Lean Back → Cross

What this combo trains

This combo sharpens defensive timing and immediate counter-punching. The lean back shifts your weight to the rear leg and takes your head off the line of a kick or punch, but it only protects you for an instant, so the counter-cross must fire forward at once into the vacated space. It develops the reflex to defend and attack in the same rhythm and teaches you to redirect a backward shift into a forward-driving punch.

Step by step

1. 1.
   Lean Back

   Shift your weight onto the rear leg and lean the head and body just out of range of the incoming strike; take only as much as you need so you can spring back.

2. 2.
   Cross

   Drive the cross straight forward off the rear hand the instant the strike passes, turning the hips over and travelling into the space they left open before their guard resets.

Common mistakes

• Leaning too far back so your weight strands over the rear leg and the cross has nothing to push off.
• Holding the lean too long; it only defends for a moment, so a late cross meets a recovered guard.
• Pushing the cross with the arm instead of driving the whole body forward off the rear leg into the gap.
• Standing straight up out of the lean rather than firing the punch as part of the return.

Who it suits

An intermediate counter for fighters with a feel for range and timing. It works from both orthodox and southpaw because the app mirrors every left and right to your stance.

Why it works

The lean only defends for an instant, so the counter must travel forward immediately into the vacated space.

Workouts with this combo

• Defense & CountersA defensive answer every call: slips, parries, checks, catches, then mixed.Intermediate–advanced
• Championship FiveA stadium fight in shape: feel out, impose, hold output, answer pressure, empty the tank.Advanced
• Slip & CounterHead first, hands second: slips, then parries, then rolling under hooks, then all of it mixed.Intermediate–advanced
• Twelve RoundsThe championship distance: two rounds on each theme, then four of everything.Advanced
• Catch & CounterAnswer the kick: catch it, parry the punch, sell your own fake, and fire back before they reset.Intermediate
• Catch & SweepMake every kick cost them: catch it and sweep the standing leg, catch and punch, check and fire back. The sweep comes up three in a row.Intermediate–advanced

Related combos

• Jab → Cross → Lead Hook → CrossIntermediate
• Cross → Jab → CrossEasy
• Jab → Cross → Lead Hook → Rear Low KickIntermediate
• Cross → Lead Hook → Rear KickIntermediate
• Jab → Cross → Switch KickIntermediate
• Lead Kick → CrossIntermediate
• Jab → Cross → Lead Horizontal ElbowIntermediate
• Cross → Lead KneeIntermediate