what's the point to shadow box if you hit the punching bag

[sharpie]

well im just wondering why in the world do people shadow box i personally have never shadowed boxed in front of a mirror or anything like that. but i do hit the punching bag though. and i seem to have pretty good skill without out it. any ways why in the world would you want to shadow box in the first place is it just to look at your self in the mirrow to see what you look like or something like that.

[danfaggella]

you have to learn how to fient and draw properly, you have to look at yourself in action and make your feint jab look like a real jab, and how to make it look like your opening up your left ribs, or part of the face, you have to refine your stance and form. some shadow boxing is fine away from the mirror, it builds your creativity and allows you to use more footwork than a bag, imagining combinations and counters and really working on your speed as well. I don't shadow box a lot, but it is a good idea when you have no equipment and such.

[Kotaro]

It allows you to work on footwork and punching technique simulaneously, and examine your technique like you said. You can also go alot more rounds shadowboxing than on a heavy bag. Doing heavy bag intensely for more than 5 rounds or so probably isn't good for your hands in my estimation. Another reason is it allows you to be used to not hitting something when you punch/kick, so that when you miss the guy in a match you maintain balance properly.

[gong fu]

shadow boxing is very important, not just for the reasons the other guys stated. but for many more aswell as them, it builds up your shoulder and arm muscle aswell, keeping your arms up for long periods of time. it burns off excess fa around the flabby areas, its good mental training aswell, seeing howlng you can repeatedly punch for, its also good for technique correction, footwork is another big factor like the other guy mentioned, shadow boxing has its benefits lots of them, i reccomment for any fighting style you practise that you do some form of shadow fighting/boxing/kata etc striking without hitting anything atal, aswell as bag work conditioning sparring etc.

[Hardball]

To work on mechanics and form. The mirror helps you correct bad mechanics.