Extending Arms - Shadow Boxing

[HerbM]

Hey guys,

I've been getting into the habit of not extending my punches all the way through when I shadow box. I tend to be focusing on speed (especially with the jab) and I focus on throwing it out and pulling it back fast.

Today, my cousin who's been boxing for about a year and a half watched me shadow box and he kept calling me out on not extending my punches.

He said you should always extend your jab when you shadow box. Or else throwing short range punches will become habitual and I wont be using my reach effectively.

Fair enough that makes sense.. But when I watch a vid like Scrap's So You Want Fast Hands, it doesn't seem like the fighters are fully extending their arms, and I trust that there is some sort of wisdom behind that.

I know I've read several times that speed comes from the first 3" of every movement... and shadow boxing is based on building great technique and speed. So how do you apply that concept without getting into the habit of always throwing short range punches?

... So basically I guess all I'm asking is....

Do you suggest always extending your punches while shadow boxing? Why or Why Not?

Thanks

I do extend -- I will only throw as hard (or as fast) as I can do this without undue shock on my elbow (or even shoulder).

Much of my training comes from Systema (Russian Martial Arts) where every effort is made to remove ALL unnecessary tension from every punch -- and this includes never stopping a punch through muscle power since that would by necessity mean SLOWING DOWN the PUNCH and adding INHIBITORY TENSION to the OPPOSING muscles.

You literally "throw" the punches and let them go ballistically -- within the limits of not doing joint damage when punching the air.

On the bag, you ensure this by making the BAG STOP EVERY PUNCH -- I do not stop the punch, the bag does.

This ensure DEEP HEAVY punches.

This also means you can get really hard punches from really short movements too -- you use nothing put extension, with no hold back and your short punches will get really fast and hard also.

Even though I am still a boxing beginner (8 months), most who works with me spontaneously mention how HEAVY my punches are.

Let 'em go.

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HerbM