A Southpaw’s Slick Defence – The Outside Parry!

About the Lead Hand Outside Parry

For all you southpaws out there, this is a slick little defence that will add a deadly variety to your work when commanding the ring against an orthodox.  You can open up a world of counter punching opportunity by prising open the defence and ‘unleashing hell’ in the form of deadly power shot attacks.

If you want to get really flash, you can parry and strike with the same hand…this is for the ‘pugilistic professors’ out there, Floyd Mayweather eat your heart out!  The reason that I’m emphasising the benefits of this defence is that quite simply you can force an orthodox jab off to your left and what you are left with is an incredible field of opportunity right through the centre of a gaping defence.

Now, before all of you orthodox fighters start to feel neglected, don’t.  This defence will not only assist in overcoming those ‘right hand crazy’ orthodox opponents that you may sometimes meet, but if you want to truly understand how to box against a top performing southpaw, you’ll absolutely need to have the full complement of lead hand defences including the lead hand block and the lead hand inside parry.

Why is this?

Because a good southpaw will constantly launch attacks down your left hand channel (often in the form of multiple southpaw jabs), so if you have no idea how to defend effectively and provide yourself the platform to launch damaging counter attacks, then you might as well forget victory!  Additionally, you can bet your last penny that a southpaw will have these defences off to a tee.

Enjoy the video, then check out the mechanics and common faults.  By the way, I’m going to describe this boxing technique from the viewpoint of a southpaw in my written description, even though I demonstrate (mostly) from the orthodox position in the video.

The Mechanics of the Lead Hand Outside Parry

Let’s look at how we execute this boxing technique:

1. From the boxing stance, initiate the defence by ‘thrusting’ from the front foot.  This thrust provides the energy to rotate the upper body in an anti-clockwise direction (or clockwise if you are an orthodox.)  This rotation will leave your upper body aligned to the opponent.
2. Toward the end of the rotation, the lead hand ‘loops’ over the top of the incoming punch so that your palm is on the inside of the wrist of the opponent’s arm.
3. As the body returns to the original starting position of the stance, ‘prise’ the shot off it’s original trajectory, deflecting the shot to your right (or left if you are an orthodox.)

Common Faults of the Lead Hand Outside Parry

1. Exaggeration.  Do not exaggerate the actions of this boxing technique.  The point is to defend yourself against an opponent’s shot, not to leave yourself wide open to incoming leather.  Be economical and be direct.  Don’t reach beyond your defensive zone (as described in the video.)
2. Use a firm arm because if it’s weak then the opponent’s punch will drive on home anyway!
3. Always use a counter punch and punish that sucker for daring to try hit you!  If you don’t, then it’s an opportunity lost and winners don’t miss opportunities!  A good counter punch to use?  Try the back hand (straight right/straight left) as the leverage is built up perfectly during the execution of the defence.

And there it is, a simple defence that is pure gold if you want to know how to box against an opponent with an opposing stance.  Leave any comments or questions below.

Cheers

Fran

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