Kimbo's catch all question/answer thread.

[HerbM]

guys im not messin with you im a begginer to this

So are you willing to ACT like a beginner?

Early on when we suggested things such as 'learn to throw a jab properly first' you came back with "I already know how to jab properly".

You told us about how "powerful" your fantasy punch was but wanted us to tell you how to throw it.

Kimbo, do you see the contradiction?

It's not that you are asking 'beginner' or 'naive' questions, but that you are also telling us how you already know THE BASICS and refusing the REAL HELP we offered hoping to get you to concentrate on things that might help you boxing.

We can continue (if anyone is still willing) to answer your random questions, but the less attention you give to the REAL advice that gets included the less you will find people willing to deal with silliness -- you'll get more and more answers like 'use a bat' and fewer and fewer really helpful answers.

People will just start answering with one or two words -- why should they waste time on long, thoughtful, content filled answers that are just going to be ignored.

We can either begin to ignore you or you can allow us to help you learn to ASK BETTER QUESTIONS and PAY ATTENTION to the USEFUL INFORMATION even when you didn't realize what you really need to hear to begin to improve your skills.

Do you have a coach?

Do you train regularly?

Do you train in a boxing gym or somewhere where boxers have (very) good support and encouragement?

Are you willing to listen?

Would you READ a book if we recommended it?

Do you watch videos of GOOD FIGHTERS and try to figure out the SIMPLE things they do over and over (The BASICS!!!!)

Will you watch training videos (like the excellent tutorials by Scrap, or by Fran on MyBoxingCoach.com)?

Are you willing to learn to ask even better questions?

Are you only interesting in asking trivial questions or would you prefer to improve your boxing?


Ok, Back to your question "should you always move your head"?

I don't even know what that means, but NO, I don't "always move my head" when punching. A jab goes out with minimal movement -- why would my head move?

Of course, if I am MOVING MY FEET my head has to go along (for the ride) -- it needs to stay balance (really important not being facetious here) on top of a nice erect spine.

When I slip or fade, or course my head moves, but mostly because I bend at the waist or lower at the knees to duck and bob.

My head is NEVER stiff (I hope) -- it's relaxed, level, and balanced with a slight tilt of my chin forward towards my check to protect against knockout blows to the chin. Mostly this is by straightening the back of my neck and raising the crown of my head towards the ceiling rather than by lowering my head down on my check like I fell asleep in a train coach. I am standing tall, but head slight forward.

If I throw a body turning punch, then my head naturally swivels so that I continue to LOOK AT my opponent -- so yes, it moves like that too. I only swivel it as far as comfortable and natural and move my eyes if more range of motion is needed after that, but I must keep my opponent in view no matter how far my punch turns my shoulders.

Same for stepping in to the side or on a diagonal -- keep my head or at least my eyes on that guy TRYING TO HIT ME with his fists. He's dangerous and I must watch him consistently.

Is my head turning and nodding randomly or spastically all of the time? Of course not.

Much of your balance is (unconsciously) calculated based on you HEAD. You inner ear and EYES need to move in conjunction with your body or your balance is easily confused (this is the origin of motion sickness when riding in bouncing or turning vehicles).

Your brain must calculate what your eyes see (level, moving etc) with what your inner ears feel (up/down, left/right, accelerating/decelerating) with your PROPRIOCEPTIVE senses that tell you the angles of your joints, the weight distribution on your feet, etc.

Unnecessary motion of your head doesn't help this coordinating calculation -- your balance and movement will suffer.

What happens when you get hit? Hopefully you are able to move your head in a relaxed way away from a punch, slipping and rolling with it, absorbing the energy you cannot avoid and quickly returning your spinal alignment (and of course your head) to its proper erect position over you hips which are over your feet and center of gravity.

Any time your head is NOT over your feet and center of gravity you have two good choices:

Move your head back over your feet
Move your feet back under your head

Really. These are BOTH incredibly important. Sometimes it is just too dangerous (e.g., more blows or attacks are coming to where you read was supposed to be) to just straighten up, and in these case it helps to know how to put your feet and hips back "under your head and shoulders".

That is a primary skill in "bobbing and weaving" that separates this style from mere slipping and fading.

For those simpler ways or moving you head offline of the attack, you usually just straighten back up.

Now how serious are you Kimbo about BEING A BEGINNER and LEARNING?

That doesn't mean you cannot tell something that you really do think you understand -- after all *I* am just a BEGINNER TOO -- but rather that you will process the help we give you and never answer with "I already know all that".

Many of my longest and most helpful seeming posts were of as much benefit to me as to the guy asking the question.

If I post something stupid, wrong, or incomplete, I am HOPING that someone will set me straight or come back with something more for me to consider or learn.

Even in this post, I learned something technical and specific just by writing the message. (Something that had bugged me for a long time. Turned out that I knew the answer, or actually that I had all the information needed to determine the answer.)

Do you want to learn about impractical trivia like haymakers or do you want to PROVE YOUR BOXING?

--
Herb