Learn the body hook: bend the knees, shoulder at target height, elbow at 90°, guard up. With federation sources, fouls (kidney punch, low blow) and safety.
A body hook is a hook to the opponent's torso: you bend your knees until your shoulder is at the height of the target, rotate slightly from foot and hip, swing the arm with an elbow bent at about 90° to the body and return to the stance by the shortest path [1]. The liver shot is the body hook to the opponent's right side, under the rib cage, where the liver lies (anatomy, not a study). The world federation's handbook distinguishes body hooks with the lead hand and with the rear hand [1].
How hard is it really? The movement is easy to understand: the knees go down, the arm swings. But the body hook is a punch in which you make yourself smaller and give up some guard. Realistically you need several weeks of partner and pad work before you throw it with guard and balance (rule of thumb).
How often do you see it in competition? Less than before: after the 2013 rule change in amateur boxing, body punches, rear-hand hooks and uppercuts were thrown less than before, while more footwork and defensive movements were shown [3]. That tells you something about the fashion of the sport, nothing about the effect of the punch. And whoever can throw it has a tool that opponents see less often. The handbook explicitly recommends against boxers who keep throwing the lead straight: stay low, go under the straights, weave and use different punches to the body [1].
Boxing stance. Bend both knees until your shoulder is at the height of the imagined target. The handbook gives exactly this rule: bend the knees until the shoulder is in line with the target [1]. Back straight, hands up. If you round your back you tip forward and offer your chin (practice). Milestone: ten drops, the back stays straight, the guard stays up.
From the lowered position you rotate slightly from foot and hip and swing the arm without extending it. The handbook requires an elbow of about 90°, knuckles at the opponent, eyes over the arm and retraction by the shortest path [1]. The opposite hand stays rigid near the body (for the lead body hook) or at the head (for the rear body hook) [1]. Milestone: ten hooks without winding up, the elbow angle holds, you return upright into the stance.
Your partner holds the pad to the side at torso height. You drop, punch, come back up. The handbook teaches standing first, then with a step forward, then with backward and side steps [1]. Milestone: ten body hooks standing, all hit the target, you stand upright again afterwards.
The liver shot goes to the opponent's right side, at the lower ribs. That is where the liver lies; this is anatomy, not a measurement, and I found no data on the effect of the liver shot in the studies read. In training this means: pad on the opponent's right side, controlled contact. In competition the front half of the body from the belt to the crown is legal [2]; kidney punches and hits to the back are fouls [1]. Milestone: you hit the pad on the opponent's side ten times cleanly without rounding your back.
The Swiss material shows what punches to the body look like: torso and knees bend at the same time as the punch, the fist stays at the punching boxer's head height, the head is protected by the shoulder [2]. Use that as your guide for the sequence: head first, then body, then up again. Milestone: jab, body hook, return to the stance as one clean sequence.
The body hook changes your head position: when you drop, your head goes forward and down, into the reach of the opponent's hooks and uppercuts (practice). That is why guard matters more than usual. The hand also remains a risk point: in a British national squad there were 302 hand injuries per 1000 hours of competition [6]. Train on pads or bag with hand wraps and suitable gloves.
For sparring: controlled body contact, no contact without a coach. In amateur boxers, contusions at about 35% (median) were the most common type of injury in competition [4]. If you practise body contact, you do it with a partner who knows what he is doing, and under supervision. Sparring only with a suitable partner, headguard and 16-ounce gloves [1]. Warning signs like nausea, vomiting or dizziness after a hit require stopping at once and medical help [1].
What I cannot prove: I found nothing in the studies read about the injury effect of a liver shot. That is why there is no instruction here on how hard to hit. That belongs in a coach's hands.
This guide explains and motivates; it does not replace supervised training.
Film yourself while dropping from the side and draw a line from hip to shoulder in the still frame. If it stays about as steep as in the boxing stance, you are bending the knees. If it tips forward, you are bending the back. This is a practice tip without a study behind it that makes the most common mistake visible in two seconds.
A hook to the opponent's right side, under the rib cage, where the liver lies. Technically it is an ordinary body hook: bend the knees, shoulder at target height, elbow about 90° [1]. Where the liver lies is anatomy; the sources read contain no data on the effect of the punch.
Because the handbook says so: bend the knees until the shoulder is at target height [1]. The legs deliver the power [5]. A straight back keeps the chin protected, a rounded one tips you forward and costs you balance (practice).
Yes, as long as it hits the front half of the body above the belt [2]. Low blows, kidney punches and hits to the back are fouls under the federation's rules [1].
After the 2013 rule change in amateur boxing, body punches, rear-hand hooks and uppercuts decreased, while footwork and defence increased [3]. The study does not say why. It is an observation about competition style, not a verdict on the punch.
The movement, yes, in front of a mirror or on a standing bag at torso height. Timing and distance, no – for that you need pads with a partner. Start standing, as the federation teaches [1].
Rear Uppercut in Boxing: Driving the Rear-Hand Uppercut From the Floor