Kickboxing and Muay Thai training typically starts with learning the basics strikes like jabs, teeps, and roundhouse kicks. Once you’ve gotten the basic strikes used in Kickboxing down, it’s time to move on to basic combinations. Some of these combinations can be used in your Muay Thai training.
Throwing a single strike and landing flush isn’t as easy as you might think. You’d have a better chance of landing your attacks when you chain them together, making it harder for opponents to predict your next move.
Mastering the basics will serve as the foundation for learning more advanced combinations. This article will explore 25 basic kickboxing combinations that will make you a star in your gym.
25 Basic Combinations All Kickboxers Should Master First
Ready to add some basic combinations to your fighting arsenal? Let’s jump into our list of combinations, starting with the easiest ones:
1) Jab, Cross
The jab cross is one of the bread-and-butter combinations used in kickboxing and jumping. It involves using two of your safest and farthest-reaching weapons, yet it’s more than enough to bring any fight to an end.
Master this combination because it’s effective at all levels of kickboxing. The jab mainly serves as a distraction that tempts your opponent, while the cross should land with lots of power.
2) Jab, Cross, Lead Hook
The cross at the end of the jab-cross combination should snap your opponent’s head back, leaving them wide open for a lead hook, even if they successfully block the cross. Blocking a cross requires your opponent to bring their guard toward the front of their face, leaving the side of their head open for the lead hook. The lead hook covers more distance than your rear hook, so it’s often added to combinations that involve a jab or cross.
3) Jab, Cross, Teep, Roundhouse Kick
Here’s another effective combination you can throw from outside range. It also starts with a jab-cross combination, but you follow it up with a push kick down the middle this time. Ideally, you want to weave the push kick through your opponent’s guard like throwing an uppercut. The kick extends the combination and allows you to maintain range. Finally, you can throw a roundhouse kick to your opponent’s body.
4) Jab, Cross, Uppercut, Low Kick
A low kick is another effective way to finish a jab, cross, uppercut combination. The punches thrown at your opponent’s head make them think high, opening them up for a low kick. You can aim at your opponent’s thigh or calf. Calf kicks have become much more popular in recent years thanks to their effectiveness at the highest levels of combat sports. It only takes one or two calf kicks to considerably diminish an opponent’s ability to move or stay balanced.
5) Jab, Cross, Hook, Uppercut
There are other ways to build a combination off a jab. The jab-cross-hook-uppercut is basic yet effective, particularly against aggressive opponents looking to close the distance on you.
The jab gets your opponent to lift their hands to the front of their face to defend against it, go for a cross to have them block the left side of the face where you can immediately throw a hook to their face. When you are attacking their upper body, it leaves them open for the sneaky uppercut that comes right after.
6) Jab, Cross, Liver Shot
This combination takes advantage of your opponent being primed to raise their guard to defend against the jab-cross. That’s when you bend at your knees and dip low before firing off a hard lead hook at their liver. The dip also puts you out of harm if your opponent tries to counter your first two punches.
The lead hook targets the liver because connecting there can lead to opponents being momentarily paralyzed and unable to continue fighting.
7) Jab, Jab, Cross
This combination starts with two fast jabs accompanied by a stiff cross. Double jabs are an effective way to disrupt your opponent’s rhythm and set them up for crosses. You can set this combination up by throwing a few triple jabs before going for it.
8) Jab, Cross, Lead Hook, Cross
Here’s a hard-hitting combination that can bring a fight to an end in an instance when it lands. Firstly, the jab helps to gauge the distance between you and your opponent. A cross packs a lot of power and gets opponents to bring their hands to the front of their faces to defend against it.
This opens them up for the lead hook, which gets them to move their hands to the side of their head, leaving them open for the final cross.
9) Double Jab, Cross To The Body, Right Knee
This combination will keep your opponent unbalanced and guessing as you pepper them with a jab, target their body with a cross, and finish off the combination with a right knee thrown with your rear leg. Each strike in the combo aims at a different body part to keep opponents confused.
10) Jab, Cross, Lead Hook, Right Kick, Uppercut
This combination sets your opponent up to eat a basic jab-cross combination and a lead hard hook. Your opponent will think that you are aiming for their head, leaving their body open for a powerful roundhouse kick. Utilize the momentum of returning the kick for a knockout uppercut.
11) Cross, Spinning Back Fist
A spinning back fist is another option to consider whenever you throw a jab-cross combination or just a hard cross. A spinning back fist is an excellent way to catch an opponent off-guard, especially if you only use the technique sparingly. It lands with lots of power because of the extra power you can generate by spinning, which often brings a fight to an end when it lands flush.
12) Double Jab, Low Kick
A jab-low kick is an effective way to mix up your target while scoring points. The first jab is mostly a distraction to keep your opponent occupied, the second jab is thrown to knock your opponent’s head back while the low kick is thrown with mean intentions. A few good low kicks are more than enough to restrict your opponent’s mobility.
13) Jab, Roundhouse Kick
Here’s another simple but effective combination you should add to your arsenal. It becomes even more effective when you set your opponent up by throwing a few jab-low kick combinations to get them thinking low while you aim for their head with your rear leg.
14) Jab, Cross, Hook, Knee
This combination can be used to enter clinch positions. It starts with a jab-cross and, afterwards, throw a lead hook, before striking your opponent’s abdomen with your knee. Knee strikes are one of the most powerful strikes kickboxers have, so end some of your combinations with them.
15) Double Jab, Switch Kick
A double jab is an effective way to set up a switch kick to the liver. The first jab is to get the recipient to think high and the second jab targets the opponent’s body while you fire a liver kick at their liver. You can also finish this combination with a roundhouse to the head thrown with your lead leg, but switching stances makes the kick a lot more powerful, increasing your odds of scoring a knockout.
16) Cross, Hook, High Kick
Here’s a hard-hitting combination guaranteed to leave any opponent on the canvas if it lands flush.
Start by throwing a cross and land a hook to the head. Follow up immediately with a high kick with lots of power from your rear leg.
17) Jab, Cross, Elbow
Some kickboxing styles, like Muay Thai, allow elbows, so add this combination to your arsenal if your sport’s ruleset permits elbow strikes. It’s a powerful combination that works great even if you miss the cross.
One way to throw this combination is to fire off your jab-cross, followed by a lead elbow, but you can also throw the elbow with your rear hand. That option often works best when your opponent slips the cross. You can elbow the side of their head as you bring your hand back to your guard.
18) Inside Leg Kick, Lead Hook, Cross
Here’s a simple way to set up a powerful cross thrown at your opponent’s head. The inside leg kick is thrown with your lead leg, aiming at the meaty part of their thigh or calf. You then throw a left hook as you bring your lead leg back and finally, with a hard cross.
19) Jab, Jab, Cross, Low Kick
Here’s a way to mix up your double jab combinations, adding a cross with a low kick. It’s a straightforward combo, yet it’s an effective way to set up a hard, low kick since the jabs and cross prime your opponent to expect a high attack when you go low.
20) Fake Jab, Lead Hook, Low Kick
This combination combines punches with kicks to create holes in your opponent’s defense you can exploit. Start with a fake jab so that your opponent covers up their head, then followed by a quick lead hook. The lead hook might catch your opponent by surprise since they need to bring their guard to the front of their face to block it. The hook should slip around their guard, while the low kick connects before they can figure out what’s happening.
21) Jab, Cross, Lead Uppercut, Knee
This combination works by getting your opponent to bring their hand toward the front of their face to defend against your range weapons before stepping in and throwing a lead uppercut that goes right between their guard and finds their chin. Finish off the combination with a right knee to their body.
22) Jab, Switch Kick To Body, Cross, Lead Hook, Low Kick
This combination mixes up targets well. First, you attack the head with a jab, which gets your opponent to move their hands toward their head, and then you follow up with a switch kick to the body with a cross right down the middle of their head. You then follow up with a lead hook and lastly, with a powerful right low kick to their thigh.
23) Switch Kick, Spinning Back Fist
This combination involves throwing a switch-round kick to your opponent’s body. As you fake another switch kick, you will prepare to enter a spin, and with that spin, deliver the spinning back fist to your opponent.
24) Roundhouse Kick, Teep
Here’s a simple way to combine a powerful roundhouse kick and a teep. Firstly, close the distance with the roundhouse kick, and with the momentum when you return your leg from the kick, execute the push kick to your opponent’s abdomen immediately.
25) Jab, Cross, Lead Hook To Body, High Kick
We’ll close out our list with another powerful combo that can bring a kickboxing match to an abrupt end when it lands. Start with a hard jab-cross, followed by a lead hook to the body since both punches go so well together, and finish with a roundhouse to the head. You can also finish this combo with a question mark kick if you’re comfortable with the technique.
Build Up Your Arsenal Gradually
Don’t try to master all these combinations at once; instead, pick a few to focus on until they become part of your muscle memory, and keep repeating the process until you’ve learned them all. These basic combinations will provide a solid foundation to lean on when you move on to more advanced techniques.
Stay focused, keep practicing, and most importantly, have lots of fun as you train.
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