I'm somewhat inexperienced, and recovering from an injury, but I feel it would be good to track my training. Please feel free to constructively critique. BIO - 49 yr old Male, will be 50 in March of 2018. Former athlete for a living, but that's way back. I'm 257 lbs, and 6' 2". I've never been fast and have relied on power for all my athletic endeavors. I boxed with my Latino buddies in the Military for two years but it wasn't any serious training. It was basically to do the workouts, learn a bit and then spar. They ate me up, of course. Recently I started a boxing fitness class to help with cardio and a bit of muscle to assist in recovering from this two-year injury thing. My cardio, as of four weeks ago, was zero. I've asked the boxing fitness guy to also help with my technique, but he is only so knowledgeable, and also it's a class. I'm getting going with one of the actual boxing instructors and will use what I learn from him, and this fine forum, during our sessions AND the boxing fitness class, even though it means I slow way down. GOALS - My MAIN goal is get healthy but alsoo slowly learn to box. I want to find how much speed is inside my body, and box within whatever capabilities I have. Dance like a butterfly? Most likely not. Learn a bunch from Joe Louis? Yes. I feel my weight, given a healthy bodyfat %, should be around 200 lbs. I'll know more as I approach it. I'd also like to engage in their amateur fight nights, where they match participants as equally as possible and have them engage in a series of classes to make sure it's not just a brawl. They require commitment, which I have.
12/4/2017 - I went today to work on my technique but was asked to join in on the inaugural Rock Steady Boxing class. Rock Steady Boxing is to help arrest and slightly reverse the effects of Parkinson's disease. I'm connecting some dots between their program and some local/regional managed care facilities so they thought I'd like to see what the classes are like. Since I'm rehabbing, it was a good workout. If you want to know more, which I encourage local boxing facilities to do, go HERE. Since this was the first class, more time was spent explaining and demonstrating than would normally occur. Form was demonstrated then performed in front of the mirror. Bag work then speed bag then the thing that is a ball suspended in the air. A bit of ladder work to further help with movement and balance then a few very light weight based drills. We ended with three minutes on the heavy bag doing various punches. For my rehab it was good work. I focused on technique and snapping the punches. This content is protected
I'm going to start creating a plan for my solo workouts. So far I've just been working the bag and being conscious of my form. I'll still get that accomplished, of course. The plan will focus on basics for a while. Jab and cross. I'll add in some defense as well. For today, an terrible plan is better than no plan. Well not all the times but today it is. I'm sure there are formal names for some of the below, and I'll update them as I come across them, or someone lets me know. I also need to add in defensive movements. 1 - Warmup the body 2 - Form 1, two widths of the ring 3 - Form 1-2, two widths of the ring 4 - 3x15 seconds of 1 on Heavy Bag 5 - 3x15 seconds of 1-2 on Heavy Bag 6 - 3x15 seconds of right hand on speed bag 7 - 3x15 seconds of left hand on speed bag 8 - 3x15 seconds of both hands on speed bag 9 - 3x3 minutes of combinations, changing each 30 seconds.
Add some jump rope and shadow boxing. I would do 3 min. rounds on everything with one minute breaks. If you get tired during a round, take a quick breather and get back to it until you hear the bell. Good Luck.
That is what I was thinking. Coordinating your hands and feet is very important. When you do the 1-2, remember to move your right foot. The left foot and left hand move together and, when you throw the right slide your right foot forward. It is easy if you use small movements; if you don't do it you end up a bit short with the right and it affects the weight shift on the hook. Something you might find interesting. Edwin L Haislet wrote the best how-to boxing book that I am aware of and you can download it for free. Bruce Lee's book copies whole sections verbatim. Haislet has very good sections on how to throw and defend each punch.
Thanks for the foot movement advice. I watched one of the boxing coaches who works with actual amateur fighters instruct what you are saying. I stood by the ring and watched and they went back and forth across the ring working on it. Before this, I would step and land a punch when the foot came down on the heavy bag, but that was easy after a few times. The other day when I did it in the ring, I felt like an awkward slug when I got it wrong. When I got it right, I didn't notice anything (because it flowed) and again when I got it wrong, I felt it. I'm sure over time it will become more and more natural. I'll find the Haislet book, thanks for the point.
Worked more 1 and 1-2 across the ring and back for about 10 lengths. Focused on the footwork portion. Worked heavy bag and worked different 1-1-2 combinations and again focused on the footwork. An MMA instructor came over and helped me with my overall stance, and bit of body lean, and how it should feel when I jab and cross. Amazing how much quicker to the target I am and how much more power I can generate. When practicing my cross my wrist and elbow would feel the impact. I don't know if over time they get used to this or if I'm wrapping wrong or what. I'll ask someone smarter than me tomorrow.
Worked on some new warmups to hopefully be able to do movements that are impact based, such as skip rope, etc. I didn't attempt those movements today but my calf felt better so I'm going to continue to do what I did, and go from there. Today I worked on making sure that when I threw a punch, be it shadow, heavy, etc. that I was using my hips, pulling back the rear shoulder, and all those full-body efficiencies. Monday I will film myself for a starting point for improvement.
