4 SECRETS TO BETTER PUNCHING

Many people are under the misconception that if they can fling their arm at something they know how to throw a punch.  Often in fitness gyms I see a personal trainer holding pads for someone that honestly doesn’t follow any of these 4 criteria.  That is why I call these 4 Principles “Secrets ’’ because to those trainers and their clients they are.  Knowing these principles will not only ensure you hit harder and get a better workout, but also will ensure you don’t get injured.

1. KNUCKLES

This may at first seem like an obvious point, but throw my years of working with clients I can say it is something many people struggle with.  On straight punches it is important to make sure everything from the shoulder to the elbow is lined up when the punch connects with the target.  It is easy for some people to “paw”  their punch and hit with the fingers.  This results in a loss of power, a likelihood of wrist issues and you looking like a little kitten trying to paw at a string.  Obviously this is not the desired effect for the trainer or the client!  Hooks and uppercuts are especially challenging punches for some clients and fighters because depending on the length of the punch you have to do a slight wrist bend inward to ensure the knuckles connect and it’s not a slap.  One more thing just to hit the point home,  in the sport of Boxing it is illegal to hit with anything else except the knuckles.  So whether you train Boxing or actually fight, follow the rules and hit with your knuckles.  

2.  SQUEEZE

For some this is the ultimate reason why they develop wrist and hand issues…. They don’t squeeze at the end of their punch.  I tell my fighters and my clients that every time you hit it’s with hundreds of pounds of force.  I don’t care who you are, if you throw correctly, that is the force you can generate. Now imagine that amount of force on a lightly closed fist!  Another point I use to drive this home is if I were to ask you to plank on your first your body would naturally squeeze the fist tight because the body intuitively knows you’re putting a lot of weight on it.  If you went limp with the fist you would buckle the wrist, compress the hand and fall down.   I can feel this mistake as a coach when holding focus mitts for a client or fighter and I can see it on a bag, as well.  You can actually see the wrist wobble under the force of impact when someone isn’t squeezing.  Like I tell my clients and my fighters, “  If you don’t squeeze you will hurt yourself and you won’t hurt anybody”.

3.  STEP OR PIVOT

Many are often confused with what is a scoring punch in boxing.  In Pros it’s a cleanly landed punch that is effective.  In Amateurs it is a punch that hits a scoring part of the body, that has the weight of the body or the snap of the shoulder behind it.  As I coach it, you step on the jab and pivot on all your other punches.  This is not a solid rule, you can throw a punch that has some pop on it without a pivot or a step, but as a general rule for beginners and novice boxers it is of great importance.  The step with jab is important to not only produce power, but to bring you towards, away from or around your opponent. The coach for Heavyweight Champ Larry Holmes said the secret to Holmes’ jab, that literally knocked people down, was the step. Just like any sport that involves powerful twisting motions, the pivot is important to maximize power because it releases your hip to turn.  This turn allows for the heaviest parts of your body to rotate with a punch and therefore can massively increase your power.  If you want to hit with your full power you need that step and that pivot!  

 

4.  BREATH

This is what I call a two cent piece of advice that almost anyone could tell you, but if I had a dollar for every time someone threw a punch and held their breath I would have a few extra thousand dollars laying around.   People tend not to breath or exhale on their punches because they are too tight. This tension is caused by them trying too hard to push the punch instead of just throwing it.   The key to becoming faster and hitting harder is to be relax and breath.  The fastest Boxers in the history of the sport relaxed and breathed on their punches. Also, if you don’t breath you are going to get prematurely exhausted and hurt your ability to push your body to it’s true output capacity.  Make sure the breath with each punch itself is relaxed.  Often times Clients and Fighters will do a strenuous “shhh” sound that overly contracts the core and takes too much energy.  Focus on a light breath that is either just an exhale or a grunt.  This way you can ensure quality punches that don’t tire you out.

THE FINAL BELL

When you apply these 4 principles to your punches you will dramatically increase the quality of your boxing workout and or your performance in the ring.  Repetition is the mother of skill so practice, practice practice and unleash your potential!   

WHY YOUR BOXING WORKOUT SUCKS

This is an absolute must read if you want to get the most out of  Boxing as a workout or as a fighter.

YOU DON'T THINK TECHNIQUE

Progress equals happiness.  If you aren't getting better, even if just by a tiny bit, you're not getting the most out of your life and your Boxing workout.  The cause of this lack of progress is often times people don't think while they work.  I have seen it before with fighters and with fitness enthusiasts, they don't focus on their present work and therefore do not improve.  They zone out on a bag and just repeat bad form after bad form, cementing their bad technique deeper and deeper into their body to the point where if they actual tried to change it would be harder for them than a person who has never thrown a punch in their life.

 Part of the huge thrill of Boxing for fitness and for sport are the huge array of techniques and combination sequences that can be employed.  This is what makes Boxing such a fun workout because it can always be challenging and exciting.  So no matter what you do in your workout, give it a purpose and enjoy the process of progress.  Treat a bag like an opponent, visualize punches coming at you and respond accordingly or initiate your attacks in different ways to keep your imaginary opponent on their toes.  Control the bag with your punches don't let the bag control you.  Like I tell my fighters, "If you can't control that bag how can you expect to control an opponent?".  Think when you shadowbox, viewing yourself in the mirror watching for technical efficiencies and technical flaws.  Think when you do mitt work, think, think, think!  No matter if you are an aggressive fighter, a puncher, a brawler, a counter puncher, a mover... you still have to think if you want to be good.  If you want to train, get in great shape and want to look like a boxer when you throw punches you have to think when you train.

IT NEVER CHANGES

Boxing is a sport where you do either 2 minutes or 3 minutes of work with a 1 minute break in between rounds.  Even though the time limits are only these 2 options for a varying number of rounds in actual competition, world class boxers and even just decent boxers change their time intervals when they train.  Floyd Mayweather has been know to spar 5, 10 and even 20 minutes straight even though he never competes for more than 3 minutes a round.  If your boxing workout is always 3 minute rounds followed by a 1 minute rest you need to make some changes.  Yes, as a fighter starting out you need to get use to those intervals, but it is essential for long term conditioning and success to cut breaks down and increase times.  It is a physiological fact that when the body is presented with the same time intervals month after month gains in conditioning tend to slow down.  The perfect antidote is change!  Even doing short burst like 15 seconds on, 15 seconds off or a Tabata interval of 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off will shock your system and make your body use it's full potential.  For a person just looking to get in shape or a person looking to become a Champion this type of change in a workout is required.

Now obviously, there are not only time intervals than can be changed to supercharge your workout. There are so many alterations or additions it's almost infinite.  You can change the weight of gloves you use, change the weight of dumbbells, change the reps or sets of your strength and conditioning work, wear a weight vest or ankle weights, add new exercise, the list goes on and on. This this type of change does two great things:

1. It forces your body to adapt and get stronger.
2.  Assists in preventing over use injuries and burn out.

If you want to unleash your full potential I strongly recommend taking all  of these options into consideration.

YOU NEVER GET BETTER

I have seen so many individuals repeat the same mistakes over and over again to the point where they can tell you themselves what they are doing wrong.  Like so many things in life knowing what's wrong and even what needs to be done is not enough, one must actual do something about it and follow through.  This change requires you the trainee to take charge.  That is the beautiful thing about Boxing, if you want to be better you are the one that has to do the work.   Many clients who are doing Boxing for a fitness workout unfortunately do not look like they have any idea what they are doing.  Often times they are being lead by someone who took a 2 day boxing course and began instructing based off of that alone.  It is the blind leading the blind and it ends up making clients feel self conscious about themselves because deep down they know they look and feel like they don't know what they are doing.  Instead of the the self empowering feeling you should get from being able to buckle a bag and move with grace and poise they are unconfident and disempowered.  Not only from bad instructing do clients get these negative feeling, but it also sets them up for injury.  One Personal Boxing Client I had years ago tried one session with as unqualified Boxing instructor and broke their hand in their very first workout!  I cannot stress enough how important it is to get proper instruction to not only get great results and feel good, but not get injured.

It would seam the answer to bad instructors or Coaches would be to simply get an instructor or Coach that has fought and competed and therefore has done more than a weekend workshop.  Sadly this is not a sure fire solution either.  Some of the best fighters I've known and met our not the best Coaches. It is a different set of skills to be able to become a Champion than it is to make someone a Champion. I have seen Coaches that are poor boxers, but amazing Coaches and Boxers that are phenomenal fighters and very poor Coaches.  You need someone who knows the art and the science and has the ability not only to teach you, but to condition you and inspire you.

THE FINAL BELL

Boxing is a very safe and rewarding workout when done right.  When done correctly it can produce amazing results for your body and your mind.  If you haven't yet tried a high quality Boxing Workout now would be the best time.  It doesn't matter how old or out of shape you are, there is much to be gained from something like this for someone like you.  If you've done Boxing before, but have fallen off because life got in the way, steer yourself back on course.  Remember a ship is off course 99% of the time, but what's important is that the crew on board constantly turns the wheel ever so slightly so the ship hits it's desired destination.