The jab is not a forceful strike that is meant to cause severe damage but it is quick and disruptive to your plans. Mike Tyson once said that “everyone has plans until they get punched in their face.” Although the jab won’t end the fight by itself, it will distract enough to allow you to continue with potentially fatal blows. There are many ways to deal with the jab. One option is to slip it. Today we will discuss the parry.
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Why not Parry the Jab?
Because of its speed and effectiveness, the jab is common in boxing and MMA. Its simplicity of application is what gives it its speed. It shoots straight from the guard, much like a snake strike. It is not designed to cause a lot of damage. Instead, it targets your opponent’s face to make their defenses weaker so that you can rain down blows like hailfire.
The jab’s fast, linear nature requires a quick, linear response. The parry is a direct and equal counter. While parrying the jab can be more difficult than the simple slip (we’ll talk about that in a future article), there are additional benefits. Your parry can help your opponent balance out if he over-commits to his jab. It will redirect his energy in an unexpected way. You do not take any damage if you block.
Learn how to defeat the jab
Your opponent throws a jab to start. Next, place your hand on the jab’s opposite side and perform a nearly slapping motion. If he throws his jab with one hand, you can use your other hand to parry it left. Doing this will force his arm across your own body, redirecting his defense, and opening him up.
You don’t want his hand to be in your parry. It’s a smaller target and can be missed. Some arts, such as Muay Tai will immediately lower the arm and then follow with the elbow. The further up you aim, the easier it will be to do and the more effective it will become.
It is also worth noting that the parry is effective against jabs, but not against cross or hooks. Three reasons are why. First, because of the curvature in the arm during cross or hook, it is difficult to intersect with a parry. Cross parrying will result in a force-onforce block and not a redirection. Cross parrying weakens your defense and opens you up to a strike. The cover is your best defense when it comes to the hook or cross.
When you learn how to use the parry, keep your head down and inside. As you get more comfortable with the parry, you will be able to slip the jab and add footwork to your arsenal. You will be able to play offensive defense in a whole new way once you have started adding footwork.
Keep it real and you’ll be safe.
Personal Defense World’s WATCH: A Basic MMA Technique to Parry the Jab was first published on WATCH.
