Today, we’re going to learn the right hand. This is the first knockout punch we’re going to learn. We’re going to learn three different right hands and the first one is the standard right hand.
Positioning
Since I’m taking it from a right handed point of view, I’ve got my left lead up front. For sake of this lesson, I’m a left lead Orthodox fighter.
Principle One: Step and Slam
First, what I want you to do is to push off the back leg, step and then twist. You step with your legs, slam your body – slam your hip and shoulder.

Principle Two: Torso Twist And Punch
The secondary power pointer or a principle of a hard punch is the torso twist. You’ve got the leg pushed off and the torso twist and then the punch comes. My shoulder comes up. My chin is tucked into my shoulder. When I punch my left hand stays up, chin is tucked in the shoulder just like the following screenshot:

Principle Three: The Drag Step
When you push off, this obviously gets all your your weight going – your body mass gets going. It’s gonna twist and when you twist it’s going to drag that rear foot kind of up behind all of this. We call that a drag step in boxing. It’s a step and drag and twist – dragging rear leg behind me a little bit. That is the drag step that we use for the right hand.

Principle Four: Exhale To Control Breathing
When you punch you should exhale. You need to control your breathing. You should exhale every time you punch. But you should also keep your mouth closed when you fight. Because, with an open mouth your jaw can be easily broken. You need to keep your teeth clinched. But you have to exhale. Your mouth has to be closed yet you should exhale to control the breathing.
It’s the classic right hand. It’s very common. Power-punch is a very common knockout punch. You should definitely practice this one a lot. It will be very useful to you and your knockout punching.
Summary: How To Throw The Straight Right In Self-Defense
To summarize, follow these steps if you’re willing to learn how to throw the straight right in self-defense:
- Step Into It With Lead Leg
- Drag Your Rear Foot
- Twist Hips And Punch
- Exhale To Control Breathing