i run a boxing club and i cater for all types of abbility and fitness levels.just wanting to know your suggestions on some boxing skills/drills i could use in my class.
My coach uses a basic footwork drill called "The Cross" to learn proper stepping and balance. Everyone has to do it every session, until he's satisfied you have it down cold. Lately I've noticed a lot of guys, especially the MMA guys who come in...and Kelly Pavlik and Arthur Abraham...have never done this drill. Its very simple. Boxing stance in front of a mirror, rear heel raised, front toe dug in. Should be comfortable and able to shift weight to either foot easily. One step forward, pushing with the toe of the rear foot to the ball of the front foot. One step back, but in reverse, pushing with the toe of the front foot to the ball of the rear foot. One step to the left, pushing with the right foot, sliding the left foot then sliding the right. One step to the right, pushing with the left foot, sliding the right food then sliding the left. Repeat for 6x3min rounds. The idea isn't speed, but form. Aside from that drill, our typical work out session is currently: 35 situps 5 rounds of shadow boxing 5 rounds of heavy bag - started with the 1+1+2, circle 1+1. Now I do whatever combos we are working on. 5 rounds of speed bag or double end bag 5 rounds of mitts 2 or 3 rounds of bullshitting about the latest fights and boxing gossip, or shaking our heads at the MMA guys making out with each other on the mat. lol
haha thanks mate.have you been to my gym before and seen as laughing at those mma guys lol. yes i should work more on footwork after all it all comes from the feet.i have a bad habitat of prgressing on to fast before they learn the basic.
You know, I'd been boxing (for fitness) without a coach for 10 years until recently. I've learned more in the 2 months I've been working with a trainer than I learned in that entire 10 yrs alone! lol Two weeks ago I was shadowboxing and some MMA guys came in. One gave me some suggestions on my straight right (I was throwing it lazy) and we started talking, working the heavy bags. A few mins in I noticed his hook was awful. Just a big arm punch with nothing on it, but he threw it fast so he thought it was amazing. I suggested he talk to my trainer. He said he had an MMA trainer, and all he needed was someone to do the mitts with him. OK, whatever dude. My coach (40 yrs in the sport, former pro) gave him a quick lesson in balance by shoving him and wobbling him. Then he shoved me, and I wasn't wobbled. It was because of the footwork in The Cross drill that I knew how to keep my balance and move into a position to counter. The MMA guy nearly fell on his ass. Next thing you know, he was asking for my coaches number and all three of his friends were learning The Cross footwork drill and how to properly throw a hook.
Here is a good lesson in why you need good balance. Abraham, never down before, is knocked down by Dirrell because he is about of position and off balance when he is hit (6:26) in this clip. You can see his feet are next to each other, instead of one in front of the other. There was nowhere for the momentum to go but onto his heels and down on his ass. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mK0_b-mnFNU&feature=related[/ame]
This looks like a work out plan from the 60's. So much more to boxing then naming a few exercises. Where's the progression? Where's the specific energy system work? Where's the circuits? Where's the power training? Where's the Type 1 and type 2a and b muscle work? How do you track progression? Also 6 x 3 of one step forward, one step back, one step left then one step right??? 6 3's..... Do you not think that might be a bit excessive? Perhaps while your laughing at the MMA guys, there laughing at you thinking who are these jokers who have no clue on the correct methods of training and are stuck in a time warp.
News flash! Boxing fundamentals have not changed in hundreds of years! Since you apparently don't know what they are (are you an MMA fighter?) here is a list, in order of importance: 1. Balance 2. Transfer of momentum 3. Punching technique 6 3's are not excessive. You have to build the muscle in the calf and train your body to feel natural in this seemingly unnatural stance. See item 1 above. Those MMA guys were laughing until they realized they had no boxing fundamentals (how to maintain balance or throw a proper hook). Now they are jocking my coach. Feel free to read the entire thread before talking **** next time. It will help you seem less ignorant. :good
I train at a 'new school' type gym with mostly younger coaches. I wish they had made me do 6 rounds of just footwork per day when I started because almost two years later I've just started getting comfortable with it (thanks to a new 'old shool' trainer at the gym) and it's making things so much easier for me. 6x3 is not excessive for such an important thing.
Build the muscle in the calf- Whats a baby cow got to do with this? Presumably your talking about the Gastrocnemius which obviously plays a part in movement but works alongside all the other muscles of the lower leg as well as the quads and hams to initiate movement. The fatigue you feel when intially perfroming the movement won't just be in the gastrocnemius but also in the surrounding muscles. Building is not going to be achieved by marching about on the spot. At least, not as effectively as skipping or running. The fundamentals of boxing have not changed but i'm pretty certain they are open to interpretion and are therefore a intangible in terms of doing right or wrong. Some people hook with there weight on the front, some with weight on the rear etc etc. Just because an MMA fighter does it unlike you- it doesn't make it incorrect. Look at Joe Calzaghe... slapped virtually every punch... 47-0. Whats your fight record? Let me guess 11-0 (11 Ko's)... What you mean to say is that by doing these steps it will teach the body to react appropriately to the demands of movement by using muscle memory. 6-3's is excessive. In fact i'd go as far to say it would be mind numbingly boring after a couple of mins- but what do I know, i'm only human. There are tons of foot work drills far more challenging and boxing specific then 'the cross' you speak of. MMA requires different footwork to boxing primaily because the front leg is a target as much as the chin is to a boxer. They have to deal with kicks and takedowns and thus the idea of planting their feet is going to be largely counter productive meaning their 'boxing' is always going to be on the fly and not correctly delivered. Just because your coach has some grasp of the fundamentals of the sport doesn't mean he is executing them correctly. And also fundamentals are only one aspect of the sport- tons of fighters with terrible fundamentals have been successful- and likewise some fighters with very good technique have failed to achieve much at all. Your work out is ******ed in so many ways but thats what would be expected in a second rate boxing gym. Boxing trainers in general are uneducated when it comes to strength and conditioning and as illustrated by your two posts in this thread you have no clue what you are talking about and you are not in a position to advise others. My advice to the OP would be to ignore your post and wait for someone with a bit more common sense to post their advice.
Because this is an open forum about boxing training, and everyone else in this thread seems to appreciate my feedback, I'm going to show my good nature and give you one last response before I write you off as a troll. You can take my advice or not, its up to you. Keep in mind my trainer has worked with Eddie Futch, Aaron Pryor, Terry Norris, Riddick Bowe and many celebrities and fighters over the last 40 years he has been coaching boxing. Forgive me for taking his word over yours. The rest of the readers here can make their own opinions. So...here we go. I run two miles a day, longer on the weekends, and have been doing so for 5 years or so. I also skip rope, 300 turns, when I can't run due to schedule. Proper boxing stance and movement requires you to spend a lot of time with your rear heel raised, which is not a natural stance, and strains a muscle on the outside of your calf. I don't know what that muscle is called, but I can promise you that if you try it for a while, it hurts. After a few weeks of The Cross, that ache goes away. No, they really are not. There is the right way to throw a hook to get any power on it, and obviously you (and maybe Joe Calzaghe) don't know it. The beginning of the punch has your weight on your lead foot, the end of the punch has your weight on the rear foot. Weight transitioning through your body is focused on your fist, which is why the arm doesn't swing as the body twists, and the lead foot pivots. Don't take my word for it, watch some tapes of Tyson or Tua and you will see how its done. In a proper hook the arm doesn't swing, the body does. I said exactly what I meant, and yes, it is mind numbingly boring...but necessary in many peoples opinion. Again, skip it if you want. I'm sure there are, but again... its not supposed to be challenging. Its supposed to enforce proper stance and movement through practicing them, repeatedly, in the correct form. If I am trying to perfect my jab, I'm going to throw thousands of jabs. I'm not going to do some fancy exercise to stimulate fast twich muscles in my arm or shoulder. Again, you can do what you want. We are talking about boxing here in this thread, in the boxing training area of the boxing website. Just for your info. As I mentioned above, my coach has been in the sport for over 40 yrs, runs the oldest operating boxing gym in three states, was a golden and platinum gloves champion and former pro himself, has trained with hall of fame trainers and a few champions. He's forgotten more about boxing than you will probably ever know. As far as not executing fundamentals correctly, in 2004 we had an Olympic hopeful go to Colorado from our gym. At the trails they had a station setup with a stress dummy to measure punching power. My coach, who was 62 yrs old at the time, measured 5th in punching power (straight right hand) out of thousands of Olympic fighters and others who punched that station. If you don't believe me, come on down to the gym and check out the certificate from the Olympic board that is hanging on the wall next to the pictures of my coach with the likes of Ali, Aaron Pryor, Mike Tyson, etc.. I'm sharing with others what he is showing me, and they can use it or not.
Well, they do these things called ladders. Where you do, 10 pushups, 10 situps, and 10 mountain climbers. Then 9 pushups, situtps and mountain climbers, then 8, 7, 6 etc etc. Until you get down to 1. When you get down to 1 its usually some random ****, like neck strengthening or straight legs. Then you climb back up the ladder with 1 pushups, situps, mountain climbers, 2,3,4,5 etc. Its a great workout and pretty exhausting.
Damn I kind of wished I was taught footwork now. The only things I was taught is keep your feet shoulder length apart and dont cross them.
Your trainer has led an exciting life by the sounds of it. Perhaps you could share with us his name? Firstly boxing has a myriad of different styles and techniques. There is no right way or wrong way. Try throwing a left hook to the body with your weight on the back foot. See how ineffective it is. The only opinion that 6 x 3 pacing one step forward, one step back and one step to the side is nessacary is yours and the people that use your gym. A good trainer should be able to pick up poor footwork when you are using the pads. Its just one of many methods used to correct this technique. Its pointless arguing otherwise its my opinion. Correct your back foot is off the ground. Quite how you think pacing backwards and forwards on it isometrically contracted doing the cross, or pacing around on it isometrically contracted when doing the bad is any different, is beyond me. If you train your body to perform an action a certain way then eventually the muscle is going to adapt to the demands placed on it. I don't need to join in with the ***** waving exercise but I have fought and trained with world title claiments. I've trained with world class trainers and spent time with trainers from my countries national amateur squad. I am academically accredited having studied the body and would venture that I probably know more about it and its adaptions to exercise then your trainer will ever know. Again I don't want to get into a big willy waving exercise. My point is that your knowledge of boxing is minimal, you are disrespectful to MMA fighters and the workout you suggested is very, very poor. Doesn't matter whether your trainer trained with Ali, Liston and Joe Louis- the work out is still poorly structured, boring and lacks any sort of meat. He asked for drills to try and you gave him a poorly put together, full workout and slagged off mma fighters. Hardly a great rsponse. Don't wish to argue with you further i'm sure your a nice guy but you've got it all wrong.