“Hi James,
“I have a couple of questions concerning body punches if you have a moment.
“Some Boxing instructors advise to hit the lower ribs, front or side. Others say hit the soft tissue just below the rib edge, front or side. Still others say hit high on the ribcage ( just below the pec line ), front or side. In your opinion, where are the best areas to land?
“With respect to the liver shot, is it better to hit the front or side rib area?
“Thanks for your time. Looking forward to your response.”
-Bill D.
Thank you for this excellent question, Bill. There are a lot of ways to look at this. First of all, how are you hung?
I mean how long are your arms?
If you have long arms use that straight rear hand like a battering ram. The straight body punch is way underrated, with most people immediately thinking about the hook. At least one heavy bag round every session should be dedicated to hunting for straight rights to the body and stepping into the shot, usually behind a jab to the eyes. Against a guy with a good jab, you can shut him down with this straight right to the body.
I will break it down in sections.
Access
What is open on this guy?
What is his guard like?
It is useless for coaches to say always hit here or there when different fighters have different guards.
Take what you can get, Bro.
Penalty
What is the price for hitting this guy’s body?
If you are a tall guy and you want to work the body of some stout puncher—good luck with that.
What are his weapons in relation to the opening you make in your guard to hit him in the body?
What kind of gloves are you wearing?
If you are wearing MMA gloves or this is a bare knuckle affair and you throw Philly hooks to the ribs you might get your thumbs broken when he drops his elbows.
The Body Punching Target Map
This breakdown assumes two orthodox fighters.
1. Floating rib, lower left side, attached only by soft tissue: Straight right, shovel hook, right uppercut. Snap off this sucker and his every breath is an agony—for six weeks!
2. Heart: slam a straight right in while he jabs. Do not hit unconditioned people with this on the street unless it is life or death, because it can kill them. You may blast the heart with a shockwave from the front or the armpit. This was Ray Robinson’s best shot.
3. The cartilage between the ribs and the breast bone on either side: Slam a vertical fist "sneaky” right [works only with bare knuckles or MMA gloves] between the breast bone and the ribs and compress the soft tissue so that the lung will have reduced expansion—this hurts exquisitely.
4. The Solar plexus, called “the wind” by bare knucklers, is best hit with a Philly hook, shovel hook or upper cut, unless the guy stands square like a wrestler and then you can sink straight punches in there also.
5. Liver, under the bottom right rib: must be hit with a shovel hook [kicks and knees are great for this]. Pumps toxins into his blood, delayed reaction, usually 1-3 seconds and puts him down for about 12 seconds.
6. Kidneys, behind the oblique muscles above the hip: hit with shovel, Philly or pronated hook or corkscrew punch if he is turned. This organ hurts more than the liver shot but is not as debilitating, causing a burning pain radiating out rather than the paralysis of the liver shot.
7. Abdominal shots work best when you can see the muscles or if the belly is distended. Forget hitting fat boys with this. Score with a shovel hook as you step off to your right or with a straight right as you duck under to your left.
8. The rib cage is better than nothing, especially if he is skinny. This is great for thin guys in good condition. You are trying to make the intercostals muscles spasm or tear and possibly rip up some cartilage. The entire cage expands as a unit. If you can rip any of the connective tissue it will have lasting effects. Breaking the ribs is kind of pointless unless you know he has a sore rib and then target that.
9. The oblique muscles are the least effective target and are close to the kidneys, the liver and the floater, so work on pin point targeting in this area.
Body Type Vulnerability
Thin guys are vulnerable to rib injuries and recover well from shots to their abdominals.
Fat guys are a waste of time to hit in the obliques or abdominals and have kidney and liver padding. Go for the solar plexus and heart on fat boys, as these are already stressed by their weight.
Muscle guys take all body shots better, but do not have kidney and liver blubber to disperse force. With a muscle guy, target the organs: heart, kidney, liver and the floating rib.
If you hit hard enough any body shot is effective and he has as much to say about where you hit him as you do.
Hit hard to the body, unless he is too dangerous to dig in with, meaning he hits harder, is bigger, or is a grappling threat in an MMA or self-defense situation.
Hit what is open.
Hit him there again.
I once fought a really muscular light heavyweight when I was a welterweight and I beat him on body shots, not even hard body shots. About 50 shovel hooks to the cage, plexus, liver, obliques and abdominals on his right side, eventually caused his breathing to be labored and he had to quit. I could not hit heard enough to get to his liver, he was so thick. But the muscle does not make such great armor as it ties into the breathing muscles and will eventually build up waste and fatigue from getting hit.
With monster fighters use straight hands to the body, timed for when he steps in and sink your rear knee into it, making it kind of like a rear hand lunge.
Generally speaking, for the soft targets you want to use the shovel hook and for the hard targets you want to slam in the straight right. I have outlined an article on shovel hooks and will get to that next.
Street Encounters
Keep in mind, that in terms of self defense situations, most of your attackers will have an extreme vulnerability to solar plexus shots.
Guys with beer bellies are easy. You just rattle that tank and it affects the solar plexus.
Skinny guys? Smash that rib cage. A decent welterweight boxer should be able to split most teenage Dindu sternums.
Muscle guys on the street are likely to grapple, so be careful going to the body and stick to the straight right.
Be real careful going to the body against big, blubbery black guys. Stay on his chin and poke his eyes unless you get an opening for a heart or solar plexus punch.
With giant white guys, do not even bother hitting the body. Crack that chin.
The Punishing Art
I
Thanks for his info. I really like this stuff. It's #1, first class info that I don't know anywhere else on the planet you could get. I save this to read over again. Will I remember it when I need it...maybe some. I know I was really impressed by the idea that keeping the elbows in when striking hides your elbows movements. I think for sure I'll remember that one. So subtle...but a slight trick on the edge detection circuit in the brain to make it just fractions of a millisecond slower. Maybe just enough to get a whopper to the head and end the whole thing. Maybe save your life.
I would like to ask a question. What knocks someone out? Is it a whip or jar to the brain that the stem can't keep up? Is it best to twist the skull from a hit to the chin in a round house. I mean not hitting dead on but at say a 90 degree angle from where your opponent is facing? . You would think the chin sticking out would give the best leverage to whip the skull quickly. Does it take more force to knock someone out with a direct forward facial punch because of less leverage meaning less whipping motion of the brain in the skull?
I remember you saying the chin was best. I think you said the temple next. What's the best frontal punch?
I love how detailed you are on specific shots. I would love to learn more about the effects of hitting the temple. Also, what are the consequences of hitting the spleen? I haven't been able to find too much about spleen punches. Lastly, can you tell me more about punching or karate chopping people in the throat?
Last question, is there are a part of your website with links to all your answers about specific punches, such as details on hitting the heart, or liver, or whatever else?
Penelope, I will use this as an article starter—see you in a day or two on the modern combat page under the The Combat Space tag.