Nerdcore Boxing

I’m going to introduce tracking mma rankings in this blog.

As the sport of mma has grown it’s getting hard to keep track. There are so many weight classes and organizations these days to comb through. Personally I’m very biased towards the UFC and Pride, at this time I believe the quality of mma talent in these organizations stands above the rest.  But I’m having to keep my eye on organizations like the IFL more and more.

I’ll try and help track the different analysts and news organization mma rankings. Maybe I’ll even average out the mma rankings here to create a one stop shop.

Since I’m planning on doing a series of boxing tips I wanted to clarify that this blog focuses on tips for fighting experienced boxers. Without this clarification there will be some new boxing students sitting at home saying things like, “I always push the bag and I never have trouble landing power punches against my friends.”

Four Types of Boxers 

In boxing training you’re going to step into the ring with one of 4 types of people:

The Boxer - This guy has learned the sweet science, he’s in shape, he’s fluid, he’s mobile and he’s elusive. This guy knows tricks that will shock you and make you feel clueless. And unfortunately he can hit hard.

The Slugger - This guy may have been around or some time but for some reason hasn’t really learned the sweet science. Maybe he doesn’t care to, maybe he thinks he doesn’t have to listen to his trainer, or maybe he just relies on his natural power too much. See further info in my post Brawlers vs Boxers.

The Amazing Athlete - Boxing requires endurance, speed, power, fluidity, balance and refined footwork. Some rare individuals have athletic backgrounds where these are already highly developed and pick up boxing unusually fast. I hate these guys (sorry, that’s jealousy talking).

The Untrained - This guy may never have thrown a punch before, or he may have come from a martial arts background, or he may have had lots of street fights. But when in the ring, he doesn’t know squat compared to the Boxer.

Of course there are different degrees of Boxers, Sluggers and many levels of cluelessness in the Untrained, but this is a good categorization.

Difference Between the Read Deal and the Rest 

A person with decent boxing skills should be able to land a variety of punches against the Untrained. He may be in constant danger with the Slugger, but he should be able to land punches when he’s not weathering the storm. The Athlete is unpredictable, it depends how gifted he is. The Boxer is a whole other animal. Against the Boxer you might not even be able to land a single clean jab for many rounds when you first spar.

If you want to develop you should spar with the Boxer. That’s where you’ll learn the most and that’s were you’ll learn what you know and what you don’t know. If you can never land a left hook against the Boxer, you can’t properly throw it. If you can land it, then the Untrained, the Slugger and the Athlete will be easy pickings for your left hook.

Don’t be confused, the boxing tips and techniques on this blog are to help you in sparring the Boxer.

This is one of the more important boxing tips regarding the heavy bag. Beginners almost always do this incorrectly.

First, 3 practical points on punching and getting punched:

1. In a good round of boxing you’ll probably only land 30% of your punches. So get used to missing.
2. Even if you land, “answering back” or hitting back, is so ingrained in boxers that you should always expect a punch to come right after yours.
3. Your defenses are strongest when your arms are retracted, your hands up and elbows in, i.e. when you are in your boxing stance.

What does this all mean? It means that after extending a punch you need to retract it as fast as you threw it. When it’s extended, you’re open. Rapidly returning to your stance between each punch is important.

Now when you hit the heavy bag, the punch has landed on initial impact. The initial impact causes the bag to rapidly sink inward and go “whap!” This generally does not cause the bag to swing. What most often causes it to swing is continuing to carry your fist and weight forward, or “pushing the bag” after the impact. This is wrong.

I’m not saying the bag should never ever swing, but if it swings a lot, then you’re pushing it.

While you’re busy “pushing the bag” you should have been rapidly retracting your punch. Getting into this habit makes you slow, leaves you open and teaches you to excessively extend your balance. Keep your punches crisp.

Stay tuned for more boxing tips!

I went to the doctor yesterday and he pointed out a few interesting points. I never thought of this ankle as a weak link in my chain, but when we went over the history of injuries there were quite a lot. I’ve broken this ankle and sprained it 6-7 times over my entire life. That’s enough injuries to build up a good measure of scar tissue.

My doctor approved of what I’ve done so far but said I should have stayed on the anti-inflammatory longer. Apparently it’s possible to still have a swollen ankle 2-3 weeks after the injury (which I still have). So 2 more weeks of rest and another regiment of anti-inflammatories. If it’s not better in 2 weeks I’m getting an MRI.

While I’m on the bench I’ve been coming up with creating ways to continue my boxing development. I’ll post about them later. Stay tuned.

Some of you might have noticed my decreased post frequency. Well I tweaked my ankle a little bit doing some light shadow boxing. This is the 3rd time I’ve hurt it in a month and I’ve decided to take a vacation. Maybe it’s a bit too long of a vacation, but I’ll be back training and posting hard on Monday.

Happy training and enjoy the weekend!

Many people want to get in shape before beginning boxing training. While recuperating from injuries I’ve used the following fitness rules of thumb to ensure I don’t get too out of shape. These are probably good guidelines for those wanting to ease into their first boxing class.

I must say I hesitate to give these rules of thumb to those who haven’t started training. Fear of pushing your body past it’s limits is the biggest barrier to development. Instead learn to embrace how the boxing gym environment pushes you. Continually showing up is the fastest path to boxing skill.

Here are my 4 rules of thumb, some modified for beginners:

1. Cardiovascular Fitness

I do an intense 2 hour boxing class and spar 3-4 rounds afterwards. To do this somewhat comfortably I look to be able to run at least two 8 minute miles. To start a boxing class, being able to do moderate intensity running or biking for 15-20 minutes is sufficient.

2. Jumping Rope

If you can do two 3 minute rounds, you’re where you need to be. You’ll get pushed harder than this, but that’s what trainers are for.

3. Punching

If you’re taking a class as opposed to a traditional gym, you’ll get a rest while holding the mitts for another person. If you can do 4 rounds of bag work, shadow boxing or mitt work at home, you’ll survive. Don’t worry if you don’t know how to punch right, just punch for 4 rounds.

I’m looking at more like 6-8 rounds and being able to do the “300 Drill,” or throwing 300 punches in a 3 minute round.

4. Calisthenics

You should be able to do 3 sets of push-ups and 6-8 sets of ab work.

Good luck, and don’t forget to show up!

One thing I want to do with this blog is profile individuals in combat sports that typify the scholarly warrior. This is a distinctly old school character, often going unnoticed in modern society. I’m talking about the gentlemen dualist, the educated samurai class, the men that once made boxing the sport of gentlemen.

Today’s society often contrasts intellectuals with thugs. Tough men are stereotyped as uneducated thugs, while the highly educated are often cast as weaklings. But as you’ll see from my new blog feature, this distinction doesn’t often hold true.

I want to profile my first Nerdcore Warrior by pointing you to a very interesting fellow by the name of Steve, author of Lawyerboxer.com. Steve has a Law degree, was a former IT manager/analyst and is currently a writer, prolific web publisher, businessman and serious amateur boxer. I can’t think of a better way to cover Steve than sending my readers to this excellent post, Pledging the Fistic Fraternity: A Brief Boxing Story.

Go to a doctor! I might be a big nerd, but I’m not a doctor. This post is based on research I’ve done on the net and is for educational purposes only.

Ok, I got the disclaimer out of the way. I hope you find this information useful. So far it’s been a great help with my sprained ankle.

Sprained Ankle Basics

Ankle sprains are one of the most common sports injuries.

Your ankle is held together by elastic ligaments. Sprains occur when these ligaments stretch past their limits. This might also involve tears to, or in, the ligaments.

The most common sprain is cause by damage to the Talofibula ligament shown in the picture above. A bad sprain may also affect the Calcaneofibula ligament on the bottom.

Types of Sprains

You should have a doctor diagnose your sprain. But in a few words, here are the basic types of sprains.

• Grade I - Slight stretching and some ligament damage. You may not even see any swelling on a Grade I sprain.
• Grade II - Partial tearing of ligaments. May cause some joint “looseness.” A Grade II sprain would involve lots of swelling and difficulty in walking.
• Grade III - Complete tear of the ligament which takes many weeks to heal

The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons has a nice chart laying out details on the different types of sprains.

The First 48 Hours Are Key

Once the swelling and inflammation goes down you’ll probably regain a good bit of mobility, and hopefully loose your limp. In the first 48 hours make sure you RICE your ankle! In case you’ve lived in a cave for the past 10 years, R.I.C.E. stands for Rest, Ice, Compression (wrapping it) and Elevation.

Moving your ankle and regaining your range of motion are also key.

Rehabilitation
If you don’t make your ankle strong again you face re-spraining it. To begin this re-strengthening program you can do range of motion excercises:

Alphabet Writing - Write all of the letters of the alphabet with your foot.

Achilles Stretches - A familiar stretch for boxers, I need not elaborate.

Most of the strengthening exercises are also common to boxing. Toe raises or jump rope, cutting drills, running in a figure 8, etc.

Balance is heavily dependent on ankle strength and sprains can leave a lasting affect to your balance. Proprioception is the body providing feedback to the brain. Ankle proprioception can be damaged following a sprain, leading to problems controlling ankle movements. Range of motion and balancing drills such as standing on one foot can re-develop these.

For more information on ankle rehabilitation, checkout articles on About.com and the Orthopedic Association of Portland.

Prevention

Besides strengthening your ankle you want to avoid reinjuring it as the ligaments continue to heal. Go buy some tape and wrap your ankle before working out.

If you’ve never wrapped an ankle before, I found an excellent video on the eHow.com.

Good luck and happy rehabbing!

I bet before the yuppie boxing and girl boxing days, a very high percentage of boxing students sparred. I bet it used to be common for trainers to pressure people to spar. Today lots of students don’t spar and I rarely see trainers put any pressure on beginners to spar.

In my opinion everyone should spar and at least to get a taste of real boxing. You won’t appreciate what boxing is really about until you spar. There’s a lot more than making a punch look good in the mirror. There’s defense, knowing when you’re safe, where to put your head. There’s what punch to throw, when, at what angle, and against which kind of fighter. Hell, 80% of boxing can probably only be learned inside the ring.

You can have a lot of fun “cardio boxing,” get in great shape and add a little adventure to life just by stepping into a boxing gym. But no matter how much effort you spend on your skills you won’t know if you’re doing it right until you can do it against a quality opponent.

During sparring I twisted my ankle twice over the last 3 weeks. Much to my frustration, this second sprain is healing slower. Instead of moping about my injury I’ve been doing some research on ankle injuries which I’ll post this week.

I’ve spent my time working on tucking my chin and covering with my shoulder on my straight right and developing my overhand right. I’ve also been watching film of great boxers that attacking their opponent then exit at angles where it’s safer (this generally requires your opponent to pivot before following).

Even when injured you can always ask yourself, what drills can I do? What new skill can I spend this extra time on? Even if you’re in a full-body cast you can always watch film…