Keep your elbows in and your hands up, with your left under your cheek and your right under your chin. Keep your chin down at all times. If you’re a right-handed fighter, the proper stance is to have your left foot in front of you, pointing away from your opponent at a 45° angle. Your left heel should line up with your right toe. If you’re left-handed, reverse the stance and lead with your right foot.
Keep your spine straight when you’re moving around in the ring. Keep your upper body relaxed so it won’t restrict your legs’ movement. Also, never cross-step (put one foot in front of the other when you step forward). This can put you in an unbalanced, indefensible position.
Bring the tape back down under the pad of your thumb and make “X” shapes in the gaps between your fingers. Do this starting with your pinky and ring fingers. Pull the tape through each gap, then twist it across the bottom of your hand along the upper pads. Cross the tape over the back of your hand from right to left and then go underneath. Repeat the process for the other gaps. When you’ve completed that, wrap around your thumb once and then around the back of your hand. Wrap your thumb again and then pull the tape across your palm. From here, wrap your knuckles 3 times and end by wrapping your wrist once. Wrap is really useful for keeping the position of your hand in place whilst your hand is in a boxing glove as well as absorbing moisture such as sweat.
Before punching, keep your hands close to your face and your elbows tight against your body. Put your weight into the punches you throw, and follow through with each punch. This will help you land punches effectively and accurately on your opponent’s head or torso.
To maximize the effectiveness of the jab, professional boxers twist their arm and wrist just before making contact with their opponent.
Use the cross on its own to counter a jab, or put the jab and cross together for a 1-2 combo. The shoulder helps power the cross punch. Also pay attention to your feet when throwing a cross. As you throw the punch, move your body weight from your rear foot up to your front foot.
The hook’s sweeping delivery is its chief drawback, as it can leave you susceptible to a counterpunch. So, if you and your opponent are exchanging swift jabs back and forth, this isn’t the time to wind up for a hook.
Don’t try to throw an uppercut form more than 1 foot (0. 30 m) away, or you may miss and leave yourself open to a counter-attack to your body.
Another effective combo adds a hook to the 1-2 combo. If you’re right-handed, this would be a left jab followed by a right cross and ending with a left hook.
Develop an effective boxing defense by mixing together various methods of deflecting, blocking, and dodging your opponent’s punches.
You’ll need to move fast to parry quick punches like jabs and crosses.
Slipping a punch works best if your opponent throws a punch from at least 2 feet (0. 61 m) away.
Be aware that blocking punches will gradually tire out your hands, and may reduce the effectiveness of your punches.
While the bob and the weave are technically separate defensive moves, they’re commonly paired together. After weaving, strike out at your opponent with a jab. To get better at bobbing and weaving, do exercises that will improve your balance and your leg strength, like jump squats, sprinting, and skipping rope. [15] X Expert Source David EngelMuay Thai Instructor & Self Defense Trainer Expert Interview. 5 May 2020.
So, if your opponent swings at you with a right jab, swing your upper body to the left. While the jab will still strike you, its force will be much weaker than if you hadn’t rolled away from the blow. Rolling provides little protection against side-body blows but is an effective defense against a barrage of punches, as your gloves and forearms absorb most of the impact.
Most physical-conditioning programs for boxers can be broken down into 3 categories: cardiovascular, core exercises, and weight training.
For example, boxers will vary the pace of their endurance-building runs to include brief, all-out sprints. This simulates the physical demands and chaos of fighting. [19] X Expert Source David EngelMuay Thai Instructor & Self Defense Trainer Expert Interview. 5 May 2020. Long-distance running will help you build endurance, and it will also help you recover more quickly between rounds in a boxing match. [20] X Expert Source David EngelMuay Thai Instructor & Self Defense Trainer Expert Interview. 5 May 2020. Fatigued fighters tend to drop their hands and leave their heads exposed. They also can’t produce the energy to effectively counterpunch in late rounds of a bout.
Upper-chest exercises include the flat bench press and dumbbell flies. Target your shoulder muscles with dumbbell military presses and lateral raises. Biceps curls and triceps kickbacks help build upper arm strength needed to increase punching power.
By performing exercises that involve many muscle groups, a prizefighter can build a powerful core that forces all parts of the body to work cohesively.
