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IntermediatePunches

Liver Shot

Leverstoot · レバーブロー

The liver shot is a hook or uppercut landed under the right side of the ribcage, into the soft tissue below the floating ribs where the liver sits. It is one of very few strikes legal under every ruleset including Kyokushin knockdown, because it does not touch the head, and it is the reason body punching survives in codes that otherwise look nothing alike.

What makes it distinctive is the delay. Most stopping shots take effect immediately; a liver shot produces a lag of a second or more, during which the recipient often looks fine, then folds. The mechanism is autonomic rather than concussive — the impact overwhelms the nerve supply and the diaphragm, and the legs simply stop taking instructions. Fighters describe it as being unable to stand rather than being hurt.

Against an orthodox opponent it is thrown with the lead hand from an orthodox stance, arriving on their right side. The setup is almost always vertical misdirection: hands high or a head feint to lift the elbow, then the shot underneath it. In Kyokushin competition, where head punches are banned and guards therefore stay low, the same target has to be reached by working around a permanently protected torso — which is why knockdown fighters develop such precise angling to the body.

Key points

  • Target under the right side of the ribcage, below the floating ribs
  • Lift the elbow first with a high feint before going underneath it
  • Turn the shot over so the knuckles drive up and in rather than straight across
  • Bend the knees to change level rather than dropping the head into range
  • Expect a delayed reaction — do not assume it missed because nothing happened immediately
  • Legal under every ruleset, including Kyokushin, since it does not touch the head

Common mistakes

  • Dropping the head to change level, which walks the chin into a knee or uppercut
  • Landing on the elbow because the guard was never moved
  • Throwing it flat across the body rather than up and under the ribs
  • Abandoning the attack when there is no instant reaction

Drills

  1. 1Bag work with a marked target under the ribs, changing level with the knees only
  2. 2Pad drill: high feint, level change, liver shot
  3. 3Partner drill at light contact focusing on lifting the guard before committing
  4. 4Body-only sparring rounds, which build both the shot and the tolerance for taking one