Quote Originally Posted by Scrap
When I Boxed I was a hand watcher. Today having been on the pads for the last 36 years and done thousands of rounds using them with different fighters, Im a elbows man. By watching the elbows I know exatly where the shot distance direction power is going to. Its something you pick up on I suppose its the first thing that moves it directs the angle of the fist. Now I know its a different set of circumstances to Boxing, but Im working with a guy at the moment weve talked and hes trying it and for him it works, in fact he loves it. But its horses for courses.
Fascinating, then you wouldn't mind if I share this: "The August 1960 Boxing Illustrated in This was Joe Gans said, “Gans was born with a sixth sense. They tell the story of how one of his opponents, after Joe had "carried" him for six rounds, asked The Old Master, "how do you do it?" And Joe just grinned and said, "I really dunno. I tried to figure it out, but I can't put it into words. I guess I just see what you're thinking and when the thought gets down around the elbow I just reach out and stop it.”

Ultimately I believe that the fighter has to become instinctively aware of everything that's going on. The weight shifts, any preliminary movements before a punch, distance/range, rhythm, patterns and tactical awareness are all things that should be taken into account.

Of course, this kind of perception doesn't happen over night. At first it's just noticing something new, it could be observing the different shifts of your sparring partner, or anything anything that catches your eye.

I can't remember the jargon or name of it. It's like when you have a particular car that you're interested in. In my case a Chrysler Lebaron convertable for what ever reason stands out. At first I didn't really notice, until my dad's lebaron was totalled by an idiot driver and at that point it stuck in my mind. I wasn't purposely looking for lebarons, but eventually just the thinking about it that time was enough that everytime a Lebaron is in sight I notice it. A couple years of that strange habit of looking for it and I can notice the that kind of car quickly, even from a distance and I'm not even thinking or looking for it.

I guess the same thing applies to boxing, it starts off as some sort of thought, maybe a discovery or realization. But the sooner you start thinking about that something, and more you keep thinking about it and maybe, just maybe your eyes will catch on. A lot of it has to do with experience, take a sharp trainer like Ray Arcel, or master boxer like Corbett and you'd see that their powers of observation far exceed your own, when it comes to seeing the different subtleties that are going on.

You have to start somewhere, and the sooner you do the better off you'll be.

[Edit:] I think for a beginner you should start off with something less subtle. For instance, take notice the distance between you and your opponent, also angles and obvious things that your opponent gives away. Boxing is learning in pieces, a lot of it is about relationships; distance, the timing, cause and effect, and everything is changing. In regards to learning it's an observation and with boxing it boils down to experience which you must feel for yourself to truly begin to understand it. You could say the same thing about life, as experience creates the perspective.