EFFECTIVE PUNCHING - the Blast Plan

[Zelley]

The following is a piece I did in 1983. I don't believe much has changed
so the tips are stll relevant today:

Effective Punching (The BLAST Plan): By Brian Zelley, 1983

Effective punching is a requirement for the long term success of a boxer.
Many boxing fans mistake crude slugging for effective punching.
The SKILLS neaded for a boxer to reach the level of an effective puncher
includes BALANCE, LEVERAGE, ACCURACY, SPEED and TIMING.
I will call my plan "The BLAST Plan for effective punching.

To put together an effective plan, one must research the subject, have
knowledge of the subject and rely on the opinions of experts. Having
completed the first three stages, I now give you my plan:

Two requirements for proper BALANCE are starting with the correct STANCE
and maintaining the position of the feet with proper FOOTWORK.

"The fundamentals of good balance are in placing of your feet
in relation to your weight...Many times poor balance has been
mistaken for a weak chin. Often a fighter is knocked down,
due to his improper balance rather than the force of the blow."
-Willie Pep, former featherweight champion.

LEVERAGE is using the body weight to punch instead of arm punching.

"It takes the right tools and correct leverage to send a heavy spike
through a heavy plank of wood. In the same way it takes the
proper use of the back muscles to get the needed force into blows".
-Paul Berlenbach, former light-heavyweight champion.

ACCURACY, SPEED and TIMING are required to enable a properly
executed punch to land effectively on the proper target area.
Practice makes perfect. The boxer should strive to increase
his (her) accuracy, speed and timing by practice in training.
An ideal method of practicing is to shadow box in front of a mirror.
The young boxer or veteran ca, while also studying his own moves
to have an idea as to what his opponent will see. Maintaing the correct distance
from the opponent will aid in accuracy, speed and timing of punches.

"The young boxer must develop punching power with his left,
learn to use it swiftly, powerfully and accurately""
-Jimmy Wilde, former flyweight champion.

"Speed is what separates the superstars from the stars.
If you pocess speed of hand for quick punching ability or
speed of foot for swift boxing skill, then you have a
great natural advantage..."
-Floyd Patterson, former heavyweight champion.

[Chris Nagel]

Learning how to throw punches properly is part of effective punching. No matter how good you can punch, you also need to be able to get past an opponent's guard or you won't landing much at all.

You need to either find openings or create them, and then get your self into the right position and angle to land your punches. Now some of it is experience, either from sparring or from fighting, and then you sometimes get that feeling that makes you say to yourself, "I got 'im". A lot of it comes down to how you train. You train with your opponent in mind and then move for the right reasons. Don't ever punch just for the sake of punching, otherwise you're going to get hurt, and by hurt I mean murdered.

[Zelley]

Learning how to throw punches properly is part of effective punching. No matter how good you can punch, you also need to be able to get past an opponent's guard or you won't landing much at all.

You need to either find openings or create them, and then get your self into the right position and angle to land your punches. Now some of it is experience, either from sparring or from fighting, and then you sometimes get that feeling that makes you say to yourself, "I got 'im". A lot of it comes down to how you train. You train with your opponent in mind and then move for the right reasons. Don't ever punch just for the sake of punching, otherwise you're going to get hurt, and by hurt I mean murdered.

Good points!

Part of the complete effective punching package is finding the openings,
that is where the aspects of accuracy, speed and timing take effect,
coupled with effective feinting, one should get the job done.

[Shadow Boxer]

Love the post. Boxing is an art and a psychology. You got to fight smart and plan things. There's no secret code to winning, just tools that you are given to win. You can give a carpenter a saw and a hammer, but that's not the secret to great carpentry. It's the carpenter: HOW he uses those tools. We have our body as boxers, but we have to be aware that there is no secret weapon to winning fights, it's just how you utilize the tools you know. You can have every tool and still lose to someone that has mastered one thing to a degree that he outclasses you.

[Zelley]

Love the post. Boxing is an art and a psychology. You got to fight smart and plan things. There's no secret code to winning, just tools that you are given to win. You can give a carpenter a saw and a hammer, but that's not the secret to great carpentry. It's the carpenter: HOW he uses those tools. We have our body as boxers, but we have to be aware that there is no secret weapon to winning fights, it's just how you utilize the tools you know. You can have every tool and still lose to someone that has mastered one thing to a degree that he outclasses you.

Excellent philosophy! The art of box smart.

[Zelley]

Before my last ever fight that took place in Nanaimo, I had a chance to meet former top pro contender Manuel Gonzalez while he was in Vancouver
in 1972. It was good to learn a few new points re balance, movement and
deception.

In my last fight, I won easily. The opponent was walking into left jabs all night and his punches were missing.

[Zelley]

Received word that some boxing club are using the points raised in this
thread in their training.

If others can add a few tips, that would be excellent.

[Scrap]

A carpenter, a good one Has all the Tools. He looks after them and always keeps them sharp. Anything new He will invest in if it compliments the old.

[Zelley]

FEINTING - "The Big Lie" or the "Magic Trick"

One may have the four key components for effective punching
- Balance - Leverage - Accuracy - Speed - Timing -

But, to support these components of the effective punching skill
one needs a few magic tricks or in boxing lingo, the "big lie"
or the skill of "feinting" to draw punches or set-up power punches.

From experience, as I flash back to 1966 and 1968,
I can cite two examples
where in example one I was executing
the feint and in the second case
I was the recipient of the "big lie" or
the master feint and the power punch.

Case 1: I moved out in round 1, bent my knees
a started a left to the body
as the feint and then executed the right hand
that caught my foe in the side of the head.
The rest of the fight was a cake walk,
and I won the fight and the "Best Fighter" award

Case 2: Sometime in round three against Ray Lampkin in the
1968 Tacoma Golden Gloves, Ray used a perfect right hand feint
and I weaved into a left hook, it didn't end the bout but the stars were
floating around my head like a spinning halo in the sky.

In both cases the feint and follow-up punch worked and were key factors
that decided the decision on the judges score cards, but in both cases there were
two other factors - one helped in the execution, and the other
prevented a potential stoppage of the fight. Without getting into detail
those two factors were: defense and missed opportunity.

[Zelley]

A carpenter, a good one Has all the Tools. He looks after them and always keeps them sharp. Anything new He will invest in if it compliments the old.

Good index line for the boxing tool kit/

[Zelley]

Attended a recent boxing tournament to observe the effective punching skills
In BALANCE & LEVERAGE many could be placed in the poor to fair category.
It seems some will never have proper leverage with their elbows drifting away from the body.

ACCURACY is another issue where some boxers are reaching with their punches
instead of using effective footwork and movement to get the proper range
before unloading a flurry of punches that miss or just touch the target.

[Zelley]

AMATEUR BOXING 2010/2011

A NEW ROUND BEGINS

For all amateur boxers - don't wish for rainbows if your spinning in your tracks

Effective punching is not a difficult idea or skill, but many still do not get it.

Arm punching, reaching with punches, dropping the gloves, elbows out, ineffective footwork
are still some of the big errors demonstrated in gyms and in the ring.

FOR THOSE THAT DON'T GET IT - WAKE ME UP ON YOUR WAY DOWN

[Zelley]

THE MOVEMENT

Interesting watching all of the training or boxing videos that folks churn out,
I hope many of them review their own videos and check-out the footwork
and then add it to their checklist of training plans for AREAS TO IMPROVE.