the guard

Hi,

Another difference I've noticed between boxing gyms is the order in which they teach things.

Obviously footwork should always come first. When you are learning defence however after being told to hold your hands up what should come next?

I learnt to slip before anything else. That just seemed to come naturally to me. Now my trainers feel i learnt my X,Y,Z before my A,B,C because i struggle to feel comfortable taking a good punch on my guard.

I ALWAYS feel a lot of power hit me even if my guard is not knocked away. All my sparring partners are heavier so this may have something to do with it but i feel it should be better. I sometimes get neck pain from attempting to practice it with a partner.

Some coaches will tell me to brace my hands against my head and keep them there. Others tell me to brace my hands so they come out and meet the punch just a little bit in front of my head. I'm not sure of which I should believe.

Also i think that female boxers may need to hold their guards a little differently since it's hard to brace the elbows in tight against body with boobs in the way (even small ones) so it gives way more easily when knocked.

I know that even if i was very good at slipping I'd still get caught sometimes and there will be times when the punches come in such quick succession - so i need a guard to back that up.

Any suggestions on how to improve this?

How long have you been Boxing

About 4.5 years boxing with 2 years kickboxing first - total around sixish years - I changed from kickboxing to because I took a boxing fight to get some more experience, got totally wooped and realized i had a lot to learn about boxing that i'd never learn in a kickboxing gym.

holding a really solid guard was not a big focus of the training in any of the kickboxing gyms or my first two boxing gyms. Now i'm in a gym which places a much higher value on that.

I probably should have the guard down by now but i don't have anything as solid as i'd like. Sometimes the guard is solid enough when standing still but then i'm bracing myself so hard that it interferes with the flow of my movement. I get the impression i should be able to hold a solid guard and move at the same time.

Obviously i have a lot left to learn! Especially as i started in kickboxing and then changed to boxing - if i had my time again I'd either go the other way or just stick to boxing. Sorry to inundate you with Qs - I might have to change my username soon so you can give someone else advice!

One way you could try is get a 10lb weight disc, hold it in your hands so its resting on your kneck elbows on your chest and move around the ring in that position. It will give you good posture and get you use to the feel where your hands should be

will do starting today! thanks :)

I'm assuming your talking about your defensive as you use the word "guard". Sorry, different land: different language. It sound like some of your coaches want you to block or catch the punches and some want you to soak them up in your gloves. I think both suggestions work in various situations and providing the style of fighter you are. I would definately suggest you move into a tight defensive is you are a poor mover and if you are fast on the feet....block and counter. Most importanly hold the hands protecting that tucked chin.

OldTownBoxing

I think you understand what I'm saying. When i say my guard i mean using my forearms and clenched fists as a wall. However, sometimes it's defensive and sometimes offensive.

I am sometimes told to use this as I move in deliberately expecting it to be hit and punching out as my opponent is bringing their gloves back - timing my attack to take advantage of them. I find it difficult against heavier sparring partners - particularly those who are taller and have a longer reach. I feel like they can easily move back out of the way using me as a punching bag as they go. I will only catch them rarely with my third and fourth attacks if I can cut the ring well and they are not smart enough to upset my timing.

i am currently being taught this as if it is a simpler, more basic technique than slipping or parrying the punch while stepping in to breach the distance and countering. However i feel my guard is not strong enough to do this well and it is hard for me to punch out of it quickly after impact from my opponents punch so I don't quite time the counter as well as I'd like.

Scoring of amateur boxing in Australia has gone towards awarding a point to anything which knocks the head back even if it only knocks your guard which is pushed into your head. That and the fact this is a bit uncomfortable compared to slipping means i feel i need to do this really, really well or not at all.

Another bad habit i have is that when I'm concentrating i tend to unknowingly pace myself according to my opponents pace. i often don't set my own pace unless I'm told to just go for it - in which case I and my techniques look a bit feral! Thus, sometimes I'm fast and sometimes I'm slow. I guess for that reason it's important for me to learn both forms of defense. However I'm not sure that I need to use the guard offensively - especially since I'm the gym midget and can't spar people the same weight i will fight in competitions. what do you think?

If your boobs're getting in the way of your guard, you could try taking lower stance kind of like Joe Frazier and put your hands out in front of you to maintain a tight guard. I'm a C cup booby person and to be honest, I haven't had any problem with them getting in the way of my guard so maybe you just need to adjust your stance a bit.

In regards to pacing yourself off of what your opponent is doing...don't do that. Have an attitude of "What the hell are you doing in my G**Damn ring, you piece of s***?" Demand that you set the pace and move that b**** around your ring so you can set up your shots.

Thanks for the input. It's a relief to find this boob issue isn't a problem for all female boxers since I've never been in a gym with more than one female boxer and amongst the few other women I've trained with it's been a big problem. Perhaps we just both have a few of the same bad habits.

I have a few bad habits and another one would be trying to make myself taller when fighting taller opponents rather than getting low. Very, very bad i know but possibly why my guard might be held too high.

I think I tend to pace myself with my opponents because I'm more comfortable countering than initiating. also when sparring the guys - although they never go all out against me (I'm a bantamweight and the smallest guy in the gym would be about 75 kg) - I feel the weight of their punches and slow down to brace myself more so my guard can handle it ....... not that it always works!

I will work on making myself lower and strengthening my legs since that seems to be the answer to a lot of my issues. Thanks :)

I've personally always held my gloves against my cheeks when taking a punch of the gloves. If I hold them out, they tend to get knocked back, and everyone else I see try has the same problem...they wind up essentially punching themselves. You wouldn't try to grab their fist to stop it, so why would you hold your gloves out to do the same thing? Theres a lot more power coming your way than your hands alone can stop, so don't force them to. If I'm parrying a punch or plan on slipping, I wont bring them back, obviously.

Maybe I'm wrong on that, but that's just the way that's always worked best for me.

Yeah I know what you mean - I thought punching myself in the face was a midget problem! I'm relieved to hear it's not necessarily related to size alone. I'll focus on holding my guard firm against my cheeks with my elbows tucked into my ribs. Seems I might be hunching my shoulders a lot to do this - does that sound right?

There are different variation of the guard, philly shell, peek-a-boo, crab....etc. I think if you are using the basic guard you should keep your hands tight to your cheekbones with the gloves just covering up your temples. I was told you can leave your forehead slightly exposed, because it is one of the hardest bones in the body. Your elbows should be tucked as tight to your body to deflect body shots, with your chin down and your arms tucked you shouldnt have a lot to hit.I think Winky Wright does this method better than anyone out there, and can throw his jab and counter effectively from it.Watch some of his fights, he is as close to textbook as it gets. If your a fast one, this style usually is not best. Try using the different styles till you find one that feels comfortable.

Whatever style the elbows are on the chest the only difference is the angle of the elbow except the crossoverwhich is a bastardisation which works for a few.

I open my hands up as best I can and put my fingertips on my forehead, where the bone is rock hard. Then I jsut peek thourgh the small opening which is easy to open and close. Keeping a tight fist and resting your gloves on your cheeks is fine, but it's a bit more impact that way. My way, there's a slight bit of space between your glove and your face. Although, I do tend to rest my jab hand on my cheek when coming in to attack.

Right - thanks for the advice :). I like the open handed style but I think I understand what you mean by changing it when going in to attack. When I do it - it feels like it might be a little slower to throw a straight punch from an open hand with your palm facing forewards than with you palms facing towards each other from a 'conventional' guard - although I can't think why?!?!

I am intrigued by the list of different guard styles you mentioned but unfortunately I'm unfamiliar with this terminology. Can you explain the difference between these styles please?

I am small so it's in my best interests to try to be fast so I'd like to adopt a style of guard which suits a fast fighter. Which would you recommend.

Definately try the philly shell, I said crab in my last post, but meant cross block. The cross block is used mainly to protect the head, it leaves the body open for shots. Good example of this style would be George Foreman during his comeback. Almost impossible to get your hands ready to counter in this one, I would recommend this to a bully style fighter that is a power puncher.Ken Norton also used it. The philly shell is good for fast fighters, your jab hand is slightly lower, right around the boobie area, with your back hand up against your head.This style is great for fast fighters especially if you have a decent jab. The key is using your shoulder as the blocking point for your jab side, you do that by raising the shoulder up and rolling away with the punch.You must be able to move good for this to work. James Toney and Floyd Mayweather use this style.Oh by the way the jab hand shouldnt be tucked in, you want to use that as a distance keeper and consistantly stick your jab. This style gives you visibility and quick counters, upper body movement is the key to making it work.

Donno if this is much help but it works 4 me:
1) Avoid boxing "square on" changing stance so feet are not so far apart can make you a smaller target and haelp movement

2)Use the tap method a la Joe Frazier, Clinton Woods: Tap the lead glove on the forehead to ensure hands are held high enough but not in so much as to make ur punches predictabvle

30 when training train with a tennis ball below the chin to keep it tucked

Donny howve you got 8 sad ones youve only posted 42 times and I find you polite have a cc even things up a bit

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Originally Posted by hitmandonny

Donno if this is much help but it works 4 me:
1)

30 when training train with a tennis ball below the chin to keep it tucked

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interesting. i like that. another cc for ya.

Wow thanks for all the fantastic advice everyone!

I think I've got enough to work on for a while. I will see how the philly shell works for me over the next few months and come back to you with any new questions I might have -

I've been amazed by how much I don't know since joining this forum so I'm sure there will be a few :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Scrap

Donny howve you got 8 sad ones youve only posted 42 times and I find you polite have a cc even things up a bit

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Agreed. I like this bloke a great deal ! :coolclick: # 6 to Donny from me as well O0

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hitmandonny

Donno if this is much help but it works 4 me:
1) Avoid boxing "square on" changing stance so feet are not so far apart can make you a smaller target and haelp movement

2)Use the tap method a la Joe Frazier, Clinton Woods: Tap the lead glove on the forehead to ensure hands are held high enough but not in so much as to make ur punches predictabvle

30 when training train with a tennis ball below the chin to keep it tucked

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I like this bit of advise ! nice job ! for me personally I hate a wide stance also , I have much better leverage and control when my feet are a bit closer in . O0

Yep I tried the tennis ball thing the other night and I like it - normally I hunch my shoulders a lot to get my chin in but this makes me use felxibility in my neck more which feels much healthier for my back :)

I will double chack the width of may stance aswell thanks :)