Delivering the perfect punch requires your whole body to work in unison, achieving a delicate balance between speed, power and other mechanics. It is an art – a nuanced skill that you acquire and slowly bring to perfection. In continuation of the previous blog post, Kru Hemanth will now teach you interesting variations and sub-variations of punches in Muay Thai.  

For starters, since you’re quite familiar with the cross jab from earlier, try your hand at two useful variants targeting the chest and abdomen, one after the other. Once you appreciate the difference, let’s look at some other punches. 

Hook Punch

This involves a side rotational movement of your arm, swinging into the direction of the target. Power is generated as the foot turns 45 degree inward, engaging your hip to release the hook. It’s quite versatile and can be directed at the face, head, ribs, kidney, and liver to name a few targets. 

What makes it even more deadly is that the opponent finds it difficult to anticipate because of that 45-degree angle. You can move like a ghost and knock him unconscious before he even knows what hit him.  

There are four variants to the hook punch. By changing the range, you can land a long or short-range hook. There’s also a cross hook and body hook which you can use depending on your position and other parameters in the fight. 

Uppercut Punch

In this move, the force moves directly upward targeting the opponent’s jawline, solar plexus or the lower abdomen. One way to make the blow even more lethal and destructive is angling it at 45 degrees for additional power. 

Talking about the sub-variations of the uppercut punch, there’s a long-range uppercut, short-range uppercut and cross uppercut. A particularly deadly version is the double fist uppercut performed simultaneously with both hands, undoubtedly capable of knocking your opponent out if done the right way.  

By now you must be comfortable with the basic punches, so let’s explore some interesting variants that might come in handy during a fight. 

Sub-Variations of Punches

First is the spinning back fist where you lunge and spin, swivelling 360 degrees before landing the punch. This adds significant momentum to your attack.  

Next try the hammer fist, where just like its name you use the side of your fists to deliver a swinging blow. The advantage – it’s powerful and yet much less likely to hurt the attacker’s hand while performing. There’s also the reverse hammer fist, with the hammer proceeding upwards and striking the side of the opponent’s face.  

In professional contact sports, there’s a flying punch that has achieved much popularity and notoriety over the years for being quite lethal. This is known as the superman punch. Basically, you bring your rear leg forward feigning a kick, then simultaneously snap the leg back while throwing a cross jab, delivering a knockout blow! 

There’s one other move that might become a personal favourite in time – the buffalo punch. It’s often associated with the term throwing, as it involves moving your hand in a looping motion, causing the back knuckle to strike the target. 

After reading this far, your understanding of Muay Thai punches is sure to have improved significantly. Now it’s only a matter of practising to get the speed, power and movement just right, every single time. Check out our next blog post to unlock a truly dangerous weapon in Muay Thai – the various types of kicks.