[Umy]

Good Question

Again like you said it really is up to an individual's style and what they prefer.

For me I never have anything set in concrete I just do what comes naturally.

I tend to block and parry a lot more than evade punches using head movement, this is one big factor by itself as you will have both hands free to do what you like when slipping and bobbing and weaving.

For the jab (orthodox fighter): tap it down with lead hand and then counter with your own jab (off same hand)

Or

Slip to right, left jab to body

For cross: tap down with right hand and counter with left hook or jab

Or

Slip to left and counter with right hand to body (make sure you have one mitt near your face as a backup)

For left hooks: block with right arm and counter with jab

Or

Duck and counter with left hook

For right hooks: Block with left arm and counter with a cross

Or

Duck under and counter with hook from either hand

Uppercuts: block and counter with a straight punch or hook.

Again its pretty brief and its just me, others may differ drastically, it works for me but might not be other fighters cup of tea.

Hope it helps

Umy

[MrApollinax]

Great post. I tend to block and pary a lot more myself as well. Vs a jab or left straight to the chin I like to cuff to redirect it past my head to the right and fire a left straight right down the middle (usually mid-section or chin) and follow that up with a right hook. That or i fire a right straight over the top if the guy is sending half-assed jabs at me.

For hooks I pretty much do the same as you, either block same side and counter with opposite, or i bob under to the outside and fire off a straight from the same side.

[Umy]

Off topic but...

One thing people often find hard to block and dont see coming are doubled up hooks, usually a hook to the body then head (off the same hand), thats one combo I often use a lot in sparring.

[The BadBoy]

I'd like to add something to the counter punching bit. Like Umy, who seems to be a great student of the game, especially seeing how my lil bro is only 16 said. There aren't really any set responses to punches for counters, it goes with personal preference.

One great tool i like to use is a mirror. Shadow box infront of the mirror observing the places you open up when you make every punch. These are more than likely gonna be the same for your opponent.

Take what you've found and drill resposes from those angles with a partner. Work counter shots for all these punches, you know the angles that are open so respond accordingly. Drill, drill, drill. Then watch your game blow up in your opponents face.

[Umy]

I think the mirror is the greatest tool a beginner has, you dont even need a bag or anything until you can throw punches with fairly decent form, one way of checking this is with a mirror.

It will also help you see where your feet are and how your stance is looking and will also (like badboy said) show if there are any openenings in your guard.

[The BadBoy]

Difference between rear cross and rear overhand

Posted on teh boxing forum at mma.tv by 1groovyunit.

"Someone asked about the overhand right and the differences betwen that and the cross on the BJJ forum. I figured I would copy and paste the answer here too (this being the boxing forum and all!)

The cross is a straight right hand. You are sinking your hips, turning your hips and body and driving the power up from the floor through your body and into the opponent's head. It's a powerhouse punch and a lot of people's bread and butter. Best set up with a double jab, jab and fake or as a counter to one of your opponent's straight punches.

The overhand is rather unorthodox. It's very effective if thrown, timed and connected properly but those three factors have to be perfect or you will find yourself off balance and wide open to be taken down or counterpunched by a skilled opponent.

The overhand right is best thrown as a secondary or tertiary punch into a simple combination. Never try to lead with it. The only time I would try to counter with it is if I were fighting a southpaw and stepping/dipping away from his jab (I am an orthodox boxer) and he was less skilled than I. Best done just after the opponent finalizes a combination and you slip or successfully parry/defend against his combo. Best followed up by a hook (most people think an uppercut is the best follow-up, but the weight shift on a proper overhand right is pretty dramatic, setting you up perfectly to throw a hook)

DON'T make the mistake of thinking that an overhand right has the same body mechanics as a cross with a looping trajectory. It absolutely does not. I'll walk you through the mechanics:

Your combination will be: Jab-Cross-Hook-Overhand Right-Hook from an orthodox stance (left hand/left foot forward). This will get you 'in tune' with the proper body mechanics. Now, jab, then when you cross you want to turn your hips all the way over and turn your shoulder all the way. All of your weight should be on your FRONT foot. I should be able to kick your back leg out from under you without you falling. Now, when you hook, step to the right side with all of your weight onto your RIGHT LEG. Your hips should be turned all the way to the right, and your right hand should be like you are on the phone. Now when you throw the overhand right you are going to transfer all of your weight back onto your left foot but instead of stepping your left foot forward you will step it to the left side. Twist your body to the left so your right shoulder is reaching toward the target when you throw it. When you complete this punch your chin should be in your right shoulder, and your left hand should be like you are on the phone. When you throw the last hook transfer weight back to your right leg.

The motions sound more dramatic in a written description than they actually are. Anyway, if you are training in MMA or are new to boxing I would stick with the cross for a long time until you can land it at will. It's got dynamite stopping power and sets up the hook beautifully.

[Umy]

thanks for that badboy

[Umy]

Its been a while since ive had time to post anything remotely helpful so ive decided to cover the topic of home traning again.

Now many of you will probably be unaware of the fact that my gym closed down a few months ago.

I found myself at those crossroads and asked myself hundreds of times ''what to do next?'' .

My options were to join another gym in town, there are 3 good boxing gyms in town, but there was a catch, you had to fight for the club most of the time in order to train there. This wasnt possible due to my jaw condition so that was ruled out. I could have taken up another art but with my exams coming up I realised I wouldnt have the time for that either so I decided to do what people said couldnt be done, keep my skills up alone at home....

I first asked what a gym had that I didnt, I came up with:

A bag
Training partners
A coach

That was about it.

I realised from the beginning that I would need human contact in order to maintain my skills, this wasnt a problem as I had contact details of all my sparring partners and training partners, as well as a few lads who liked the idea of sparring.


Next I needed a routine similar to that of the gym, so I basically mimiked what was working for me in the gym and added it to what I used to get results from and made sure I included a full range of activites to keep my level of fitness up including, weight training, plyometrics, interval training (with traditional roadwork), bodyweight exercises, skill training ect..

As for the coach one can be suprised at what we can use to help us these days.

For imitating padwork I would use the old numbered bag drill ive covered a few times (number certain punches on certain areas of the bag, record your voice shouting out these numbers imitating a padwork drill and away you go). The downside to this is as you have no-one to give feedback you errors may start to shine through without notice.

One way to combat this it to film yourself shadowboxing/sparring, this way you can see where you are going wrong.

I also purchased myself a bag as I felt bagwork is a key part of boxing training, after learning to punch we are given an immoblie target (the bag) to hit, then we take what we learn on the bag and apply it to a moving target, the focus mitts and finally we apply this to sparring. Its important that we take all of these steps when training at home in order to get the most out of our time and keep our skills up till we find another gym/dojo.

Motivation....

This is a big problem for many, they feel they cant get motivated enough to train by themselves.

I often ask them why they trained in the first place, as once they answer this they can realise whether or not they have any goals to achieve or not.

If they dont they should set themselves a few, attainable, goals to meet, this will keep them on track and give them something to train for.

Finally ive managed to keep myself in great shape and am still as good as I was a few months ago due to my regular sparring sessions and training routine.

Anyway thats enough for now, if any of you have any questions ill hopefully get back to you in a few days.

take care

Umy

[ControlledMind]

I know this is a bit off the reg q & a questions, but I was wondering a few things.

1. Im 6'3, round 170, with history in mma and basketball/football, due to circumstances, cannot play the latter two anymore, so im interested in boxing to continue the competitive aspect and keep myself in shape, ive downed the basics, but was wonderin how much my frame would help/not help me in the ring.

2. With my other sports, certain bodyparts are more built than others, for ex. my arms, chest, shoulders, back n neck are extremely well maintained, so im sure thatll help, but was lookin for a more balanced boxing build to distribute everythin like it should be. (simple workouts etc)

and Lastly, sence my other sports focused more on speed to my frame than power, how could I keep the speed I currently have, while constantly increasing my power other than my hip motions during fights?

I know this is long, but every bit of help is appreciated, nice thread, an continue the great work guys.

[Umy]

Firstly the question is ok as I have a bit more time now my exams are finished (gets out the flags)

Now onto your question,

To be honest 6'3 and 170lbs seems okay to me, at the end of the day it really does depend on a lot of factors anyway, (your style, size compared to others in weight class ect).

Classic example, Mr Mike Tyson who is 6'1 and 200 and something pounds. Its not your size you should really be worrying about, its how you use what you are given to the best of your abillity (for example tyson used to complain he was short but soon discovered because of this fighters found it harder to hit him and he also had a lower center or gravity than them which helped with his punches). Once you get set out your coach will most likely teach you to use your body to the best of your abilitly anyway.

As for the whole hand speed and power thing, I got a LOT faster AND stronger in the first 6 months or so of boxing, you will see big increases anyway so I wouldnt be to worried about loosing handspeed. Power and speed come with practice and increase over time, this is the most important point to realise first before anything else.

However if you do reach a point where you intend to focus on increasing your power later on in your boxing time (which I wouldnt bother with if I was just starting with things, instead Id focus on correct technique and pick up what I can) using weights or other methods, just take a specific day to work your hand speed and emphisise speed in your work.

For example I was using a push/pull legs routine whilst I was on the weights to help improve my power, I would train on a mon and fri on the weights and on wednesdays I would work solely on speed as opposed to power, this meant more shadowboxing, heavier gloves when using the bags, working on speed as opposed to working on power on the bags and pads ect. By doing this I saw an increase in power and still managed to maintain my handspeed, unlike many people would have you believe.

As for a specific routine I recived good advice from alex a while ago on what my weight routine should look like for a boxer, here is a basic push/pull/legs routine:

http://www.weighttrainersunited.com/2daysplit.html

Obviously if your in the boxing gym after a workout on the weights you may want to try and watch how hard you push yourself and make sure you are getting plenty or rest and good food into you.

To be quite honest, although the weights will help increase your strength and power I would first make sure you are punching with correct technique and getting the most out of your bodyweight into your shots, many people look for alternative methods of increasing power instead of sticking to the heavy bag work and other drills that have worked for others for years, but again, to each his own.

I hope this helps, need anything else please ask and Ill get back to you as soon as I can...

Umy.