Learn to Box: Target Areas

Here is a segment I'm starting that will focus on teaching you how to box. If you already know how to box, then you can skip these posts, but for those of you who don't know how to box and would like to learn, you may find these posts helpful. I apologize for the bad drawings, but this was a spur of the moment post. So let's jump right in.

Target Areas

Now, the art of boxing can be defined in many ways, but one simple way to describe it is knowing how to hit your opponent without being hit in return. Simple enough. So if you're fighting an opponent, where exactly are you supposed to hit him? And conversely, where are you trying to not get hit?



Figure (1) shows the four main target areas to aim for on your opponent, and to protect on yourself. The target areas include, both sides of the chin and both sides of your temples. The reason that these four areas are so vital is that hitting any of those four points has been proven over the ages as the quickest way to knock someone out. When a strike of sufficient force is thrown to any of these four areas, it causes the head to quickly snap as shown in figure (2), which in turn causes your brain to slosh about in your skull, possibly causing loss of consciousness and hemorrhaging. Not fun. While the four areas indicated in figure (1) are the highest priority, protecting your whole head and body in general is important too. A straight punch on the front of the chin as shown in figure (3) can also lead to a quick knock out.