jabs can be used to tease your opponent and to get them to react. When in the ring this can be crucial as it allows you to assess the other fighter.
A jab can be used to get your opponent to blink. If your opponent closes their eyes, even for a split second, you have a great opportunity to attack.
Defensive Jab
In Muay Thai a jab can be a defensive tool too. It has many uses, such as:
- Regular jabs can stop your opponent from pressing forward. This is especially useful when fighting an aggressive fighter, one who continuously puts come forward putting pressure on you.
- A well-placed jab can be a great tool to interrupt your opponent’s rhythm. Time your punch right and it can interrupt your adversary’s when they are in mid-flow of throwing a combination.
- Lastly, the jab can be used as a counterpunch. Because it’s such a quick punch, and the nearest weapon to your opponent, it’s an easy counter to use.
How to Throw a Jab
So how do you throw a basic jab in Muay Thai? Let’s look:
1. Start with A Good Base
Any good punching technique is started by having a good base. Let me explain.
A good base starts with the position of your feet. Your feet should be in the correct positions for your guard, and your weight should be balanced evenly between both legs.
Make sure that you’re relaxed and that your guard is up. Don’t get into the habit of throwing a jab whilst your guard is down as it leaves you open to being hit.
Keep your elbows down and against your sides. A lot of novices tend to flail their arms when learning the basic bunches of Muay Thai, and doing this leaves you wide open to body shots.
Lastly, don’t forget to breathe or else you’ll get tired very quickly.
2. Extend your Arm
Now, extend your arm and take a little step forward at the same time. This step should be done with your left leg if you’re a conventional fighter. If you’re Orthodox you’d use the opposite side.
At first, don’t step to the side or try to step at an angle. The basic jab involves only stepping forward. Using sidestepping and angles is more advanced technique and will be covered in later tutorials.
Whilst extending your arm, keep your hand closed but keep your fist loose. Don’t tense it up just yet. If you start to tense up during the early parts of the jab it will reduce your speed and power. You’ll also tire easily.
The shortest (and quickest) distance between two points is a straight line. So, keep your punch going at a straight trajectory.
3. Turn over your Fist
Just before impact rotate your hand so the palm of your jab hand is facing the floor. Your elbow and shoulder should also rotate too, this will add extra power to the punch.
Your arm should be about 99% fully extended when it impacts. This’ll ensure that you are covering the greatest distance with this punch. However, make sure that there’s a very slight bend in your elbow when you strike. If your arm is completely straight it can sometimes damage your joints.
As you impact you need to tighten up your fist and hit the target with the front two knuckles.
Breathe out as you make contact.
Lastly, bring your arm back to its original position. Even if you plan to throw double, or triple jab, always bring your arm back to where it started.
Other Tips for throwing a Muay Thai Jab
When throwing a jab, keep your chin down. Otherwise, you’re wide open to a counter.
Your left shoulder (when fighting conventionally, not southpaw) should cover your chin when jabbing. If an opponent was to throw a counter, especially a hook, the idea is that their punch will glide up your shoulder and hit the top of your head – avoiding your chin. Your chin is a weak spot and should be guarded as much as possible.
When jabbing, your opposite hand stays up in guard against your head. A common mistake for beginners is to drop this opposite arm when throwing the punch. Again, this leaves you wide open to being countered. Try to get into the habit of making sure your other hand is guarding your head, chin and upper body correctly when throwing this punch.
You should always bring your arm back to position as quickly as you through the jab. Remember, a jab is like a whip. It should be quickly snapped in and out against your opponent. Returning your jab quickly back to a position improves your guard, and help keep you protected.
The previous three steps cover how to throw the basic jab. But the jab has some variations. A good Thai Boxing instructor will be able to show you these as you progress. However, it’s always wise to master the basics before moving on to advanced techniques.
Improving it Further
Here are a few tips to extend the jabs usefulness:
Try throwing your jab at different angles to confuse your opponent. You don’t just have to aim for the chin every time you throw a jab. Mix it up. Aim for the top of the head, sides of the face. You can even to occasionally punch one of your opponent’s fists, as this can sometimes open them up to another punch (like a right cross).
Also, the jab can be used to attack the body too. But, when throwing a body jab don’t lean forward and down. Doing so will leave you wide open to an attack. You should always dip your legs and then throw a punch to the body. Never ever lean forward to attack.
The jab is also a great punch to throw as a fake. The idea is to get your opponent to tense up, or move into position before attacking them with something else. One common example of this is the fake jab and left hook. To execute this move, simply throw a left jab (that doesn’t make contact and lacks power), then hit them with a left hook. Hopefully, your opponent will go into a front guard allowing hook to sneak round their guard and make contact.
It’s also good practice to combine your jabs with movement. Try to combine your jabs with steps forward and back. Usually, this is done in groups of three. So, you would take three steps forward (jabbing with every step), and then take three steps backwards whilst doing the same. This is a good drill to help you improve the skill of closing distance. And it improves your retreating counter attacks.
One of the best ways to improve your jab, and your other Muay Thai skills, is shadowboxing. This can be done at the gym or even at home.
Get yourself in a mirror and practice throwing your jab. Practice throwing it facing the mirror, practice throwing it side on to the mirror. Look at what you are doing, and ask yourself if your positioning and movements look like that of a professional fighter.
Another way to improve your jab technique are rounds of sparring using nothing but jabs. This forces you to use the different aspects that the jab. And it really makes you think of how best to use this most basic weapon of Muay Thai.
Have you a useful tip on using the jab more effectively? Why not share your thoughts below in the comments?