Three weeks ago I had just finished training in Mister Clark’s weaponry class at Practical MMA when one of the students asked a question about boxing. The student had been told by another fighter that his unnamed coach had recommended looking at the opponent’s eyes as a way of divining their intentions. Tom shook his head and smiled, and answered that a boxer, or any kind of fighter, should not focus on the eyes, or where he intends to strike, or in any other peripheral direction.

Mister Clark recommended focusing on the chest, admitted that he knew some teachers who taught to look elsewhere, and then motioned to me, “Ask James, he’s a boxing coach.”

The young man looked at me and I said, “I only knew one fighter who intentionally chose to focus on an extremity. That dude was a southpaw with a leg injury who had to drag his foot around. He was basically a one-armed fighter with a brick for a head who just cared where his opponent’s feet were. He would just look at the feet and when he got the feet lined up he would bang away. Usually when you see something weird like that, it is an adaptation to an injury. I don’t even know a coach who teaches to look at the eyes.”

So what are the reasons why most coaches advocate focusing on the chest? Before continuing let’s not suppose that your eyes should never go elsewhere. Also, when you look elsewhere, even if by accident, it is good to have a focus point that you naturally return to that affords you maximum advantage.

When you look at the chest it is hard to be fooled by quick hands, deceptive footwork, or facial expressions. The chest does not lie. The hands, feet and eyes, often do.

Focusing on the chest means you always know where the head is, unless you are fighting a giraffe.

Focusing on the chest permits you to know when a punch is coming as the elbow leaving the body is a surer cue than hand movement. While it is hard to focus on both the opponent’s hands at once, focusing on the chest shows you the shoulders, elbows, neck and hips in your peripheral vision. These are all joints, where movement cues often show up early.

Focusing on the chest makes it easier to hit, and chest punches, rare as they are, do a lot to control position. Also, chest punches have underutilized KO potential, not to mention the cumulative value of body punching in general. See Jones versus Ruiz [reviewed on this page] for a good example of the importance of punching the chest.

The good news is that this is not a date, that is probably a dude you are facing, and even if it’s a woman, it’s okay to stare at her chest.