Five Basic Kickboxing Combos To Use In Sparring

We all know that learning the proper fancy techniques are the most fun – who doesn’t love learning to throw spinning shit? But, as many times as you hear it, basics are what win fights, so basics should be 90% or more of what you train and use.

So we decided to put together a list of five basic kickboxing combinations that you can put to use in your padwork or sparring sessions (all these combos are written as though you’re an orthodox fighter, but can be easily adapted for southpaws too!)

Jab — Cross — Left Hook — Low Kick

This is arguably the most fundamental kickboxing combo, and for a lot of people it may be the first proper combo that you went over in class. The jab-cross gets your opponents guard high, the left hook keeps them expecting hands, transfers some of their weight onto their front leg and loads up your hips to twist back into a big low kick.

Inside Kick — Cross — Left Hook — Right Body Kick

This combo starts mixing up levels to keep your opponents guessing what’s coming next. The inside kick is to get them thinking low. Once you throw it, drop your weight forward onto the leg as you land to put more power into the cross, and follow up with the left hook quickly (similar to the jab-cross-left hook-low kick combo, this keeps your opponents focus high and sets up a right kick) and then fire off the right body kick to finish off the combo.

Cross — Left Hook — Cross — Left Body Kick

Again, this combo relies on getting your opponent to think that you’re focused on punches, and disguising the body kick. Make the punches fast and heavy, so they tighten up their guard and are expecting more punches, then switch stances and land the left body kick before they can react.

Double Jab — Cross — Left Body Shot — Low Kick

Another combo that mixes up levels, and sets up some heavy shots while doing it. Starting out with the double jab lets you gauge distance and probe for weakness in your opponents guard. Follow up with the cross to exploit any weakness and keep their guard high, but take a small step forward as you throw it. Immediately follow up with a left body shot, exploiting their high guard to land it right on the floating rib. Twisting into the body shot will load your hips up, so swing back around with a low kick to finish off the attack.

Double Jab — Right Hook — Left Kick — Left Kick

This combo again sets your opponent up with some heavy hands, the double jab and right hook flows into the double left kick by loading your hips up and lining up your opponent. Make sure your kick is as fast as possible, to avoid being caught and countered yourself.

Let us know if you like using any of these combos, or if you’ve got any ones that you think we should have included on this list. Also, keep an eye out for more in this series!