Like many Wordpress blogs on the net, my blog was hacked this week. If you use a newsreader I apologize for the pharmaceutical spam ad in the post excerpts.
For the record no viagra is sold here.
Posted August 26th, 2009 by admin
Posted August 25th, 2009 by Nerd of Steel
This is one of the most useful boxing tips I’ve ever received. After you’ve come forward throwing a jab-cross combination at least 3 times, change it up by starting with the cross then jab. It’s so simple, anybody can do this. It doesn’t seem clever or special, but it’s gold I tell you. I got this tip early on in my sparring experience and had had no prior luck leading with a right hand, but it worked like a charm.
Why It Works
See when you slip your opponents jab you move your head to the right. This is because your opponent’s jab comes from his left hand and travels on a slight angle from your rightside to left, making it easier to slip your head to the right as the jab passes by. On the flip side crosses are easier to slip to the left. So slipping a 1-2 means moving your head right then left.
This trick lulls your opponent into a rythm of slipping jab-crosses: right-left, right-left, right-left, then boom! His head goes rightwards into they way of your cross! To make it more convincing you can feint the jab and throw the cross leaning slightly to your right to hide the right hand.
I especially have luck with this when I’m sparring an unfamiliar partner. One time I sparred a pro boxer from a visiting gym who beat me up and completely outclassed me. I had difficulty landing even a single jab against this guy, but after 30 futile jab attempts this trick even worked on him. Hell, it was the only good thing I can say about those 2 rounds.
The trick is not to do it too much. You have to set it up with lots of 1-2’s. I’m telling ya, of all the boxing tips you’ll receive, this one is gold.
Posted August 17th, 2009 by Nerd of Steel
Since my son was born a year and a half ago I’ve been studying film and concentrating on new skills. New punches, new angles, new counter punches, new defensive moves, new ways to move my body. My toolbox is so much bigger. My form so much better. And my power is through the roof.
Skillwise I’m 50X the boxer I was. If only I was in shape. I can’t seem to motivate myself to drop 20 lbs and build up my “boxing endurance.”
Posted August 3rd, 2009 by Nerd of Steel
After taking a break from training I notice bad habits forming in my punch structure. Here are some boxing drills I’ve been doing to tighten things up:
1. Shadow Boxing Without A Mirror - When shadow boxing in front of a mirror your attention is on your reflection. Without the mirror you’re attention is on the view ahead, and the gaps in punch/guard structure suddenly stick out. You’ll see wide punches, hands drop on the punch retraction, etc. Try it out!
2. The Don’t Reach Drill – “Reaching” is when you step forward to punch, but throw too early. See, if you’re standing in range you’ll rapidly fire the punch, but when thowing out-of-range you invariably start off the punch slowly, telegraphing it while your opponent still has options. When you first start sparring this is probably why you can’t land a jab against your more expereinced opponents.
This drill is boring but effective. Stand out of range of the heavy bag. Step forward to punch. Don’t start throwing until you can reach the target, then rapidly fire and retract. Repeat often.
Note: I’m not stating that there is never a reason to extend a punch out of range. Probing your opponent or feinting are valid reasons to break this rule.
3. Shadow Box With Gloves & Head Gear – The first time I tried this in a mirror I noticed that the headgear interfered with my hand placement. The headgear stuck out a little and as a result I held my rear hand 2 inches lower! After doing this drill I definitely got hit less.
