How To Efficiently Block Hook Punches With Thiago Alves

Hook punches can be absolutely devastating if they land on your opponent. The amount of torque and the multiple devastating targets that the hook can land on is part of the reason why  hook punches are responsible for a surprisingly high amount of knockdowns and knockouts. 

I don’t just mean in boxing when I say that, I mean pretty much all combat sports that include punches to the head. In MMA, Boxing, Kickboxing, Muay Thai and others, the hook, both lead and rear, to the head is responsible for a ton of finishes. 

Even if you don’t manage to finish your opponent, it is a great shot to mix up your targets during your combinations to keep your opponent to guessing. It is also a great way to set up other strikes and push your opponent to the side. 

For those reasons and more it’s important to learn about how to throw a hook punch properly with the right technique, timing and power behind it. On the other hand, those are also the reasons why it’s important to learn how to properly defend yourself against hooks. The most simple but probably most important one to know is how to block against hooks and we’ve got just the video for that. 

In this video, former UFC fighter and current Bare Knuckle FC competitor Thiago alves shows us how you like to defend his head against hook punches. Thaigo Alves is a UFC veteran and most recently competed in Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship winning in his recent debut. He also currently works as a coach for other fighters. 

The video is short and sweet and to the point. It starts off with Thiago having his partner stand in front of him. From there, Thiago throws a lead hook to his partner. His partner then blocks by bringing his glove up to his ear. You are going to want to have either the palm of your hand or even the heel of it if possible actually on top of or touching your ear. Doing this will make sure that you are also covering your chin, temple and even the back of your head if you are wearing boxing gloves. 

You also want to have the forearm of the arm that you’re blocking with covering your chin from the side. Doing this ensures that you are protecting any target that your opponent could be aiming for with their hook to the head. 

With your other hand you can also post on your opponent as you are blocking to keep them at a safe distance or even push them back to defend yourself. When you are actually taking the hook, you can also squat slightly with a bend in your knees to help root yourself and take some edge of the impact and make sure that the hook doesn’t move you. Doing this defense works on both sides, no matter what hand is in the lead or in the rear. 

You must also keep in mind that if you list your arm up to high, you’re exposing your body to a potential body shot. This is something that your opponent could pick up on and exploit to land a hard shot. Something else to keep in mind is that with the small MMA gloves, this defense becomes a lot more risky, so you might just want to move out of the way entirely. 

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