Boxing is so named for the fact that a fist is a boxed hand, in one ancient Greek dialect, the box and fist are named “pyx,” in another, the “pug,” all three ironically three letters long.

In focusing on controlling and dominating the combat space, and imposing your will on the opponent rather than hurting him, we have neglected the fist and focused on the empty hand. As much as I prefer my fighters to slap and check in survival situations, in the ring and cage, the fist is the game changer, and in a really nasty altercation, it will shave the odds right quick. At 80-years-of-age Jack Dempsey once KO’d two muggers—men in their twenties—outside of his New York restaurant. There is no reason why a good boxer cannot KO ordinary men with the jab. Ring rust and retirement takes away many things, but not your power, especially not jab power, which increases with your weight.

Your fist must not be clenched pre-punch, but held loosely in a half fist to be clinched just before impact. When you are hurt and gassed, and your timing is fudged, then you will have to switch to a clenched fist—but not clenched hard—squeezing it on impact.

The following uses of the first are described in terms of their optimal jab application.

1. Blind: This jabbing fist aims with the false knuckles, like a bullshit kung fu leopard paw. It is aimed at the eyes to blind him and to get your arm on guard along the diagonal rising highline so that you do not eat a cross. You are not supposed to hit with this, but if he steps into it, it will hurt his eye and nose more than your hand as it collapses into a tight fist, which must be your instinct. This is a guarding feint, not an intended strike, unless you have boxing gloves on.

2. Sneaky: this fist is oriented with the thumb-side of the hand facing the roof and the pinky side facing the floor, the palm facing across your front and the back of the hand facing away from your wheelhouse. The ideal target is the nose. Be careful throwing this to the body or you could injure your thumb or wrist. The only good body target for the thumb up jab—look, the thumb is not sticking up, but rather the thumb-side of the fist—is the chest, between his hands. Never, ever shot this below his guard.

3. Three-Quarter: This fist orientation has the thumb-side of the boxed hand turned diagonally across your line of sight, and is used exclusively for punching the forehead. This fist is half-pronated.

4. Power: The power fist is fully pronated, with the palm facing down, engaging the shoulder muscle and lengthening the reach, but exposing your face. This is targeted for the chin and the body, below his guard. If you try to punch a surface higher than your shoulder, that does not have air space for the face of your fist to hang below it [like the chin] then this punch will strain your wrist. Experiment with this ins still pose with your fist pressed against the wall.

5. Corkscrew: The corkscrew punch is hyper-pronated, with the thumb side of the hand turned down, twisting on impact and tearing his face open, but also stressing your shoulders. Only practice this on still heavy bags and on light bags. This may be thrown down into the body as well, and is best delivered from a high lead with the lead foot up on the ball and pivoting into it.

6. Up-jab: The up-jab is thrown from a thumb-up position, but the fist is supinated in motion, rolling the hand back to the outside as the arm extends, with the punch landing as the palm faces the ceiling. This was known as the “special punch” in bare-knuckle boxing. Do not mistake it for a shovel hook, but thrust with it from a rising crouch, with pivot, or with a step—even with a lunge. It is ideal for targeting the eye. This fist alone will gain entry into the eye socket and crack the orbit from within and strike the eye directly. Do not strike the mouth with this in a bare-knuckle fight or you could have diseased teeth imbedded in your tendons. Secondary targets could be the jaw joint below the ear, the nose and the solar plexus.

Stand before a wall and press each one of these fits against the wall and you will find their optimal level of delivery, which is dependent on your stature and build.

Stand in front of the mirror and practice these punches slowly, with various steps, pivots, lunges.

Now move to the speed bag and try them out there.

Finally move to the heavy bag and give them a go, slowly, with wrapped wrists and gloved hands—lightly gloved to get the feel of it—with heavy bag gloves added for real bag work.

Half of the punches above have been covered in the jab progression. The rest of the jab progression will follow. The jab drills outlined in the preceding section will enable you to build custom jab combinations, and will constitute the conclusion of this manual.