I am a college student in the middle of nowhere and there are no martial arts gyms any where close. I have boxed for the past few years and want to get back into it. There is a bag at the school gym which i hit and i also shadow box. Is there any way for me to practice my defense other then just shadow defense drills? thank you
depends on your ambitions. If you plan to compete, I am afraid it will be tough. Unless, maybe as a college project you can try to develop something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWVCqwvmLTE Also, a double-end bag or a reflex bag maybe help to learn slipping and develop a sense for the distance: Check how Sergio Martinez was using double-end bag http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65PRTssO8-k
You should be practicing defense all of the time; you should never just stand there and throw punches at a bag. That is how you teach yourself to be stupid in the ring, to just throw punches and then wait to get countered. Everything you do should start with a defensive move, so before you hit the heavy bag, you slip inside the jab with a right to the body, bob under and weave to the outside with a left hook to the body, and, once outside finish with a right hand over the top, and a left hook to get you right again. You start preparing yourself mentally, on the bag, for what you will encounter against a live opponent.
Don't break down your game to offense and defense like it's a separate thing. It's not so black and white: your offense is your defense and your defense is your offense. The bottom line is to keep it simple and focused. Shadow boxing is a great way to practice alone. I know this is not breaking news, but you ALWAYS need to remember regardless of which solo boxing drill you're doing: 1. Focus on the technique and start slow. Instead of going fast and wild, focus on your posture and hip & shoulder positioning. Relaxed but controlled is the key. 2. Always keep "flowing". Every punch, duck, slip or step you do should open up another move. If you stumble, go slower. When your mind picks up the pace, your body will follow - not the other way around. 3. Visualize yourself fighting an opponent. When you throw a punch or combination, slip, duck or move out of the way afterwards. Don't just stand there and blink - you're gonna get countered! 4. Three 3 minute rounds of 100% focus and effort is better than 12 rounds of 70%. When you feel like you're losing your mental focus when shadow boxing or working the bag, do something else. For example, you can never do enough conditioning work
Thank you guys a lot of great info. I always practice my defense when shadow boxing and heavy bag. My main concern is that I essentialy have "good defense" in theory because i am able to perform slips, bob and weaves, parrys, etc pretty smoothly, with pretty good form, decently quick and they transition well when im shadow boxing. but I basically have "karate syndrome" just in boxing. where as i have no realistic defensive work. I purely do it against the air but never against a live opponent. I am going to buy a double end bag and start to use that to work on my defense. AS far as my ambitons are concerned i love boxing so im happy just hitting the bag if that is all i can do. but i definetly am interested in being able to defend myself as well(which is why i need some sort of defense simulation), but i definitely am not trying to become a pro fighter and cant imagine myself having any future amateur fights, but mayby down the road(but i will obviously join a real gym before then), I would like to practice this defense tho so when i go home to my old gym i will still be able to spar with some of the less good kids.
If you want to defend yourself, buy a gun, man. Do not rely on your boxing skills in a street fight, just run
I dont NEED to defend myself. I just would like to have the ability to defend myself if it came down to it.
Also i really enjoy boxing and just want to get as best defense that i can with the minimum resources i have
Sounds like you need to get a friend to help you out. Practicing defense against a living breathing opponent is always needed. Get someone to hold mitts and throw punches at you? That certainly helps.
What you want to do is find a friend who is into boxing and work on some conditioned spars, like only allowing the jab, then some technical spars where you are just going light etc then some open spars where your opponent is allowed to go at you with any shot, see if your defensive skills work then. I myself am going to check out some youtube drills today, was boxing last night and got dropped in the first and beaten on points, I didn't feel myself but if I'd remained more composed in round 1 I may not have been caught and that affected me for the rest of the fight.
