How to Take a Punch

Do you know how to take a punch? Whether you’re training in the martial arts for sport or self-defense, learning how to take a punch is a crucial skill. It may be even more important that learning how to punch!

The basics of taking a punch are pretty simple—

• Keep your mouth shut
• Tuck your chin
• Stay loose
• Roll with the punch

Simple enough. But what do you do when you can’t roll with a punch? What do you do when you take the shot? When you get rocked?

In this video, I’ve got two training tips that will not only help you take a punch, but get back in the fight. Check it out!

If the video doesn’t play, a summary is below.

How to Take a Punch

DISCLAIMER:
I am not a medical professional. I’m just a guy who’s been clocked a lot. So, take my advice and practice at your own risk.

Tip #1: When you get hit, focus before you quit.

This is probably the best piece of advice I’ve ever gotten in martial arts. Let’s say you take a kick in the face—

“Ow! Stop! Stop!”

Or maybe someone jams their fingers right in your eye—

“Aghh! Wait! Hold it!”

See the problem?

Life will not stop for you. Time will not stop for you. A bad guy will not stop for you.

When you get rocked, you must do something to get your focus back. Take a breath. Take a step. Throw a punch. It doesn’t matter what you do, but when you take a hit—

Train yourself to move through the moment, instead of trying to stop it.

Once you get your focus back, then you can stop. Here’s an example…

I got kneed in the head the other night. My partner stopped immediately. “Sorry!”

I said, “It’s okay. Keep going.”

Now, I’m not a tough guy. I didn’t go for another 10 minutes! I just went long enough to shake off the cobwebs and get back into a strong position. So, to be clear—

I’m not telling you to ignore your pain and panic, I’m telling you to control it.

The next time you get poked in the eye, break a finger, tear your knee, take an elbow to the face, don’t freak out. Take a breath, protect yourself, and focus.

It may sound crazy, but when you get rocked, or even injured, the shock and pain you experience is the closest you’re going to get to the feeling of a real fight.

That means getting rocked is the most valuable moment of your training time. Don’t waste it.

When you get rocked, you get a glimpse of the real you. Do you lose your mind or do you keep your cool? Are you a quitter or a fighter?

If you take a shot in training and freak out, you’re building a habit that could get you killed in a real fight. So, I’ll say it one more time—when you take a hit, focus before you quit.

Tip #2: Give yourself a trigger word.

You know how security dogs are trained to attack when they hear a secret code word? One second they’re licking themselves, but then you yell, “SAUERKRAUT!” and suddenly they turn into a killing machine?

You can do the same thing!

When you get rocked, it’s easy to get lost in a fog of pain and panic. To survive, you’ve got to clear the clouds as fast as possible. Repeating a trigger word is one way that works for me.

When I get rocked, I shout my trigger word in my head over and over. I used to say, GO GO GO. Then I tried, FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT.

You can say SHAZAM, or EENAHCHOOK, or DIE MOTHERF*%#@ DIE!

It doesn’t matter. Just pick a word that fires you up. Make it your mantra. Your battle cry.

Seriously, pick a word. When you get rocked, the voices in your head will turn on you. Maybe you started the fight with confidence and bravado, but one kick to the head and you’ll hear them shouting, “Ow! Run! Hide! Help! Mommy!”

Don’t let that happen to you! Remember—

You can’t control the fight if you can’t control your mind.

So, give your mind something to focus on. One word is all you need to get back in the fight.

Of course, there’s a life lesson here…

We all take hits every day. Your girlfriend is cheating on you. BAM. Your business partner is stealing from you. POW.

Traffic jam. Lost your job. A friend dies. You slam your fingers in the car door. They ran out of whipped cream at Starbucks.

BAM. BAM. POW. POW. BAM.

All day every day, you’re taking hits, big and small. Each hit you take is a chance to strengthen your fighting spirit.

Don’t let anything or anyone take your balance.

Don’t let anything or anyone take your breath.

Don’t let anything or anyone make you tense up, curl up, or give up.

No matter what happens out there, when you take a hit, face it, take a breath, assess the situation, make a decision, take action, and follow through. No joke—

The most important habit you can build is to control your mind when you take a hit.

Train yourself to keep breathing, keep thinking, and keep moving.

That’s not just the secret to winning a fight, it’s the secret to winning at life.

For more on How to Take a Punch, check out Sucker Punched By Life.