Sorry if it's not right forum(boxing=team? :P )

In past 2 months, I've been hitting up local gym every 2-3 days a week(some at home too). I took boxing class with a personal trainer as workout. I think it's really fucking fun and I enjoy the sport, always been my favorite training routines since I can just keep going and going.

ATM, I've been thinking about taking up boxing seriously. But my gym doesn't seem have all of the equipments(It's just another genetic gym, like they don't have a boxing ring...just two different kind of speed bag, punching bag and punching ball), and I'm willing to take it to the new level.

I have like 100000 questions, but I'll leave them out for important questions...Is it disadvantage to have a short arms(I think my arms are short) and what it take to master at boxing?

Edit: I just measured my arm; it's 26 inches fist to armpit I believe. I was told by my trainer that I have a really wide shoulders. + I'm at 160 lbs and 5'10 tall.

Is it a disadvantage to have short arms? Remember on cartoons how the older kid would just stick out his arm and hold the little kid back as he swings wildly?

- Go to a boxing gym, not just a gym.

- Having a short arm span IS a disadvantage, but that doesn't mean you can't box. Power comes from leverage, not big muscles. So big shoulders and long arms can create more power than guys with narrow shoulders, short arms, and big bulging muscles. Use what you have. If you don't have a really long reach, you probably won't be able to win fights just with your jab. If you're in a fight with a guy taller than you (which may happen at your weight), with a longer reach, you will have to get on the inside and fight get up in his chest so you can use your shoulder for defense to roll and slip punches, and then be able to hook and uppercut to the body and chin.

- Don't think in terms of arm span, think in terms of reach. If you have really broad shoulders and you're squared off with your opponent, turning fully into your punches will give you more of a reach than just popping out a jab with just your arm for example.

- Start conditioning training as soon as possible, get used to running as long and as hard as you can every day..

- Learn to go to the body without your trainer having to beg you to.

- Get as much sparring time as you can.

- Always defend yourself.

- Don't be afraid to take a knee in the amateurs if you get buzzed real well. If you get knocked down, take your time getting up. If you say, get hit behind your ear, it wont actually knock you out in the same way that a solid shot to the jaw will, but it will take your legs out from under you in the exact same way. So you may be able to stand back up immediately, but when you do you will probably flail all over the ring and fall down again - which will force the ref to call the fight. So take your time, wait until you have your legs THEN get up.

- Learn to keep your hands up and use your gloves and forearms to catch punches, but also learn how to use your shoulder for defense. For modern day examples of guys that do this well, watch Floyd Mayweather or a prime James Toney. Many of todays young boxers overlook this style of defense, or only do it in a half assed way. Well heres the thing, textbook defense (just keeping your hands up), still does you some good even if you don't have much experience with it. You just keep your damn hands up, and unless you're going to be hit behind the ear or behind the head, it will do you some good. The shoulder roll on the other hand, if its half assed, basically just leaves you open. Watch Arturo Gatti get outboxed by uh, anyone... he tries to use the shoulder roll, but instead just gets destroyed by straight punches. Its advanced stuff, but start learning it early, knowing how to use your shoulder is a great technique that many amateurs you'll fight won't expect.

I'll post some more random tips later.

Thanks for tip, sambob.


I remember you mentioned that you live in springfield, ohio?


Edit: I've been hearing things about bad habits....Like stepping back as you punch(telegraph?), leaving your chin out in open, etc etc. I'd like to hear other important things (I know..i know; keeping your damn hand up is the most important thing in boxing :P ) I don't want to develop bad habits while I'm with this trainer. I have like 4 more sessions that I paid for.


Edit2: What about stance? I can easily do both way if I want to, but I feel more comfortable doing southpaw(lefty).

Only focus on one stance, lots of kids these days think they can use both, but really they can't, and they get an ass whoopin because of it.

You probably feel most comfortable in a southpaw stance NOW because you are right handed, and the punch you are throwing most often now is the jab. However, its much easier to teach yourself to jab with your left hand, than it is to throw power punches with your left hand (which is also weaker).

Keep your hands up. Not just when you're standing there, but when you're learning how to punch make sure you don't drop your hands after throwing a punch. For example, a common thing for beginners to do is while throwing a cross, or especially while throwing a one-two combination, they will drop their jabbing hand. Anyone who knows how to box will notice this, and just take a halfstep back the next time they start to throw it, and counter with a BIG right, as its easy to land when someones left is down and they're turning into a right hand.

Keep your chin tucked.

Only focus on one stance, lots of kids these days think they can use both, but really they can't, and they get an ass whoopin because of it.

You probably feel most comfortable in a southpaw stance NOW because you are right handed, and the punch you are throwing most often now is the jab. However, its much easier to teach yourself to jab with your left hand, than it is to throw power punches with your left hand (which is also weaker).

Keep your hands up. Not just when you're standing there, but when you're learning how to punch make sure you don't drop your hands after throwing a punch. For example, a common thing for beginners to do is while throwing a cross, or especially while throwing a one-two combination, they will drop their jabbing hand. Anyone who knows how to box will notice this, and just take a halfstep back the next time they start to throw it, and counter with a BIG right, as its easy to land when someones left is down and they're turning into a right hand.

Keep your chin tucked.
Heh...I meant like I can do both, but left side is better.

I'm actually left handed.....I can't power jab/punch with my right hand well. It's only useful for uppercut, jab and cross, I guess.(Unless you can power punch with right hand in southpaw stance, then never mind).

If you're left handed then use a southpaw stance. You CAN throw power punches with your right hand - hooks and uppercuts.

Learn the punches in this order:

1 - right jab (there is no left jab, because you are a southpaw, people think that you can throw a jab and a cross with each hand, no, a jab is a straight punch with your lead hand, not just a 'fast punch', a cross is a straight punch with your power hand, not just a 'power punch' - half assed boxing fans say this kind of thing all the time, but its just not true). This is the most important punch in boxing, so spend most of your time right now practicing it. You want SPEED with your jab. Jabs are useful for so many things. A jab moreso than any other punch is not just used to punch people with (I know that sounds odd..), but can be used to SET UP other punches. As a beginner, you will throw the jab before everything. You're either throwing a jab, or throwing a 1-2, or throwing a 1-2-3, or a 1-3, etc etc. The jab is not just for combinations though, its an excellent offensive and defensive tool. A jab is very fast (it just SNAP out, like you're whipping someone in the ass with a towel in the locker room), so you can throw it very quickly.

If you're fighting a guy that does't have good footwork, you can literally destroy him using only your jab. If he has poor footwork he will have to get set with his feet planted to throw every punch. So first off, if you have good footwork, he will never be able to find you, but even worse for him, watch his FEET. Every time he tries to get set, stick a jab in his face. It doesn't have to hit him, but he will react to it, and it will therefore keep him from getting set. Pretty smart eh?

Jabs to the body are overlooked, but they're quite effective. Straight punches to the body in fact, are just as useful as hooks to the body, but they're the least common punches ever thrown. With a straight punch to the body, you can get someone right in their solar plexus. Remember when someone would get hit in the stomach and it would knock all the air out of your lungs and it would really suck? Thats the solar plexus!

2 - left cross. This is your power shot, and its the easiest power punch to land and to learn, so you will use this often. Especially since you're a southpaw. Because you will almost always be fighting orthodox fighters, you will always be fighting guys at odd angles. Jabs and right hooks will be less effective because of.. the angles, just think about it, visualize it. So you will need to become very proficient in throwing shots with your left hand. When fighting southpaws, orthodox fighters are encouraged to throw right hand leads (a right cross without a jab before it), because it comes from a better angle to go through a southpaws glove than a jab. So learn how to do this.

A GREAT tool to use as a southpaw, is the straight left to the BODY, people aren't expecting it and its very useful.

3 - right hook. This is good as a southpaw, because despite the weird angle, its your easiest power punch to throw with your LEAD hand, so its closer to your opponent. Because of the angle though this will be very effective thrown to the BODY. Or you can throw a 3-2 combination. The hook probably won't land, but as its a big shot, it will distract your opponent from the big left hand coming right down the middle towards his chin.

4 - left hook. This is a hard punch to land because its slower than your cross, and its already slower than a right hook because its on the power side of your body (takes longer to reach your opponent!). But as a southpaw, its an effective shot because of.. the angles!

5 - right uppercut. Uppercuts are hard to learn, and aren't thrown very often, but this is a good one for a southpaw. When you're on the inside of your opponents lead foot*. And when in fighting, this one is great to throw to the body.

6 - left uppercut.. Hard punch to learn and land, because its even slower than your left hook, and therefore obviously is harder to land, but also leaves you opponent on that side for even longer than any other punches. If your angles are right though*, you can throw this well in combinations.


*When you're fighting an orthodox fighter you're always be fighting with weird angles. If your lead foots are just lined up, you'll both have a hard time landing your punches and getting set to throw. If your lead foot (your RIGHT foot) is on the OUTSIDE of your opponents left foot (his lead), that is, if its further to the right (your right, his left) of his left foot, the angles change, and you can then land your punches more easily. So your goal in positioning while fighting an orthodox fighter, will be to keep your lead foot on the outside of his lead foot. Once this is accomplished, you can more easily land your right jab, hook, left uppercut, etc etc. There is one neat trick for southpaws in this regard though, if your lead foot is on the inside of your opponents, if your go FURTHER into the inside (a little lead, or a half step), your RIGHT uppercut can be landed throw the middle of your opponents guard. This is tricky to do, because putting yourself OUT of position of course puts your opponent INTO position to throw their shots, but if done as a counter for example, you can land a big shot, cause a right hook is a BIG shot if you know how to throw it.

If you want to see a good example of some of these things watch:

Winky Wright: Winky is the master of the straight punches as a southpaw. Watch his demolition of Tito Trinidad. Winky kept his foot on the outside, and used his excellent defense with his gloves to counter punches Tito with his straight left hands, 1-2s, and to pick him apart with his jab. not just hurting him with the jab, but keeping Tito from getting set to throw his powerful left hooks and right crosses.

Zab Judah: If you want to see a good example of a guy who makes good use of that right uppercut I just mentioned, watch his recent fight with Cotto, or any of his fights that he fought well. OF course Zab lost the fight with Cotto (though personall I think if Cotto hand't thrown SUPER hard low blows both times Zab hurt him,, the fight would have gone differently), but he makes good use of many of these tricks.

Pernell Whitaker: Though Pernell's style is impossible to match, he does some things often than more southpaws should try to do, such as throwing left hands to the body.

Marvin Hagler: Marvin was a right hander who went southpaw because he felt it gave him an advantage with his jabs and hooks (And it did to a degree), one of the greatest middleweights of all time. He was a master in fighter, and watching him you could get some ideas for things to do while fighting on the inside (not talking about feet here now, talking about how close you are to your opponent). Its hard to negotiate those angles when you're inside, but Marvin was able to do it very well. Though keep in mind some of the things he did are considered unorthodox, and in the amateurs they will get your kicked out. Example, he would rush to the inside with his head down WHILE punching (head butting), while clinching he would use the odd angles to press DOWN on his opponents which is very tiring for them, step on their lead foot then throw a punch..... yeah, those are just the things he did that you DON'T want to do!

Pernell Whitaker is crazy good at dodging, goddamn.....

My trainer already taught me all 6 punches, in the order; right jab(1), power punch(2), right hook(3), left uppercut(4), right uppercut(5), then left power punch(6).

I don't think double uppercut is a great idea (4-5). :P


Aren't you supposed to twist(corkscrew) when you throw punches all the time? Especially with straight punches.

+ What's the proper way to throw a hook? Fist wise(palm facing to me or knuckles sideway; its hard to explain)

When your punches connect, your knuckles should be parallel to the ground. The whole 'corkscrew' thing isnt really the point, its just about hitting your opponent (or even just a bag) squarely so you don't hurt your hands.

When your punches connect, your knuckles should be parallel to the ground. The whole 'corkscrew' thing isnt really the point, its just about hitting your opponent (or even just a bag) squarely so you don't hurt your hands.

Er, except for hooks. You throw hooks with your palm facing you, well, at least in Muay Thai.

Uh, NO. Do NOT do that, you can REALLY hurt yourself. Especially in thai boxing, since those wrong facing knuckles could crash into a leg or elbow strike and break your hand easily.

Hit a leg or an elbow? Every single movement in thai boxing risks hitting a leg or an elbow. Hooks are thrown with your palm towards you, or if not 100% towards you, at an angle between yourself and the floor.

Hit a leg or an elbow? Every single movement in thai boxing risks hitting a leg or an elbow. Hooks are thrown with your palm towards you, or if not 100% towards you, at an angle between yourself and the floor.

I was taught parallel with the floor, since if you catch a foot or knee your fingers are flexible and will be able to come off it easier than the edge of your hand or your knuckle.

Well with hooks you really can't connect 100% parallel like I said. But the goal is to try. If you try to punch with your knuckles perpendicular to the floor, you will bust your hands.

Well with hooks you really can't connect 100% parallel like I said. But the goal is to try. If you try to punch with your knuckles perpendicular to the floor, you will bust your hands.

Wasn't really following the whole conversation but what I learned was when your throwing a hook in close range your palm should be parallel to the ground and when your opponent is farther away (say you wanna lead in with a quick hook when he throws his cross) your palm should be facing you.

When your in a match though, depending on the ref, you should forget those long ranged hooks because they might call you for slapping. (Like when the judges, refferee and your opponent are all from the same gym)

Jabs to the body are overlooked, but they're quite effective. Straight punches to the body in fact, are just as useful as hooks to the body, but they're the least common punches ever thrown. With a straight punch to the body, you can get someone right in their solar plexus. Remember when someone would get hit in the stomach and it would knock all the air out of your lungs and it would really suck? Thats the solar plexus!
!

True, feint into these alot against a taller guy. Step and crouch, move your shoulder a bit to get him flinchy and mix it up between body and head jabs. When you're better a good technique is to double jab alot, the guy will most likely raise his hands before anticipating and throwing crosses so you can throw the first jab low and go high or vice versa...

Since your shorter your gonna want to get used to going inside, where you can use your hooks and as sambob said getting hit in the solar plexis is a ballz. Especially if you can do it early in the round. The best way to do that with a hook is to slip on the inside of say a jab than completely change your wait over and rotate in kind of one leap.

You pretty much switch feet and are standing off to the side and angles perfectl for your hook that would normally hit his sides to land in the middle of his chest or stomache ( or face if you want to put because of how your legs need to bend to switch and land with balance it would be kind of akward) than after that you throw your other hook and rotate around him

In the amateurs refs are quick to call you on slapping. To get around this theres an easy trick you can use, it works like this:

Start in your ready position, and then when you go to throw a hook, don't slap!

Don't hook like Joe Calzaghe. Just PLEASE don't. I hate it that his fans say he throws combinations like Sugar Ray Leonard, because yeah they may be fairly fast.. but did Sugar Ray SLAP and throw BACK HAND jabs?

Come to think of it, Nasee Hamed threw backhands too... but anyway.

Oh, Sugar Shane Mosley back when he was a lightweight, HE could throw combos like Leonard!

Er but somehow I just got off on that tangent. It happens when I'm thinking about boxing.

I hate to sound so judgmental and one sided on this argument/debate/thread, but my experience as a boxer versus muay thai was very.....not impressive. Sure they could kick hard and grapple, but it seemed my trainer was right. He always told me that if you could only punch, and by punch, get the correct form, and strength and everything down right, you could beat anyone. Needless to say, i went to a muay thai gym about 2 weeks ago, and knocked out 2 members who have been going there for about 3 years. Their kicks were hard, their grapples were good (I'm only a boxer) but their punches were very half assed and thrown more as a strategy to land fast hits, rather than fast hits that knock IQ points off somebody. So I would say there IS a different philosophy and approach to punching from both sides of the world.

Its quite true. Most Thai boxers don't have good punching tecnique, and have poor boxing skills all together.

Its why Ramon Dekkers was able to so easily thrash so many of them. If you look at his fights, the only thing hes doing that the Thai boxers have trouble with is just simple boxing. Especially his body shots. He threw good hooks to the body and the Thai's just folded up and quit.'

If you have short arms and you want to be a boxer, then you will most definately be an in-boxer.

I hate to sound so judgmental and one sided on this argument/debate/thread, but my experience as a boxer versus muay thai was very.....not impressive. Sure they could kick hard and grapple, but it seemed my trainer was right. He always told me that if you could only punch, and by punch, get the correct form, and strength and everything down right, you could beat anyone. Needless to say, i went to a muay thai gym about 2 weeks ago, and knocked out 2 members who have been going there for about 3 years. Their kicks were hard, their grapples were good (I'm only a boxer) but their punches were very half assed and thrown more as a strategy to land fast hits, rather than fast hits that knock IQ points off somebody. So I would say there IS a different philosophy and approach to punching from both sides of the world.

Its quite true. Most Thai boxers don't have good punching tecnique, and have poor boxing skills all together.

Its why Ramon Dekkers was able to so easily thrash so many of them. If you look at his fights, the only thing hes doing that the Thai boxers have trouble with is just simple boxing. Especially his body shots. He threw good hooks to the body and the Thai's just folded up and quit.'

Wtf? Boxers beating kickboxers? They must have been shit fighters.

Anytime you can throw kicks/knees/elbows and your opponent can't, you have a major advantage if you've been training correctly.

A good kickboxer would keep his distance and kick the shit out of the boxers leg. After the first round or so, the boxer should be barely able to walk, so his footwork is shot. After that, it's just a matter of breaking them down from distance. If they keep getting in close, bring it so close that punches become ineffective and start throwing bows and knees.

A very well-conditioned kickboxer can kick your leg so hard with a single kick that you won't be able to stand if it's not broken.

It's hard to kick someone in the legs after you just had a fucking freight train hit your face. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to fight a muai thai fighter, but I have been hit by a boxer and I was flat out on the ground, couldn't get up, taken to the ER for 11 stitches and severe bruising. That was one punch.

I heard later that after I was on the ground my friend smacked a chair into the back of his head and he fell to the ground where about 6 people stomped on him until he was fucked.

Thats the whole point dumbass. A very good thai boxer can keep you on the outside and use kicks to the legs, etc etc.

However even the best Thai boxers tend to possess fairly poor boxing skills. On the inside (outside of a clinch), even with elbows, a boxer will have the advantage by FAR.

Oh and of course, boxers start much faster than Thai boxers.

This is, as I explained, why Ramon Dekkers was so successful in the late 80s and early 90s.

However even the best Thai boxers tend to possess fairly poor boxing skills.

I have noticed this as well.

they should probably build up their boxing first and foremost since that seems to be the a big weak point, and then work on the rest afterward while keeping their boxing skills up.

I agree completely. Though an even better choice would be for people getting into Thai style boxing to just learn how to box better within the realm of what you're already learning in Thai boxing.

Having a shorter arm reach isn't a disadvantage; longer ranged fighters need to keep their opponent farther away, so if you (as a close range fighter) get closer to them (as you will need to do to hit them) your opponent will not be able to land any punches correctly. Try to not square your body; keep it at an angle to narrow the target area your opponent has to land a punch, and hands up. They have an annoying tendency to go down.

Just getting closed to someone doesn't stop them from punching, you really have to stick your head on their chest or on their shoulder and use your entire body to smother them. Fighting on the inside is hard work, and a hard style to learn, as to be REALLY good at it you need to learn to use your shoulder for defense, your head and upper body movement, etc etc, instead of your gloves.

This thread possesses the best continuous advice of any other totse thread I have seen.

+1

Spar, spar, spar, spar. You can't learn to fight from an internet forum. Good tips here though.

learn to parry shots.
(knock away there punches)

learn everything you can to frustrate your opponent.
and always go in a fight a contender never a champion (metaphoricaly)

Thats poor thinking. When people say "contender" they really just mean thinking only of offensive, always looking for a knockout.

Your fight plan should come from two things:
1) The other fighters style (their strengths and weaknesses)

2) Your strengths and weaknesses

That is, you use your strengths and weaknesses as effectively as you can to defeat your opponents keeping in mind his strengths and witnesses.