Long Cross vs Crashing Cross

I spent a lot of time on this blog mentioning the cross mainly because it remains an offnsive manuever that is often oversimplified by instructors and misinterpreted by students. The cross is much more than merely throwing a rear straight punch as there a number of complexities involved that are often glossed over. Hopefully, I can shed some additional light on the punch that can allow people to see th more multi-faceted faces of this tool.

One of the common aspects of th cross is the utilization for the cross is to crash. That is, one throw the cross and comes "in" towards the opponent. Often, this is achieved by leading with the head with the purpose of entering into in-fighting so as to deliver close quarter punching techniques. This is fine in straight boxing, but such tactics can work against you in kickboxing if you wish to use the punches to set up kicks.

If you do wish to use punches to set up kicks, then you may wish to lead with the hip and throw the cross from a more longer range. This allows for the ability to throw kicks without having the problems of kicks being jammed due to being thrown from close quarter range