Basic Attack - Rear-Hand Uppercut

The uppercut is an extremely effective punch and is often under-utilized by comparison to its usefulness, both in combinations and of itself. Straight punches (jab and cross) and hooks are thrown by all fighters, but a much smaller portion of fighters train to recognize openings for uppercuts and drill proper form so that the uppercut pops out properly from our muscle memory.

For the rear-hand uppercut, we generate our power off of the rear foot’s connection to the floor, and up through our rear hip and shoulder, digging up through our target with rotational strength. Watch the video above for a visual illustration of these principles.

One thing to keep in mind — don’t drop your hand down near your waist. This is an invitation for your opponent to pop out a straight punch; the path of travel of an uppercut that’s dropped low is so much farther than the path of travel for an opponent’s straight punch that if we try to execute the uppercut that way, we’re sacrificing an attack with a low percentage chance to land and allowing for an easy shot for our opponent.