What Is the Most Important Thing In Boxing?

It's probably punching, right? I mean, that’s what boxing is. Whether you train on your own or competitively, boxing is about throwing punches, first and foremost. But I don’t think that punching is necessarily the most important thing in boxing. Why? Because to even be able to throw a punch that lands successfully, you have to be in proper position. And that means, your stance and footwork
comes first.

Just like you can’t build a house without a solid foundation, you can’t throw powerful, accurate, efficient, and effective punches without a solid foundation. This is true for fitness boxing as much as it is a fight. Your stance is your foundation and I cannot overstate the importance of it.

Stances can vary a little bit, depending on the person and their style but I would encourage anybody new to the sport to adopt a more open, squared stance. Lead toe pointed forward, rear toe pointed 90ish degrees out and a line could pass between the legs, coming head on, without touching either foot. This stance not only allows for better, 360-degree balance but helps us to be able to shift our body weight more easily. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the hardest thing to teach people is to use their whole body to throw punches. Starting with a more open stance makes that much easier than narrow stance.

But we don't just stand still when we box, even when doing it for fitness. We have to move our feet. Even at first, it is good to learn how to move properly BUT that does not mean moving WHILE punching. That part usually takes a little while to get the hang of and can mess up the learning process a little bit if someone is moving while punching before they have the technique down for said punch. Anyway, there are many great reasons to learn footwork early one, and probably the most important is that it helps you get comfortable with your fighting stance and boxing in general.

You can break up the stages of learning a million different ways but the 2 most simple ways I like to think of it for boxing is: learning something intellectually, your mind knowing what the body should do, and Stage 2 is learning it physically, where your body knows what to do without the mind having to tell it. Footwork helps a lot with Stage 2. It teaches your body about balance and positioning, something that it is harder to actually explain in an actionable way.

Footwork is not just for beginners though. In fact it is often the "Next Step" of boxing. When people get comfortable in their stance, throwing punches, working defense, and all the basics, I recommend putting the footwork into their sessions. Moving before throwing a combo and after landing the last punch in the combo. Moving in and out, side-to-side, circling, changing angles and everything in between. This is yet another case where doing this will not only make you a much better boxer but the intensity of your workout will go up significantly.

There's yet another reason I find the feet more important than the hands in boxing. While boxing is indeed about punching, it is also about not being punched and footwork is the absolute best way to make that happen. Moving out of the way, simply not being there when your opponent attacks, and creating an angle so that you can punch them without them being able to hit you is the true mastery of the sweet science.

So whether you are just learning and looking to take that next step, focus on your footwork. It truly will make everything you do better. Like bacon! Although I have already used that analogy for body shots. Hey, maybe that will be my next blog post?