The Beginner’s Guide to Throwing Body Punches for Kickboxing

Learning how to punch the body is an important foundational lesson for beginner boxers and kickboxers. In this blog, we will break down how to throw the 6 foundational body punches on the heavy bag.

The key to an effective body punch is dropping down below your opponent’s fists and striking near the level of their core organs. This ensures that you deliver a powerful strike without putting your own face or body in the line of fire. Remember, one of your top responsibilities in combat sports is to protect yourself at all times!

When we’re boxing at home on the heavy bag, we don’t have markers like rib cages or belly buttons, so we want to aim just below the FightCamp logo.

Prefer visual learning? Watch FightCamp Trainer Aaron Swenson break it down on our YouTube channel or in the FightCamp app under the Amateur Kickboxing Path. Learn the kickboxing basics from the proper stance, how to do round-kicks, front-kicks, side-kicks, to basic defensive moves.

How To Throw Body Punches In Kickboxing

The same shorthand number system that we use to talk about strikes to the head applies when talking about strikes to the body, but when we talk about body punches, we usually denote them by adding a B. For instance, the 1 (Jab to the head) becomes the 1B (Jab to the body).

1B | Jab to the body

• Push off your back leg and transfer the weight forward

• Get low and try to land your punch underneath the lower line of the FightCamp logo on the body (visualize the soft spot of an opponent’s torso)

• Fully extend your arm when you punch

2B | Cross to the body

• Shift your weight from back to front and get low

• Grip the floor with your back foot, bend your knee into a lunge movement

• As you extend your punch, pivot on your rear foot, and engage your glute and your quad

• Don’t forget to keep your lead hand high to protect your face!

3B | Lead Hook to the body

• Drop down into your lunge with your lead leg forward

• Pivot on your lead foot and twist through your core

• Keeping your elbow at a 90-degree angle to the bag, throw your lead hook to the body

4B | Rear Hook to the body

• Drop into your lunge and pivot on your rear foot

• Come around the bag to throw a rear hook

5B | Lead Uppercut to the body

• Keeping your lead hand up to protect your face, pivot on your lead foot

• Use your legs to drive power upwards and lift your fist to land right above the beltline with your palm facing the sky

6B | Rear Uppercut to the body

• Keeping your lead hand up to protect your face, pivot on your rear foot

• Drive your rear fist into the body at a 45-degree upwards angle

Those are your 6 punches to the body! Whether you’re training in kickboxing or traditional boxing, these strikes are great to incorporate into your workouts with a heavy bag, shadowboxing, partner work, or sparring. Remember – change levels, aim low, and strike clean.

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