The rear cross is a devistating punch, and is difficult to block if done right. Second to the hook, it is probably one of the most famous of power punches. The rear cross is generated by hip rotation, and shoulder rotation.
Most people think that the rear cross is one of them hay maker punches. In fact, you see in most boxing fights, the rear is saved up as a wind-up to put the guy out. Most people's rear cross is done with their stronger of the two arms. This generally is also your arm with more endurance; so I never figured out the stupidity of saving your stronger, longer lasting arm, and jabbing away with the weaker arm. It makes no sense. Here, I teach a rear cross that is devistating, is used like a jab, which means it's fast and can be used often, but the benefit is that it still retains all the power that you've come to expect from a rear cross.
As far as the muscle group(s) involved, it's those you expected. We have the rotation of the hip, and the shoulders. You squat a bit to get the power from your legs. So you have a lot of power in combination, that is why this punch is so powerful. But I add an additional rotation force to make the punch even more devistating. I saw this in a video actually, and it more than doubled the poweer I gained from this punch.
The secret here is not where you expect. It certainly wasn't where I expected. I thought it was something I do with my hips or legs.. but the secret here lies in the arm. specifically, in the elbow....???.... elbow? Yes. Elbow. The secret for this punch is the circular rotation of the elbow about an imaginary axis.
Assuming you are doing a left rear cross:
Make a bicep so your forearm is 90 degrees to your bicep at the elbow.
Now lift your elbow straight out to the side away from your body, so you arm is parallel to the floor. It should look like this from the top view.
Now without moving your arms yet, look to your left. You should see your arm. While keeping your arm still parallel to the floor, rotate your elbow in a clockwise motion.
It's as if you are riding a bicycle with your elbow. Keep rotating it in a circle until you can draw a smooth circle with your elbow motion. How big should the circle be? About 2-3 inches wide. Not big. Just want to get the motion down. As you move 2-3 inches with your elbow, your fist will move only about 1-2 inches. This is what you want.
Is your motion smooth now? Perfectly round smooth circle? Good. Now practice moving from the 3 o'clock (X) position to 12 o'clock (Y) position. Start with your elbow from the 3 o'clock (X) postion. Rotate and stop at the 12 o'clock (Y) position. Fast smooth quick circle.
Now when reach the apex of the circle 12 o'clock (Y) position, extend your arm straight out. because you are rotating the elbow, you are generating rotational acceleration. When you are at position Y, you have generated quite a bit of acceleration in the direction of your enemy, now all you need to do is release that acceleration towards your enemy.
Try it out. Just stand, and rotate your elbow a few times, and when you reach the (Y), extend your arm. You will be amazed how much power you can generate from this movement. It is this movement that differentiates my rear cross from others.
Now we put it together.
Get in your forward stance.
Rotate your hip, and shoulders to bring your left arm around.
As you do so, bring your arm parallel to the floor.
Keep rotating your body until your left shoulder (the tattoo region as I call it, where most get their tattoo's, on the side of the arm) is pointing at the enemy.
About 80% into your hip and shoulder rotation, rotate your elbow, from 3 o'clock (X) , to 12 o'clock (Y).
Then, when your elbow has reached the 12 o'clock (Y) position, extend the arm out, directing the force straight. It should be in-line with your elbow rotation direction.
You should finish your elbow rotation the same time you finish your hip rotation, so you can throw 100% of both forces at the enemy. It should go like this:
There are a total of 5 major forces you are applying in this punch:
Of those, all but your arms are major muscle groups.
If you are doing this with your right arm, everything is the same except your right elbow moves counter-clockwise; and it moves from the 9 o'clock position counterclockwise to the 12 o'clock position.
Because your arms are parallel to the floor for this punch, your fist should be horizontal already.
This all might seem trivial, but it's devistatingly effective. The amount of power you can generate from the rotation of the elbow alone is amazing. You are adding rotational force to an already powerful punch. Again, this should feel smooth and comfortable, if it's not smooth automatically, you are doing something wrong.
Forward Punch | Index | Hook