All the tools necessary to build a powerful defensive base for boxing—every defense for every punch from every angle—are included in this manual. Punching prowess has become equated with boxing, but what is done in response to that incoming flurry makes a truly good boxer: how to make an opponent miss, how to easily defend, and, most importantly, how to counterattack. Building on that defensive base, this book explores natural punching triggers, or logical counterpunching sequences, that move past the beginner’s realm of being a mere puncher into the upper echelons of crafty counter boxing. With encyclopedic boxing defensive drills bolstered by numerous illustrative photographs, this is a one-stop resource for learning the art of counterpunching. Mark Hatmaker is the bestselling author of Boxer's Book of Conditioning & Drilling , Boxing Mastery , the MMA Mastery series, the No Holds Barred Fighting series, and No Second Chance . He has produced more than 40 instructional videos and he has extensive experience in the combat arts including boxing, wrestling, Jiu-jitsu, and Muay Thai. A highly regarded coach of professional and amateur fighters, law enforcement officials, and security personnel, he is also the founder of Extreme Self Protection, a research body that compiles, analyzes, and teaches the most effective Western combat methods known. He lives in Knoxville, Tennessee. Boxer's Bible of Counterpunching The Killer Response to Any Attack By Mark Hatmaker Tracks Publishing Copyright © 2012 Mark Hatmaker and Doug Werner All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-935937-47-0 Contents Introduction Punching v boxing, defensive postures, timing, great counter-punchers, blocking v parrying and the Pareto Principle, Defenses per punch The most effective ways to defend against each punch, Pragmatic first measures The most effective first offensive action after each defensive move, Combination menus The most effective punch combinations following each defensive move, Resources, Index, CHAPTER 1 Defenses per punch Defenses for each punch and each angle are listed in order of ease of execution. That is, defenses toward the beginning of each section are for novice through pro levels. Those defenses found toward the end of each section move you closer to becoming smoke. High jab defenses Cage / pinch • Simply keep your chin tucked and pinch your guard together. Receive the punch on paralleled forearms. Covering • This one has the appearance of unpreparedness, but it does the job in a pinch as long as you reset your guard quickly. • Raise your rear arm to the horizontal position — forearm facing out. • Drop the lead arm to horizontally cover your liver. • Place the forehead in the crook of the rear arm to receive impact. Catch • Receive the punch in the palm of the rear hand. • Give a light smack into and up to begin educating opening lines. • Don't reach for punches, allow them to come to you. Reaching opens up more lines for attack. Leverage block • Think of this as a "missed" catch and you're on the right track. • Use the forearm of the rear arm to drive up and out on your opponent's incoming jab. Inside parry • A parry is a slight redirect. Keep in mind it doesn't take much to redirect so don't over-compensate with your parries. A miss of an inch is as good as a mile. • Use the inside edge of the palm/forearm to brush/pat the jab from the inside to the outside. • Step inside and away from the attack. Angle your upper body away from the punch while you parry. Outside parry • Use the rear hand to cuff/tap the glove of the jab from the outside to the inside. • Again, not much force is required to do the job. Cross parry • A little 80/20 violation — use the lead hand to parry the jab from the inside to the outside. Rear stopping/muffling • Use the rear hand to "anticipate" a punch being fired. • You will cover your opponent's lead glove with the palm of your own before it is fired. Muffling/stopping is a key skill when using any upper body mobility (slips, ducks and weaves) to the inside position. Moving inside takes you into your opponent's power hand and a muffle on the rear hand is a nice safety. Slip inside • To all appearances a slip looks like head movement to evade a punch. True, except that ... • The head is moved in tandem with the body. • To slip inside the high jab, turn your rear shoulder toward your lead knee, bend the knees and pivot toward the lead knee on the balls of both feet. Slip outside • Reverse the preceding instructions. • Turn the lead shoulder toward the rear knee, bend the knees and pivot on the balls of your feet. Rear cuff down • Think of cuffing as being a parry that travels along the vertical axis — up or down. • Use the rear palm to cuff/brush the jab down. Lead cuff down • Use the lead hand this time. Rear cuff up • Getting into a cuff up can feel a little artificial, but we drill it as a mighty useful defense when your hands ar