How To Counter The Jab With Cédric Doumbé
The ability to go forward, be aggressive and push the pace on your opponent is a great one to have. However, if you’re just blindly rushing forward like an angry bull then you are probably going to get pieced up by a skilled counter fighter that knows how to work from the outside.
However it takes a solid amount of work and knowledge in order to be a good outfighter and counter puncher. Going forward and being aggressive is easy, even if it can end with you getting punched in the face.
However being a smart counter puncher is hard, especially for newer fighters who might not have the footwork or confidence to properly time counter punches. It takes some knowledge when it comes to how to counter to land them efficiently. Once you start landing counters efficiently, you will build confidence in your counter fighting.
That’s why we’ve brought a top tier outfight/ counter striker in the world of Kickboxing to show you some ways to counter strike.
In this video, Cedric Doumbe goes over a cross counter that he likes to use.
Who Is Cedric Doumbe?
Cedric Doumbe is, at the time of writing, the current Glory Welterweight champion. There is a reason that his nickname is “Le Meilleur” which means “The Best” in English. He’s also on a seven fight win streak with 6 of those seven wins being stoppages that you really should check out when you have the time. He also has victories over some of kickboxing biggest names like, Alim Nabiev, Murthel Groenhart and Nieky Holzken, twice.
Cross Counter And Defensive Combinations
The video starts off with Doumbe talking about how the moves that he is about to show us are his best. These are his best techniques and best combinations when it comes to knocking people out.
The first one he shows us is a cross counter. When both Doumbe and his opponent are in an ordthodox stance, and his opponent throws his jab, Doumbe counters with a very standard cross that slides right over his attack.
This reason this technique is so powerful is that it not only has the power of you throwing your cross but it also has the power of your opponent coming forward throwing the jab. This creates a kind of car crash effect because you and your opponent are kind of running into each other. This makes it so that when you land it's more of a head on collision than a car hitting a parked car.
To set this up you want to drop your hands and stay loose. While this might not feel like the right idea, as you can’t bring up your hands to defend yourself now, dropping your hands is a great way to get your opponent to jab at you. If you really want to set up the counter you can just use your head movement to slip the punch. After doing that a few times your opponent won’t be expecting a counter punch.
The timing in this punch is important. You can’t be slow with this counter or it won’t land.What you need to do is throw this punch as soon as you see your opponent coming in with the jab.
Remember that you will not be able to land the cross with a straight arm, you need to bend it.
Learn More From Cedric Doumbe
If you like this technique breakdown and want to learn more from Cedric “The Best” Doumbe, then you should check out his full instructional video set, “World Class Striking Mastery By Cedric Doumbe” Available exclusively on Dynamic Striking!