Keeping ahead of the rest, or just making your training more fun .
New Ideas, or something you always liked, add them.

I will add one per week. for a couple of months then I'll run out

To practice stance and setting your feet before throwing while moving :
You can get just two of you, or even two lines of fighters one side with medicine balls and while practicing staying low and shuffling forwards towards your opponent, practice throwing the ball at him by turning into the movment bodily and having your arm go through the exact same movments as a lunging jab or right rear cross etc, he catches it and sends it back the same way to you.

You can even throw them from your chest or lower out to the oppositeside (across you) while on the move, to copy swings and hooks while moving.

I think I suggested this a while back but might as well bring it back up for this thread.

I often go out in the back yard with my boxing mitts and train on my hooks with the washing line. It is one of the ones with a pole in the ground and comes up to about just under head height, and has three arms coming out like branches.

The good thing is it spins around freely so you can punch one branch and it swings around. I think it is quite effective because you have to be ready to ither block or duck or bob out of the way of the other 'branch' on the line.

Anyone who has got one of these washing lines should give it a go. Just make sure the neighbours aren't watching you beat up on the washing line,

With a double ender (pull it down so the bag is level with your head when you're in a lowish stance)
or those floor to ceiling bags that look like a giant peanut shell with lower section and top section.(duck the lower section).

Stand nearly nose to nose and hit the rope (straight punch the elastic rope using one or both hands) under the lower part of the bag then weave your head side to side to avoid the strike back.
Great visual skills, aim, and timing skills for right in close.

Quick and cunning footwork - Its definately effective - its all about getting in the right stance/angle before striking

Originally Posted by Roсky

Whaddya think about the footwork of bruce lee, is it boxing effective?

Bruce had to teach footwork that related to all over fighting .
like the Wing Chun Kung Fu practitioners who taught him before he reshaped it to suit his Jeet kune do before he took it to the world.

I have tried to impart the slight shifts and half steps and full foot swithces that they taught into ,the advanced fighting section on the front page becuase boxers can use these especially up nose to nose fighting either to evade or to get more power.

Boxers are lucky because there is no fear of a knee strike blowing you away as you duck and roll under a fist etc, or a elbow to catch you in the reverse path to your head.

So boxers can use more footwork than any other style fighters.
To use footwork to create better head movement while stepping is at their disposal and only just being discovered by a few.( So your lucky,practice it and you'll be better than most)

To practice slight knee bends while standing square on and lift the outsides of your heels up while throwing shots nose to nose OR Slight Knee bends while stepping out on angles or knee bends stepping back on the angle can create headmovemnts in a U shape or a n shape and to then practice the variations takes your head movments into the full circular O pattern.You practice those steps and bends with your normal ducking and weaving and you'll be alot more evasive and devestaing in your return shots(through weight shifting) than anyone whos gone before you.

Tennis ball or other type, glued on elastic string hung off the ceiling in front of a wall.

For advanced fighters ...Get into a nose to nose situation with your sparring partner get contact with both arms and close your eyes ! ..but maintain contact on your wrists onto his arms and feel his intentions and feel his body movments ,keep him from being able to get a free hit on you by chocking off his intention; fight for the opening or when he pushes back on your arm ,giveway to create an opening by revolving your arm around his to gain the centre.
Even blind you know instantly where there is an opening ,you know at anytime where the head target is, you dont have to see them so long as you maintain contact. Try it out, you'll be very surprized how much of your training is now automatic to you.

The further back you are the harder it is to feel your way,but it is possible with practice.

This gives you a way of practicing 'contact reflexes' ;refexes that are much faster than you can possibly think /react,so it is of great benifit.

"Choice-reaction freeze drill. To confuse his opponent and slow his foe's reaction time, the jeet kune do stylist is taught to make subtle motions with his hands, feet, head, knees, elbows and shoulders during combat. The opponent is forced to acknowledge such stimuli and must decide what to react to and what to ignore. The JKD fighter practices these quick, compact movements by utilizing a partner exercise known as the "choice-reaction freeze drill." As the jeet kune do practitioner executes the choice-reaction moves. his partner will occasionally call out "stop" or "freeze." At that moment, the JKD stylist freezes his body and limbs exactly where they happen to be. The partner then presents the practitioner with a target at any level or angle. The jeet kune do fighter then strikes the target with his best available weapon."


This is till applicable with boxing, try practicing these drills with your sparring partner with the intent of reading their intentions through their movements. I got this off of http://web.ukonline.co.uk/ray.d8/article5.html this is worth reading more than once, check it out

That is a great exersize that Bruce developed from the one I mentioned above which he learned from his Wing Chun master.He was a smart man and adapted exersizes from Fencing too which is even closer to boxing. That exersize he developed is more useful to his own style JKd and other fight styles that use all the body parts to fight with; like with head butts, finger strikes, knee breaks,elbows etc. Its limited in its use for Boxing in so much as the fight is only with the hands and is faster not in hand speed , but in the general fight movments only because there are less targets in boxing and less body parts used for weapons .
I think it may be of use to show up where your partner sees an opening that you are usually not aware of.
But it could be a lot harder to accentuate a slight bluff or parry or a slight body movment and expect an opponent to interupt his punching to the head or body target because of it.

I don't remember who posted this, but I thought this was worthwhile...

"Take a small towel, hold it in the hand you Jab with, and snap it 100-200 times, do it as long or as many times as you feel is necessary. I do 100-200 depending how sore I am or whatever, but my trainer came up with this and I thought it was a great idea, the purpose is to get your hand back to the position it started as fast as possible, and in order to make the towel snap you have to bring it back faster than you sent it out. It works the same muscles and it’s a great Idea. Try it"

This takes a bit of patience and practice ,

With sparring partner or friend practice just relaxing your arms (not necesarily out and in a fixed on guard mode either ) just whatevers comfortable and freed up ; so you can concentrate on other things flowing together.

Now just practice letting his blows come through but you simply lean back out of contact and then as you straighten up follow his glove back with your own attack. Follow the elbow back and go low OR follow the glove back and go over it ,wherever the opening occurs.

This allows you to set your visual skills into the correct timing mode.

It also sets you into a rythem whereby your attacks will be harder to see comming for him due to his own retreating movment ,therefore more devestating once you put it into practice in real ring terms.

HE has to work in with you, you both just remain in a fixed stance to begin with and add stuff and get faster as you go along so your reactions catch up to your vision and visa versa.

After a few months of practice you can bring other footwork into play ,but for a start begin at the start.

Swap around so you both a get the appreciation of the exersize.

"Poi" is the Maori word for "ball" on a cord

The Poi was used, many years ago, by the indigenous Maori people of New Zealand to increase their flexibility and strength in their hands and arms as well as improving coordination.

Wahine (female) dancers perform the Maori Poi, a dance performed with balls attached to flax strings, swung rhythmically.

The Poi dance was originally used by the Maori women for keeping their hands flexible for weaving and by the men for strength and coordination required during battle. Poi are also used as a training aid for other ancient weapons like the Mere or Patu (Short club)

I posted this a while back also - A friend at work was doing it and taught me - I have been doing it for over 2 yrs now and I already had good speed and coordination but it took me to the next level - it also helps develop both sides of the brain - balance defense speed and offense - basically it develops every thing needed for boxing - I know I am not the only one doing this here - maybe you know it by a different name - here is their site for more info http://homeofpoi.com/ - this site also has poi lessons

This is what I do before and after a workout to warm up and warm down.

For fighting in opposite stances only; IE; one in southpaw one in natural ; If your jab is slipped and he moves to the outside of it ,you can keep it mostly extended and use it as a guard and a feeler by bodily turning into the direction they have moved to.
This allows you to regain contact ,distance and allows you time to set up your stance to his new position while remaining covered against his reply.

Its not something you would want to do everytime but it works when readjusting (maybe because space is limited through ropes or a ref) or if he hugs tight to your outside elbow for the overhand reply etc.
Leave it up and out ,turn in slightly and you have its path covered!

A great way to test your technique while sparring or punching the heavybag is to set up a video cam and tape yourself, and when you watch the tape, you can see your mistakes.
(If it's your 1st time, you will find a shitload of mistakes)