Interested in Starting

[Guest]

Has anyone mentioned getting a coach?

[Turing]

Progress

I got a medicine ball and I bought a nice jumprope a while ago.......I just gotta find it. Then I'll save up for a bag and gloves. Unfortunately junior prom is in like 2 weeks and thats a big money black hole. But if you want to keep your girlfriend of over a year I guess thats what you gotta do ::shrug:: Yesterday when I was at sports authority I was trying to decide what to get. I was gonna get a jump rope, hand wraps, and a bag gloves or I was gonna get a medicine ball. And I was well aware that the gloves and hand wraps were useless without a bag, but the idea of me having em was just so cool! Oh well, I ended up leaving with a nice 6 lb. medicine ball, and an excited neighbor ready to drop it on my stomach

[Tom Yum]

Its good to have a gym in your area. It will come in handy if you want to fight for real.

Basic pointers:

1. Good stance - If you're right handed, left side forward, but not sideways, maybe 45 degrees. If you're left handed do the opposite. Your rear leg should be on the ball of the foot. Front leg should be slightly on the ball. Feet a tiny bit more than shoulder width apart. Legs should be slightly bent=> being on the balls of your feet with bent legs lets you move smoothly and is optimal for springing into your punch. Your punching power comes from the push off of your feet, rotating snap at the waist and explosive snap from your shoulders and arms - to perfect this takes time and a coach can minimize the time.

Arms should be at your sides, now bend them so that your elbows cover your ribs and your hands (gloves) cover your cheek/jaw line => this is optimal for protecting shots to your body with elbows and shots to your face with the gloves. Never drop your hands!

Chin should be tucked. You should be able to hold a wound up pair of socks between your chin and chest. You look up and out as if you are looking through the eyebrows => your chin is an easy ko target, thus it is tucked to make it harder to hit -BTW many karate guys do not tuck their chin and wonder why boxers knock them out.

The most important thing about stance is to be relaxed. Not like a wet noodle, but poised like a spring. Their should be very little tension in your muscles while in the stance.

[Tom Yum]

Punching Basics (does anyone have further suggestions?)

Contact is allways made from the first two knuckles.

Jab- Push off from your stance with your back leg slide out a little with your front leg, explode from your hip and snap from your shoulder as you deliver the jab with your front hand. Keep your other hand up to guard against his counter. Retract the punch back to your guard stance quickly but lightly-it should not jerk. Its yin and yang. The punch is explosive and powerful, the retraction is quick and light.

The purpose of the jab is to stun your opponent while inflicting a little damage. If hit by a hard jab on the head, it will 'shake up' your vision; on the nose you will smell blood and your eyes will water; on the chin, it will make your jaw a little tender.

Cross - Push off and slightly downward with your back leg (imagine the bent knee of your rear leg comes down as you deliver) as if you are sitting into the punch, explode from the hips and snap through with your shoulder as you deliver the cross. Retraction is the same as jab. Keep the non-punching hand up to cover.

The purpose of the cross is to KO your opponent. The punch is a little slower than the jab because it has to travel longer distance to reach the opponent, but it should have your weight behind it. When hit on the head by a hard cross (if you are still standing) you will loose vision for a split second and see all kinds of pretty flashes that look like a kaliedoscope (lol) Keep those hands up! If your legs feel loose like they are about to drop like a sack of potatoes, fight it!

Lead Hook - From the guard stance, rotate your front side outside and away from your opponent, rotate your front arm up so that the forearm is parallel to the ground and then explode toward him with the hook still parallel to the ground. This punch comes from rotating the body and should not feel or resemble a straight punch.

The hook is a power punch, with KO potential. If it lands on the body, you will feel your body move away from your ribcage (which can be shocking for the first time) and you will instinctively want to fold over. If it lands on your chin you will see the split second kaleidoscope and your jaw will be sore.

[Tom Yum]

That's the basic stance and punches;you still need footwork, defense,reflexes and conditioning.

Remember snap punches out, draw them in immediately in a quick,light manner. Contact is allways with the first two largest knuckles. Make sure your wrist is alligned properly (there is no wrist in punching!). Technique and power start from the ground up - thrust off from the ground, explode from the hips - imagine their are two sticks on your hips that extend out like your arms-the explosive rotation of those sticks should be thru the target

Keep your hands up, chin tucked and remain loose but poised (no tension or flexing) and you are set for some workouts. Make up punching combinations and fire them rapidly in the air. Throw 1000 punches focusing on strict form; then hit the bag.

Last, but not least - get a coach
You are allways learning as a boxer

[Turing]

Tom Yum

Awesome information Tom Yum! Thanx a bundle! I downloaded a Mike Tyson video. Its pretty impressive. It wasn't a whole match. It was called Mike Tyson's greatest hits. He talked about his teacher that adopted him as his guardian and stuff. It showed quite a few clips of him fighting. The one thing I noticed about him that impressed me the most, and I think/wonder if it is what contributes a lot to why he is so good, was his ability to "duck" under hooks. Anyone else notice that in him? Is that one of his "signatures", like how Larry Bird was a good three-point shooter and Tony Gwyn always has a really good consistent batting average. He seemes to stay lower, like hunched over a little, which is probably why he can do that so easily. Anyhow thats some updating. Now that I know the basics for fighting and fight training, what are some good excersises for conditioning for fights? One moer question is I hear a lot about pulling your arm back quickly from punches, and it makes sense for defense, but where is the balance between following through, and getting back for defense? Like I can't imagine just making contact and pulling away right away would hurt is much as sort of following through. Just like EVERY other sport I've ever done. But I do see why I have to bring it back. But am I missing something or........or is it by the time I think to pull it back/can, then its already followed through since its a hard target and will stop the punch quickly?

[ryanhall]

You should try to let your punch sink three inches into your target, then pull it back. Make sure that you are hitting, not pushing. The push punch is a common mistake made by beginners, so there is a focus on correcting it. Also, leaving your arm out there for too long opens up your defense and leaves you vulnerable to counters. When you throw a linear shot, your line of initiation is your line of retraction.

[Tom Yum]

Never lean while punching! Your head should stay above your feet. The power comes from your base (thrusting into the target from your feet and snapping your hips and shoulders into your target. Strike through the target and retract quickly. Like ryan said, never leave your hand out.

Tyson is 5'11" and somewhere between 220 and 235? In his weight class, he normally fights guys who are 6'2" or taller. So in order to land shots, he has to avoid the other guy's reach advantage.

The move you are talking about is called bob and weave....get a coach

[Turing]

Coach

I am planning on it. I'm not doing any fighting now, or even hitting the bag. I'm merely conditioning and learning. What kinda money does a coach cost? Do I need to pay money to be a member of the gym, or just for like a coach. Cause unfortunately I don't have a job and my mom isn't keen on the idea of paying for any non-necessities and is really hassling me to get a job. On the plus side I'm making some pretty decent change doing yard work for my neighbor, so if its not too expensive I could prolly pull the money together myself. What do you guys do for abs?

[Guest]

Get a job.

Then get a coach.

[retired]

Turing

The reason you snap out your punches & bring them back quickly is to get your guard back up, remember you dont just stand there taking it in turns to throw punches at each other, while your throwing punches you also have punches coming back at you.

e.g: When your throwing that big left hook to the body the right hand is already up to protect your right side.

P.S start hitting the bag now even if you ain't got a coach.

Bri, i love that Registered date they gave you: Dec 1969 after deleting you, bet your well chuffed with that (you must have grovelled like hell Englander).

Bri-thai the oldest defendnet in the west LOL (c u around)