I learned something new during Wednesday evening’s Funakoshi practice from sempai Jonathan with regards to scoring with a front jab in semi-contact kumite (fighting).
Basically you can’t.
Well technically that isn’t true because a leading (front) jab that makes contact to the face will score but outside of the face area, any hits landed with your front hand as a jab are not considered as being points material – simply because if you think about it, anyone can just stretch out an arm and land a touch, no real skill involved.
The only time a leading jab will score is when you use it as part of a combination, in other words you perhaps throw a cross punch and then follow it up with a jab, but this will only score if your front arm was pulled back across your body during the combination and in other words, before landing the solid hit.
Good to know, because this now changes everything with regards to my own strategies that I need to fully develop before the upcoming semi-contact tournament on the 1st of August later this year.