Thread: new to boxing.. suggestions please

a friend and myself are very into mma fighting and we are both lacking in the stand up department. i am 5'11 174 lbs and am looking into becoming an amateur fighter after some hard training. I have access to a heavy bag, but not a lot of time due to being deployed in afghanistan. I don't want to start bad habits or get stuck in them so any ideas on good workouts and or anything else that will do a rather new boxer any good? i appreciate any and all help!

Good luck in Afghanistan! Not boxing related, sorry. Are you there now...or are you heading there...and where are you from?

thanks for the good luck, it comes in handy! I have been here since march, and im from boston but live at ft campbell in kentucky.

Cool, well get back safely first of all, and welcome to Saddos. Our Canadian troops are there with you and I try to follow what the news allows.

I do quite a bit of sparring with MMA guys, both amateur and pro who are looking to work on stand up. They have very good wrestling backgrounds...and as well, look for the stand up practice. I suppose the thing you require most, is the thing you aren`t likely to get there...which is sparring with boxers. I would seriously look and try to get as much of any kind of that as possible there, until you can come back and get it formally. I`m no coach, so not much help in specifics.

The thing I find the MMA guys struggle with so much, is stance. I imagine it is part and parcel...but they all seem to be very square. This affects both their striking ability, and their defence. So I would look at incorporating some of the fundamentals of the boxxing stance in now...to avoid those bad habits you speak of.

I know Andre from in here, gave me a good article regarding stance he wrote, that is fairly elaborate. I haven`t had a good read on it yet, but intend to later today..and will send you a link to it. I don`t think you can send Pms back until you have 20 or so posts.

Again, welcome to Saddos. We are glad to have you here.

Originally Posted by jonnyvengeance666

a friend and myself are very into mma fighting and we are both lacking in the stand up department. i am 5'11 174 lbs and am looking into becoming an amateur fighter after some hard training. I have access to a heavy bag, but not a lot of time due to being deployed in afghanistan. I don't want to start bad habits or get stuck in them so any ideas on good workouts and or anything else that will do a rather new boxer any good? i appreciate any and all help!

What's man- I'm an NE/OEF/OIF I guy, come home safe. Ft. Campbell? Which ID are you with?

I'm no fantastic boxer or martial artist, but I practice both to include the Ju Jitsu the Army teaches us. The first thing I notice about 99.9% of MMA/Martial Arts guys is that they have no footwork in relation to countering. Just ask Chuck Lindell. I'm amused at many of these guys go down on straight rights and crosses.

But, my suggestion would be to the learn the fundamentals (as best you can with no coach) from all the boxing related materials you can get your hands on - (trainermonkey seems to be a wealth of knowledge, ask him for advice).

shadowbox, paying close attention to your footwork, learn combination-typically, a left hook after a right cross is a pretty natural thing, as long as your feet are moving (pivoting) with your body. Think of it like BRM- breathing, site picture, squeeze. Everything in tandem.

Trainermonkey, Nagel, and others can give you the specifics on when you should be on your toes, and all the other details that come with experience.

BTW, on the MMA thing, in my opinion the Ju Jitsu (the submission portion) is okay, but the Judo parts are the most effective. (Judo comes from Ju Jitsu, but they might as well be serperate now).

And honestly, forget the submissions, just KO 'em. Knees or knuckles, don't matter.

I am in the 101st Airborne, iraq in 05-06 and now afghanistan. i have been and will continue to look for training aids and guides as to learning good footwork. I am used to basically fist fighting when it comes to stand up so i know that my technique needs somoe work. do you have any suggestions on books or instructional videos? i really appreciate the help you have given! thanx a bunch!

you could do a lot of cardio work if your serious about getting into the cage or something.. such as a TON of stairs.. lots lots lots of mirror work (throwing different combinations) and make sure your breathing with every punch and keeping eye contact with yoruself. bc once you take your eyes off theirs is when you get screwed. make sure when you throw your punches you keep your other hand up so you dont live your head wide open. lots of push ups and core work (for taking body shots) are a must. also if you have access to a pool we do a lot of pool cardio.. such as put a kick board in front of you and use your legs only.. down and back 20 times... then sit on your kick board and use your arms (keeping them in the water the whole time) to propel your forward.. push the water forward as you go down then backwards as you come back do that another 20 times.. the next day you get to the pool swim 20 again using arms only no legs... no kickboard either.
let me know how this stuff goes for you!! best of luck. but i strongly suggest just tons tons tons of mirror work.. its helped me out TONNNSSS i spared today and my breathing and eye contact improved a lot. its easier to block kicks to the body and such.

just let me know!! good luck with everything!