Learning how to parry a punch can be of great value because it’s a good way to defend yourself in a fight. The word “parry” comes from fencing. In fencing, to parry an attack means to deflect the attack by using your sword to divert the opponent’s sword in another direction.
In this article I’m going to explain how effective this defense move is in the sport of boxing.
Using The Parry As A Defense Technique
In boxing, parrying is a basic yet effective defensive move that uses your opponent’s momentum against him.
A lot of boxing experts and also fighters say parrying is a superior defensive move to blocking because it offers more protection while creating better counter opportunities using your opponent’s energy.
The more your opponent over-commits his punches, the more effective your parry will be.
One thing to keep in mind is that as you face stronger opponents, blocking becomes a less likely option. Blocking still absorbs partial damage whereas parrying can deflect the attack away entirely.
There are a few ways to parry depending on where your opponent tries to punch you. Mastering these boxing parry techniques will allow you to defend yourself against any skilled assailant throwing punches against you.
Side Parry
The side parry is actually the first parry you are taught when learning boxing. When your opponent throws a punch towards you, parry it to the side.
If done correctly it will deflect the punch of your opponent and allow you to counter punch with a jab to the face or body.
Parrying The Jab and Cross
If your opponent is orthodox he will be jabbing you with his left hand. The best and most efficient way to parry his jab is by using your right hand. If he uses his cross you will defend yourself by parrying it with your left hand.
It’s important to note that if your opponent throws a jab at you, you shouldn’t try to parry it with your left hand. Firstly, you’re using the wrong hand to parry his jab with. Secondly, it leaves you open to a fake and switch.
Meaning the opponent will fake punching you to the chest or shoulder, and have you fall for it, because he knows you’re using the wrong hand to parry, and switch to hitting you in the face.
Or he can use his other free hand to throw another punch at you, because parrying with the wrong hand makes it hard for you to block a follow up punch.
Parry and Counter Punch
When you parry a jab you can counter it with a jab of your own. So if you are in the orthodox stance, you would parry his jab with your right hand, step inward on and angle with your left leg while throwing a jab using your left arm. You want it all to be in one motion.
If you are in the southpaw stance, which is unorthodox, you want to do the motion in the opposite direction. When taking boxing lessons your coach will have you do the exercise on both sides anyway, because when in a match or real fight, you can be facing any opponent with either fighting style.
If your opponent throws a cross you want to parry it and counter it with a cross of your own. Keep in mind there are a few ways to counter a cross off a parry, but countering with a cross is the simplest.
Counter Punching Off The Parry
Loop Parry
The loop parry is a great technique to use to defend yourself against a punch to the body. Whether the punch is jab or cross to the body this defense will work. To execute the technique you simply have to use a looping motion with your hand to push your opponents punch to the side or down and away from your body.
The perfect fighter to watch execute this I none other than Floyd Mayweather. He was a master at using the loop parry to defend against body shots.
To execute this move it’s going to take good timing, but with practice you’ll catch on to it. When your opponent is throwing a punch to your body, use your palm to punch his punch away from your body.
One thing I would advise you to do for extra defense, when doing a loop parry, is move to either your left or right side.
The reason being is that if you loop parry and just stand there, you may be susceptible to follow up punches if your opponent chooses to do so.
For example, some boxers will throw combination punches, so if you loop parry a jab to the body and just stand there instead of moving out the way, you can get hit with a follow up punch from the opponent’s other hand, and then hit again with the initial hand that threw the jab to the body.
Those are combination punches. And combination punches are more effective at hitting an opponent more than a singular jab to the body or head.
So, it’s best to loop parry and get out of the way of any follow up punches, especially if it’s against a bigger opponent than you.
Advanced Parry Techniques for Landing More Punches
When parry punches there are a few things to keep in mind. This list will help you to use the parry to it’s optimal level, protecting you in the most sufficient way.
- As I mentioned early, only parry straight punches. It allows you to quickly deflect the punch and counter. Hooks are bad for parrying especially against a stronger opponent, it would be better to slip or block hook punches.
- Don’t parry with the wrong hand. As I stated before that parrying with the wrong hand will leave you exposed and get you hit every time. Follow the correct method in order to effectively protect yourself.
- Don’t use the parry as a defense against straight punches all the time. If an opponent finds a consistent pattern when boxing you he will expose that. You’ll definitely get hurt in boxing being predictable because it makes it easier for your opponent to trick you. Use parrying, blocking, slips and other forms of defense to keep you opponent guessing.
- Be discrete when parrying. When you parry it’s a subtle movement of push. You’re subtly pushing the punch away from you. If you do a big slap or push you’re leaving yourself open to get hit by your opponent’s free hand.
- When you find an opening after a parry you should use it as an opportunity to counter punch. Keep in mind that you can not win a fight unless you throw punches that land. You can’t win a fight using defense alone, you have to throw punches.
10 Counters for the Right Cross
Down Parry
This parry is as it says, a parry downward. When you opponent tries to punch you, you will use the palm of your hand to parry the punch downward. Again, the parry should be subtle and not a big slap.
When you parry down a punch you will notice that it will send your opponent leaning in because he’s unbalanced. This is the perfect time to counter punch him with a jab, hook or uppercut.
To effectively parry downward it’s best that you use your rare hand and keep your lead hand up guarding your chin. Always remember to use the right technique when parrying or it will leave you open and exposed to getting hit.
Parry Boxing Drills
In conclusion using a parry against a straight punch is very affective. It’s a solid defense technique that allows you to avoid a punch, and also counter in order to inflict damage on your opponent.
When parrying a punch you can do it in many different ways such as a side parry, down parry, a loop parry, and my favorite a parry and counter. Always remember that when you parry it’s good to do so with a counter. You can only win a fight by hitting your opponent, defense alone does nothing for you.
And finally when you parry a punch try not to use it as your next line of defense. Mixed it up a bit so that you don’t become predictable to your opponent.
When your opponent can predict your next move he can trick you into doing that move while he sets you up for another type of punch. In order to be an effective boxer you have to mix up both your defense and offense.
