Sometimes you get caught flat-footed. This often happens on the ropes or after you have moved your opponent out of the pocket and against the ropes, or into the corner. I generally suggest restoring a lifted rear heel and driving leg and moving to an angle as you exploit the opportunity. But, if you are dead on your feet, or set back on your heels and in trouble, this may be easier said than done. The following is a rare use of the jab, powered with thighs and gravity, in two versions, that you would do well to have in your tool kit.

The squat jab was something Archie Moore, the all time boxing KO leader, did when he got in trouble. If you have good leg strength in the thigh and your calves are shot, or you just got set back on your heels and you would like to stick him to the body to arrest his attempt to arrest your consciousness, then practice this:

1. Take a high, shielding guard with both hands, like you are being swarmed with hard punches and covering.

2. Squat and jab, squatting down to halfway so that your hamstrings are parallel to the floor and jabbing out under the opponent’s imaginary guard, into the pit of his stomach.

3. All this will have on it is gravity, so try and sink it in at the solar plexus, driving downward, putting half of your ass into this jab.

4. If he is coming hard and he runs into it you might wind him, but it is basically intended to ward him off and keep you from getting rolled onto your ass from his oncoming thighs colliding with your hips.

5. If you have stronger legs and he has a stronger upper body and you get caught infighting, this can save your ass.

6. Practice this as a mirror drill at different angles.

7. Drill it in mitt sessions and be nice to your coach when he gives you this opening.

8. Drill it on a heavy bag with your open hand.

9. Drill it on the heavy bag by driving a one, one, two into the bag, and then meeting the swinging bag with an open hand check.

10. Once you have drilled this enough that you know you won’t be punching the bottom of the bag, practice sinking in a squat jab as the bag comes to you, using a three-quarter fist, not a vertical, pronated or supinated.

11. Be careful drilling this too hard, as you can hurt your wrist. It is ideally practiced on a belly pad worn by your coach as he hooks at your head, or on a Thai bag.

12. The reason why some dudes are so hard to finish when they are in trouble is not always heroics and is often about them doing this kind of worst-case scenario detail drills.

13. This is simply bobbing with a punch at the base of the bob. Give him a second jab as you rise, a sneaky jab to the nose or an upjab to the chin

Imagine you have driven him to the ropes and you are flat-footed, at the end of your punching chain:

1. Feint for his eyes with a blind jab.

2. Drag your rear foot up as your punch pulls up short a glove away from his face.

3. Sink into a squat as you point your lead knee at him and drive with your rear foot, plunging a pronated power jab into his stomach.

4. Do not practice this shadow boxing, as it is too hard on the lead knee. Drill this on the wall with your open hand and on the heavy bag with bag gloves, making the pronated landing a flush palm down punch with your shoulder driving high behind it as you tuck your chin.

5. This last jab was a type of lunge, a lunge squat jab, so our next jab up will be the lunge proper.

These are both rarely used jabs. But, a fighter armed with these jabs has a definite advantage over most fighters who have never seen such a thing and will not read it the first time they do see it.

Armando, Sean, this is a method for you tall guys to hunt the body without dropping your hands and exposing your chin. Follow it with a number two up into the chin, driven with the rear leg as you stay fully covered.