More on the jab

• Remember to snap the punch right before impact. Relaxation will increase your speed and decrease inertia so that your can react more quickly to an opening or an attack.Slide forward to increase power.
• Remember hand, then foot. If you step first, not only will your opponent hit you on the way in, your lead will either miss or be slipped and countered before you know what hit you. If you can see it coming, you can usually defend it. If your opponent punches and then lets the legs carry him forward, any sacrifice in power is made up by the increased probability of hitting your opponent and doing it safely. A good strategy.
• Stop-hit: the jab is one (along with the side kick) best weapons to intercept an attack. You usually want to use it against an angled or curved attack, such as the backfist (depending on how it's thrown), the haymaker, hook, uppercut, any spinning attacks (be careful here), as well as roundhouse and hooking kicks.
• Rotate the fist as it snaps and hits the target, a la Muhammad Ali. The benefit of this is to increase the damage of the technique on by tearing at the skin, especially around the eyes of your opponent. This, incidentally, is one reason why we wear headgear...
• Do not retract or chamber the fist first. Keep it in front of you and throw it without any added motions. This will increase perceived speed, and increase your hit percentage.
• Remember to vary the type of jab that you throw; some should be power-jabs, trying to hurt the opponent; a setup jab will just touch, and gauge your distance for a power-jab or straight right hand; a speedy jab can snap out to get a reaction from your opponent, or to disrupt his rhythm or halt a planned attack.
• Another way to vary the jab is to double or triple jab. Most often, you won't hit with the first technique.
• Always position the lead hand aimed at your opponent. If someone is close enough to do you damage, you want to aim your weapon at him. This serves as an obstruction to him just attacking straight-away.
• Commitment is key to success. If you aren't committed to really hitting and doing damage or setting up another punch, don't throw it. Another way to think of it is, "If I do this, will my opponent have to react?" If not, he may just blast through it, or ignore it.

That's all for now...