Boxing For Dummies

Fight the battle of the bulge with a stiff jab and wicked cross. Boxing is a complete full-body workout that effectively improves a participant's entire kinetic chain (muscular system, nervous system and skeletal system). People of all ages, gender and fitness levels can enjoy the benefits of boxing, even if they never intend to step foot inside a boxing ring.


The sensational images of broken noses, swollen eyes and bloody gashes are exaggerated risks that are mainly the concern of professional boxers (largely due to the fact that professional competitors do not ware protective headgear during contests). Boxing for fitness involves non-contact drills that won't leave you black and blue, but still give you the chiseled body of a world class contender.

Getting Started: Equipment

The most essential items to secure are hand wraps and bag gloves. Why? Because the number one injury in boxing are those to the hands and wrists. Wearing bag gloves with hand wraps underneath helps to stabilize and protect the bones and connective tissue of the hands and wrists during impact with heavy bags and focus mitts.

Besides the two mentioned items, optional pieces of equipment can be purchased to help further progress your fitness level and skills.

1. *hand wraps 120 - 180 inches long (helps protect the bones & tissue of the hands)
   



2. *12 - 18 oz bag gloves (cushions the hands during impact with targets)




3. jump rope (develops footwork, coordination, cardiovascular endurance & speed)




4. medicine ball (weighted ball used to train strength endurance and power)




5. boxing shoes (ideal for providing ankle support and stability)
   



6. heavy bag (large target used for endurance, to learn punches, and develop boxing skills)
   



7. timer (used to time rounds which are commonly 3 minutes long)




8. focus mitts (hand-held targets for developing timing, defense & offense)
   
   

(*) designates mandatory equipment

These items can be purchased in-store or online from a number of manufactures of boxing equipment (i.e. Everlast, Ringside, and Title Boxing) offering a wide-variety of products at various price ranges to accommodate one's budget.

Wrapping

Assuming you've acquired a pair of hand wraps, you will need to know how to put them on. Just follow the simple directions with illustrations from Ringside. It may seem complicated at first glance, but with practice the task will become routine.

Please keep in mind that this is a general guide and other methods do exist. Ringside believes, and I (Brett) concur, that the method below is a good starting point and covers all the basic points of proper hand protection.




Your hand should be held open in a relaxed position, with your fingers spread apart. Begin by placing the hand wrap thumb loop around your thumb and be sure that the 'This Side Down' text on the hand wrap is against your skin. Bring the wrap across the back of your hand and wrap around your wrist 2 or 3 times.

Be sure to wrap high enough (2" to 3" up from your wrist joint) on the wrist to maximize support. You want to keep the hand wrap snug throughout this process, but not so tight that it will cut off your circulation.





From the wrist, bring the wrap across the back of your hand and around your palm, then across the top of your knuckles.

Wrap around the knuckle area 2 to 3 times. From the top of your knuckles, wrap across the back of your hand toward your wrist and around. This will create an 'x' pattern across the back of the hand. Repeat the 'x' pattern 2 or 3 times

Continue around the palm of your hand to the base of your thumb. Wrap completely around your thumb and back toward your wrist on the palm side of your hand.It is important to keep the wrap from twisting while wrapping the thumb




Continue wrapping around the back of your hand to the thumb and once again wrap around your thumb, this time from the opposite direction.

Wrap from the thumb over the back of your hand and around your wrist.

Continue around your wrist, over the back of your hand and through the space between your pinky and ring fingers. Wrap around your palm back toward your wrist and repeat the steps for each finger.Be sure to keep the wrap as flat as possible and twist free

With the last finger completed, bring the wrap across the palm back toward your wrist.





Continue wrapping across the back of your hand toward your knuckles.





Wrap once more around the top of the knuckles and across the back of your hand toward your wrist.

Secure your wrist with the remaining hand wrap. Be sure to wrap it snugly to provide support for your wrist.

Fasten the Hook & Loop closure and you're done.

The finished product should be a secure and protected tightly wrapped hand.

Basic Fighting Stance

Before you attempt to box, you'll need to establish a solid base to launch your punches from. A strong punch begins from the bottom up. The legs and trunk of the body combine to generate about 70% of the power for a punch, while the shoulders supply roughly 30% of the power. In fact all your boxing techniques should begin and end from your fighting stance. Force, speed, evasion, agility, absorbing blows, setting up offense, and effectively moving around the ring are dependant upon a stable base of support.

No two boxers' stance is exactly the same. You will have to experiment to the find the optimal fighting position based on your height, size and fighting style. But here is an example of a common orthodox style for a right-handed fighter outlined by Danna Scott (the author of Boxing - The Complete Guide To Training And Fitness). Left-handed fighters do the opposite.

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.



2. Take a regular striding step forward with your left foot.



3. Keep your back foot at a comfortable 45-degree angle.



4. You want width and length between your feet, as if you are standing on railroad tracks.



5. Shift your weight onto the balls of your feet.



6. Keep your knees bent.



7. Bend your elbows and tuck them into your chest.



8. Keep your fists at cheekbone level with your palms facing in. Your left hand should be slightly out in front toward your opponent, ready to throw a punch, while your right hand is tucked in at your cheekbone ready to block a punch.



9. Keep your chin down and look up.



10. Your shoulders should naturally roll forward.



11. You should be positioned partially sideways to your opponent, with your left shoulder and hand slightly closer to him or her.



12. You will use the same stance when working with punching bags.
    

Basic Punches

Boxing consists of 4 basic punches the (1) jab (2) cross (3) hook (4) and upper-cut. Mastering the execution of these punches is essential to performing well and protecting participants from injuries caused by poor mechanics.

Secondly, punches can be identified by their common terminology or by their corresponding numbers as described above. This is a universal system used by boxing coaches to communicate what punch or series of punches they want their trainees to perform.

Third, all punches begin with a tight fist to brace the hand for impact. Start with your fingers extended, then roll them into your palm to form a tight ball. Next tuck your thumb across the outside of your index and middle finger. Never place your thumb on the inside of your fist; doing so could cause you to break your thumb.

The following instructions are written for a right-handed boxer. Left-handed boxers should complete the directions on the opposite side indicated.

Jab: Right-Hand Boxer

(1) Jab - The jab is a lead-hand punch thrown from the front foot side, and takes a linear path to the target. Right-handed boxers stand with their left foot leading, so the jab is executed with the left hand. Left-handed boxers operate with their right foot forward, consequently the jab is performed with the right hand.

1. Get into a basic fighting stance with the left foot forward.



2. Simultaneously pivot slightly on the ball of your front foot to rotate your hips and trunk while driving your lead hand forward like a piston.



3. Keep your elbow close to your body and pointed downward. When you get about 3/4 of the way towards your target, rotate your fist so that your palm faces down to the floor.



4. Snap the entire body like a whip at the end the punch, and strike the target primarily with the index and middle-finger knuckles.



5. Quickly retreat the punch along the same linear path in which it was initiated.

Cross: Right-Hand Boxer

(2) Cross - The cross is a rear-handed punch thrown from the back foot side, and takes a linear path to the target. Right-handed boxers should excute this punch from their back right foot side, while left-handed fighters should excute the punch from their back left foot side. In comparison to the jab, the cross produces a lot more force due to the ability to create a greater amount of torque from the rear foot side.

1. Complete steps 1 through 5 as described for the jab, but execute them from the back foot side.



2. Pivot on the ball of the back foot and rotate the trunk to the extent that your body is squared to the target at the point of contact.
   
   

Lead Hook: Right-Hand Boxer

Rear Hook: Right-Hand Boxer

(3) Hook - The hook is a combination of linear and circular movement designed to strike the side of a target. Unlike the jab and cross, the hook can be thrown from either the front foot or the back foot side. This punch is challenging, because throwing it well requires placing the body in the correct posture to get the right angle towards the target.

Lead Hook

1. Get into a basic fighting stance with the left foot foward.
   


2. Anchor the front ball of your foot into the floor, and simultaneously twist your hips to the left and slightly bend your trunk over your lead knee (don't shift your center of gravity so far that you become off-balanced).



3. Next, rotate the front ball of your foot followed by your hips then trunk towards the right. Immediately flip your left elbow up so that your forearm runs parallel to the floor. At this point the wrist and elbow should be in alignment with the elbow at a 90 degree angle.
   


4. Just before impact snap the entire body, and extend your punching arm to drive through the target. Do not hook the punching arm back towards your body as this off-sets the power of the punch.



5. Retreat the punch by quickly flipping the elbow back down, and rotate the body back into fighting stance.
   

Rear Hook

1. Repeat steps 1 through 5 for throwing the lead hook, but from the back foot side. Your center of gravity should be slightly shifted over the back knee.



2. Pivot on the back ball of your foot and rotate the trunk to the extent that your body is angled towards the left at the point of impact.

Lead Upper-Cut: Right-Hand Boxer

Rear Upper-Cut: Right-Hand Boxer

Lead Upper-Cut To The Body: Right-Hand Boxer

Rear Upper-Cut To The Body: Right-Hand Boxer

(4)Upper-cut - The upper-cut is designed to strike the lower front or under-side of a target, and is thrown simular to a hook in regard to having the elbow at a 90 degree angle. Likewise, this punch is able to be thrown from the front-foot side or rear-foot side.

Lead Upper-cut To The Chin

1. Get into a basic fighting stance with the left foot forward.



2. Crouch and twist your hips to the left, while shifting your weight to the balls of your feet.



3. Use your legs to accelerate your body towards an upright position while rotating the ball of the front foot and hips clockwise. Next, extend the arm upward while supinating the hand so that your palm faces back towards your body.



4. The angle at the elbow joint should steadily increase as the punch moves towards the target. Snap the entire body just before impact and drive through the target.



5. Retreat the punch by quickly pulling the elbow down towards the body, while rotating back into fighting stance.

Rear Upper-cut To The Chin

1. Repeat steps 1 through 5 as previously stated, but conversely excute the upper-cut to the chin from the rear-foot side. The hips should rotate to the right while crouching, Then twist back towards the left when driving the body and punch upperward.



2. After exploding through the target, quickly pull the elbow of the punching arm down towards the body, and rotate back into fighting position.

Lead Upper-cut To The Body & Rear Upper-cut To The Body

1. Essentially upper-cuts to the body are performed the same as upper-cuts to the chin or under-side of a target.



2. Just repeat the outlined steps for executing the lead and rear upper-cut to the chin, but change the plane of the punch so that it is aimed at what would be the belly of an opponent. The forarm should be parallel to the floor with your palm facing up as the punch strikes the target.

Time for some action

No doubt many of you will be reading the instructions and peeping the pics above numerous times with frustration before being ready to move to the next stage. But you can manage the situation by studying and practicing one punch at a time in frequent short spurts. Once you are relatively familiar with a particular punch have a go at the next one. Perfecting each technique will unfold over an extended period of time. For now, you just want to grasp the basics and establish a foundation to build on. One of the best ways to accomplish this task is to shadowbox.

Shadowboxing is an extemely useful physical imagery exercise whereby you move freely in an open space fighting an imaginary opponent. If possible, I suggest that you do this in front of a large mirror so that you can see an critique your form. You can practice learning how to throw each punch this way. Once you are comfortable throwing single punches at a time, then start experimenting with using 2 to 4 punch combinations.

Traditionally, boxers train using 3-minute rounds with 1-minute of rest between rounds. If your low on staminia shorten the rounds to suit your fitness level, and progressively work toward completing a full round. Ultimately, you should be striving to shadowbox for 5 full rounds with rest periods in between.

To be continued...next post