Extending Arms - Shadow Boxing

[cambay411]

Also i agree nothing is impossibe to counter thats why if you use that angle you have to keep your hands up and make sure to maintain good balance. No matter what you throw something is going to open up.

[HerbM]

So Wayne are you for the step or totally against the step? lol

There is a major difference between "taking a step" and "transferring weight to your front foot" -- you can do either separately or both together.

I am pretty sure that several of us, me for sure, are cautioning against the weight transfer forward. (Some may also be against any step,with or without weight.)

Even in the Dempsey 'falling step' he is NOT suggesting that you throw your weight onto the front foot. I actually find that more of my weight ends up on the BACK FOOT when doing this:

My front foot steps, or comes off the ground a little, or merely bends at the knee to REMOVE weight from it as (or just before really) the FIST STRIKES -- some of that front foot weight goes to the FIST (i.e., your opponents head or body) and the rest MUST go to your back foot --- unless you jump it must go somewhere.

The idea is to get a good part of it into the fist and thus into the opponent -- for a moment you are partly supported by HAND (and opponent's head) and REAR FOOT.

I believe -- and practice this way, you do not want ALL of the original weight from the front foot on the HAND since then you are in danger of truly falling through if you miss the target or he slips.

Generally, if I start with 60-40 rear-to-front weight distribution, I am trying for (about) 80-20 read to hand distribution for about 1/2 second, then that front foot is firmly back on the floor taking the weight again.

So, if my weight is (about) 200 lbs and I put 20% (or even 10) of it into that punch along with the force already in that punch the opponent's head is going to feel the effects of 20-40 lbs* MORE than the punch alone. Not bad if we can do it.

Dempsey even spends a lot of effort and words explaining that when you FIRST start practicing the falling step and "Left JOLT" on the bag people will come up to you and tell you that is all wrong because they will see you FALLING FORWARD, or otherwise shifting your weight onto that front foot -- even if you don't do that at first many people will assume that is what you are doing and most good boxers know this (shifting weight forward) is wrong according to canonical boxing theory.

After you perfect the "falling step" (according to Dempsey and my limited experience with it) you can do it so that no one even sees the weight come OFF the front foot and so that you can take either a big step or no step depending on where you (next) want to be.

* For the physicists among us: Technically, just having 30 lbs on your hand is meaningless and without effect UNLESS it stays there for some (however brief period of) time.

You need the time for GRAVITY to work to ACCELERATE that hand into the opponent for him to suffer the effects of the transfer. But that time can be really short, just the time you are ALMOST in contact with the opponent until just as you withdraw.

This is likely about 1/2 second max but I am guessing and have not tried to measure it beyond noticing it while hitting the bag.

We could do the math (or someone could do the math anyway ) and figure out how much kinetic energy is produced by 30 lbs accelerated by the Earth for 1/2 second. Then we would likely want to do more math and convert that to IMPULSE to get an idea of the extra impact delivered.

But hey, if his head snaps back like a rag doll from a "jab" that's close enough for me.

--
HerbM

[WayneFlint]

So Wayne are you for the step or totally against the step? lol

I would say it depends what situation you apply the step too and how the step is taken. but generally if your trying to take a step while simultaneousely throwing the right hand then you are going to end up leaving the back foot out of range sometimes by not completing the step with your bac foot before throwing the right, which will result in a weak out of range right hand while if your opponents footing is good then your going to be in range to recieve perhaps damaging attacks but not throw any real damaging ones in return (this isnt good). taking the back foot with you before you throw the right is going to put you in range to land a damaging right hand aswell as recieve one, which is obveousely the desired scenario.

Aswell this will allow greater mobility and economy of energy, as you wont have ended up dropping down into a wider stance which can be draining to be continuousely having to get back out of the hole your putting youself in, in a hurry.