Should Bodo Andreas get the khyber pass?

since last years worlds i've been complaining to all who would listen that Coach Bodo had his chance and it was time for fresh blood heading up the AIS boxing program.

i was told to wait and see post the Cuba training trip how we went at the junior worlds and olympic and at the comm games.

well the comm games speak for themselves - our worst games ever

the secret weapon was suppose to be what they call diagonal and parallel punching. if anyone doesnt know what this is and would like it explained i can do so in a separate post or reply or whatever

but i was amazed to see that most of the african fighters were doing the exact thing and actually scoring from it - the rare times they tried our boys looked lost

also the cuba trip was supposed to have changed the way we train and - for one supposed to make us better at inside fighting - as you'd all know previous oz teams have all fought the same way - step in - pop-pop - step out and move - in fairness maybe there hasnt been enough time for that to sink in

well...as the comm games speak for themselves but what about Hoopers silver and gold?

i can't give bodo too much credit here as Hooper looks born to fight - his body shape and size is made for fighting - check out his arms - not only do they come down to his knees - but the real benefit is that much of that length is shoulder to elbow, meaning his ribs are well protected and the shorter forearm means he can fight well inside with the short uppercuts and hooks.

not to mention his metabolism - the guy walks around at 80kg and then makes 75 the next day

anyway i'm ranting

Bodo? Got to go? Or not?

 

exactly! we should be in that second tier with the English and Irish fighers. with the odd fighter being able to cut it with the elite that you've mentioned above.

but in these games we dont deserve rating beside even those countries

 

well, i'm too old to try it in the ring by my experience teaching it - juries out - some kids can do it - others not.

the main thing with the parallel and diagonal is you have to go flat footed - which of course brings about its own problem

and yeah, your hip movement seems to be irrelevant - the only way to get power is through the legs - hence the need to be flat footed...

who re-invents the wheel anyway?

but what you say about side on is interesting too.

one of the other things they've introduced is 3 different stances for 3 differents attacks - side on ie 45degrees for long punching, more square say 60degrees for medium range - hooks + over hands, and almost compeletely square when on the inside - i guess this is a little like pac man so maybe it can work - or maybe it only works if your pac man

 

ok - basically its a walking attack - can be one step or multiple steps
(lets assume an orthodox stance)

diagonal punching - you punch with the opposite foot you step with. if you imagine steping fwd with the front foot as if to throw a jab but throwing the lead right. this is done without turning the hip into the punch. as the back foot moves up the left hand is thrown - and so on. done right you can launch across the ring throwing alternate punches without the hips breaking from 45degrees - i assume the name diagonal comes from fact hips stay at 45degrees - you would've seen Damian Hooper throw this alot - usually only as a single punch - in both the junior olympics and the comm games

parallel punching - is the opposite - same hand as the foot that steps. the trick here is not to let the back foot step in front of the lead foot. here the hips are almost square - hence the name parallel - you see Pacman throw this alot as he steps into his left hand - actually i;ll confuse things using a southpaw - what about carl froch - you'll see him step his right foot up when he throws the right and step the left foot into opponent as he throws the hook.

i hope you can picture it from the description - i'm sure i've made it totally confusing.

but wait there's more.

it can also be done backing up - but its the opposite - in that case diagonal is punching with the same foot you step with and parallel the opposite hand to step. it makes sense if you look at the position of the hips when you step-punch.

at the comm games - those oz fighters that tried to use it, did so as a frontal, lead attack. my feeling is it works best as a counter. the middleweight i train that has picked it up the best uses it after stepping away - usually laterally - from an attack and then countering with diagonal punching.

the powers that be in the amatuer association now have all this stuff taught in the trainers course so the kids coming up are across before they get taken into the AIS - so one can imagine its here to stay so long as Bodo is anyway