How Do You Box?

One of our old trainers who used to teach classes at the club would often finish the warm-up
with everyone, then come over to the front desk and ask me quietly, "How do you box?" It was of course a joke, as he was seconds away from teaching a boxing class and thus, I would often chuckle. At first. But he did it a lot and it became less funny over time. But he stuck with it and then, after a while, it became funny again because he just kept doing it.

Anyway, another part of the joke is that one can't just sum up how to box in just a few words. It's an extremely open-ended question. You could spend a lifetime learning it and still continue to learn new things about it. Anytime someone thinks they've got it all down, they look deeper and realize just how much more there really is. One of many great things about the sport, really.

That being said, when teaching boxing or even being taught yourself, having quick, simple, technical cues are so important. Just short sentences to put in your brain and remember while boxing. Learning proper boxing technique is hard enough but maintaining that technique while tired is a whole other challenge. Here are some general, non-punch-specific cues I like to use when doing a boxing workout on the heavy bag or with someone on mitts. It is certainly not a complete list and is not necessarily in a specific order but all important, basic things to always remind yourself of, no matter how good you at get. Intermittently throughout your workout session, perform a "systems check"  and run through these! 

• Remain in your fighting stance at all times - non-dominant foot forward, dominant foot back.

• Keep your hands up but shoulders relaxed.

• Hands start from the face and return to the face as quickly and directly as possible on every punch.

• Stay on the balls of your feet.

• Keep a slight bend in those knees at all times, let your weight sit down low in the hips.

• You want some distance between your feet. Not so wide that you can’t move but never too close together.

• Chin tucked into your chest, with a slight pelvic tip forward.

• Give a short, forced exhale on each punch. Don't hold your breath!

• Combination punches generally flow together, with no pauses naturally in between, i.e. if you throw a jab-cross, rotate your cross hand shoulder forward as your pulling your jab hand back.

• Try to keep your head moving - at least a little bit - before and after combos.

• Relax those shoulders. Seems counterintuitive to throwing powerful punches but you will punch faster and harder with relaxed shoulders, at least up until the point of impact.

• Straight wrists, tight fists when you hit that target.

• Relax the fist when not punching.

• Hit with the front and middle knuckles on your hand.

• Shoulders replace the hands when throwing any punch to the head.

• Bring those hands back to the chin just as fast as you throw them out there for a punch. Imagine you are taking a cookie from a cobra's mouth and don't want to get bitten!

• Don't push your punches, snap them!

• Rotate shoulders and hips on every punch.

• Start punches from the ground up - begins in the feet, works through the leg, the hips, the shoulders and THEN the hand.

• Check your distance from the target  and use footwork to get into the proper position.

• If you get tired, still stay active. You don’t have to throw the combo again but keep your hands up and keep moving. Your opponent doesn’t have to know if you are tired!

• Start slow to learn a combo, then speed it up, then add some power.

• Don’t lean your torso in to punches. Head should never be over feet. If you find yourself needing to lean in, get closer and/or rotate more.

• Every time you throw a punch, you are shifting weight from one foot to another. About 60%, give or take. Again though, that does not mean your torso/head should be leaning out.

• Always keep your eyes facing the target. You can rotate everything else but keep your head looking straight.

• Non-punching hand should always be covering the face

• Imagine your opponent is as tall as you. Don’t punch upwards as if fighting a very tall person or downwards either. For body shots, it is your body/ribs/belly/liver/spleen you should be targeting, in terms of height.

• Drop the weight down a little bit on power punches or at least, don’t stand up taller to punch the bag. Want maximum balance.

• All punches should hurt or at least bother your opponent. If your punches don't hurt, you must exert!

• Don't just stand in front of something and punch. Land your combo, then move to a new spot/angle, before throwing again.

• When punching while stepping, your foot should land at the same time as the punch. Sync up the hands and feet.

Whether you are shadow-boxing, hitting a heavy bag, working mitts, sparring, or even in the ring fighting someone, don't forget to perform these system checks routinely. Doesn't mean you can run through everything all at once but taking a moment to move out of striking range and check in with what your hands, feet and head are doing, will make a HUGE difference. As we get tired and in the heat of battle, it is very easy to lose track of these things, even for experienced boxers.

So, though our old trainer was joking when he asked, "How do I box?" it is a question we always have to ask and re-ask ourselves all the time. And just like non-sweet sciences, nothing is ever quite 100% settled either. There are certainly standards like the many I have mentioned but it is always good to re-evaluate them and see if they still and always hold true.