[Umy]

suseptible (is that a word?)

Easily influenced or affected: ?She suddenly was too susceptible to her past? (Jimmy Breslin).
Likely to be affected: susceptible to colds.
Especially sensitive; highly impressionable.
Permitting an action to be performed; capable of undergoing: a statement susceptible of proof; a disease susceptible to treatment.

- Taken from dictionary.com

Anyway, keep this thread alive bro, whats next on the list?

[The BadBoy]

Ok noone else wants to talk about base. I think a lot of good things have been said already though, but I'll say one last thing and Umy, give me your thoughts on the matter and I'll move the subject on tomorrow.

Seeing how we were talking about wieght distribution, I have noticed some boxers actually lean forward and carry their wieght forward a little when they are boxing. Then when the opponent comes to attack they sift their weight slightly back which in turn moves their body back to by about half a foot and out of range.

By doing this they seem to be able to steal a step so to speak, keep the opponent out of range but be in range for their own attacks.

[zefff]

yeah, I hate those types. Ive found it helps to force them to lead and hurt the body while slipping, or double up the jab is good if you lead. Once they have backed up their stance it cant back up twice so you know where they will be. They will parry, clinch or hit back....if they are defensive minded (which they most likely will be to be pulling off such a move which loses them ground and position) they will parry. You can benefit from this. If they clinch, they are tired or fearful of you. If they are using their brain and hitting back on the 2nd beat, this is where you start slipping...You know what Im talking about!

[Umy]

Ive seen some people who lean forward that lil more for some extra power, its little subtle things like this that you have to experiment with in sparring, if you find you can get away with it easily then many people will use it, also it again depends on the style, it may benefit power punchers and knockout artists but not boxers.

Everything in boxing is really up to your style, your own style is tailor made by you to suit you.

[Tigerstyle15]

Question: It was mentioned earlier that the back foot should act like a spring with the heal of the ground. When you throw a punch does the foot plant itself or does it stay on its toes? Does it even matter?

[The BadBoy]

I'll answer it hear but umy you might want to cut and paste this in the boxing Q&A as it is a good question.

Answer: The heel is never planeted on the floor. If you plant your heel on the floor you will stop your body from flowing round and getting behind the punch. Watch a shot, putter, watch a golfer swing, watch a baseball player swing. The rear heel is up at the end of the punch. Its just the mechanics the human body requires to generate power. But don't take my word for it. Throw a cross with the heel up and then plant your heel to the floor and throw it again.

Ok. now to move the topic on. We've discussed base so I feel that the natural progression of this thread would be to talk about footwork as thats the way the thread seems to be moving anyways. So here goes, my initial thoughts. I'm sure a lot more will come out later.

Footwork

Another very important part of a boxer?s make-up. Whether he is a Tyson style fighter or a technical boxer like Lennox. When moving forward or to the rear, left or right, the feet must never cross, meet or come in line, the base must be kept at all times. Reasons for this being that when feet are close together or crossed it is a lot easier to lose your balance and fall when hit. If the base is not right then the power of your punching will suffer. The ideal would be to be able to punch with either hand with maximum power at any time during an altercation. For this I square up my base a little when boxing. But my coach hates me for it and suggests I don't do it. But hey, I'm an MMAist at heart so screw him :P

The range between two fighters is made by use of the footwork, so constant range finding should be carried out, the ability to step in and punch and step out and punch is essential. Pressure can be applied on an adversary with the use of footwork, without having to throw a single punch, by travelling from the outer range to the medium range and back again quickly and continually. This causes the opponent to stutter with counters and make halfhearted leads for which he can be severely punished.

[Umy]

the rear foot always stays on its toes, The front foot doesnt really matter as much.

I dont think you will loose power from keeping you rear heel on or off the ground anyway.

[Umy]

Footwork is the key to a good fighter, if you arent mobile you will be easier to hit, a moving target is harder to hit.

Simple right?

Many people dont realise just how important footwork is, especially when controlling your preferred range, setting up shots and avoiding shots. The shoulder width distance is maintained at all times, some fighters (such as Ali and Hasim Rahman off the top of my head) widen this gap when throwing power shots or rather when they 'go in for the kill' but again its important that you arent too wide as your ever important balance will be at risk.

The distance of your steps or shuffle should not be strides as energy is wasted during movements like that, the boxing shuffle, as well with everything else, is short and sharp, phasic and effecient movement. A pro fighter doesnt waste energy.

Another key point it having a 'flow' in your footwork, never get caught flat footed but on the opposite side dont dance around and waste energy, Prince Nas vs Barrera is a prime example, barrera sticked to the book and Nas's un-orthodox style just wasnt working, nas was off balance a lot and barrera sticked to the text book boxing he is so good at.

Flat footed boxers who tend to move around little are often easy to pick off at different angles, remember footwork isnt just back anf forth or side to side, footwork can move to do different angles required to throw and land your shots.

[B Man]

the key to making footwork...work so well is to make it natural. I know when i first started i felt really akward with the nature of boxing/thai boxing footwork; but constant practice and drilling and you won't even have to think about footwork when you're sparring. The movement will be just movement to you.

my two cents



brian

[The BadBoy]

I'm sure MrApollinax has some interesting things to say on footwork. Especially with all his fencing research, as I have found that the fencing footwork and strategies can translate quite well into the boxing ring. How they steal a step, How the use footork to give their opponent a flase sense of distance is all pretty similar to teh way a boxer does it. Hate to put you on the spot like this bro, but if your reading, i would love to hear some of your thoughts.