Boxing For Dummies... continued: heavy bag

Once you have unraveled the mystery of how to punch, it will be time to put that knowledge to the test by having a go at the heavy bag.



Safety first, wrap both hands before slipping on your bag gloves. The heavy bag is unforgiving, so it's important that you take every precaution to protect your hands and wrists from injury. Attention to form is also equally important. The wrists and elbows should always be in alignment no matter what punch your throwing. Meaning do not bend the wrists when you are striking a target, otherwise the shock of the impact will come through your wrists in a very painful way. Despite being warned, there is no doubt in my mind that you will end up learning this lesson the hard way. So I suggest that you keep a bottle of Ibuprofen and a hot/cold gel pack on standby.



Now I know you are all bright-eyed, bushy tailed and ready to whack away at the heavy bag, but a more refined approach is needed. Initially stress technique and control over power and strength. Wildly punching the heavy bag creates bad habits and loads of injuries. Secondly, avoid punches that swipe the heavy bag. It is the equivalent of dragging your bare knuckles across a rough carpet at high speed. Punches should land flush to the target and retreat along the same path of initiation.



Hitting the Heavy Bag:

1. Begin from your basic fighting stance and find your correct distance by probing with your jab. Once you have established your positioning execute the jab at half speed, but with full mechanics and form.


2. Continue practicing each punch (cross, hook and upper-cut) in this manner. You will instantly notice that the distance in which you can stand away from the bag varies with each punch. Gathering and retaining this knowledge will be very important when I discuss punching in combinations.


3. For now stick with just throwing single punches, until you can readily judge the various striking distances for all punches from both front and back foot sides.

Work each punch for a round a piece (1-3 minutes) with a minute of rest in between rounds. You want to increase your staminia, but at the same time you can't be fatigued to the point that it's difficult to concentrate on form. Establishing a strong foundation is the most important thing at this stage of your boxing development, it will dictate everything else that follows.