Boxing (How To)
Boxing is like a language: we continue to practice and build with each punch we throw. There is always room to grow—but hey, that’s part of the addiction.
OUR FAVORITE
BAG CALLOUTS
- Pace yourself—no boxer goes all out for the entire bag session
- Your strength and power comes from core and legs, it’s not all in the arms
- Keep a straight, stiff wrist
- The faster your punch, the more compact you should be
- Snap your punch back to avoid a swinging bag
- Don’t forget to breathe as you land your punch
BOXER'S STANCE
- Keep your left foot forward and right leg back (vise versa if you’re Southpaw)
- Your lead foot should be on a 45 degree angle, rear foot is on a 90 degree angle, pigeon toed in, heel slightly off the ground
- Feet are shoulder width apart and the rear leg is always staggered for balance
- Elbows are in to protect your body, hands are up right below your eyes
- Eyes up, chin tucked, abs engaged
- Any time one foot moves, your other foot moves too, never crossing your feet. A move to the right leads with the right foot, a move to the left leads with the left foot
JAB + CROSS
JAB AKA 1
- The jab is a lead hand punch that always lands with the arm fully extended
- The power comes from pushing off of your rear foot and transferring the weight into your lead leg
- Keep the elbows in, never flaring out away from your body
- The closer your arms stays to the midline (aka the middle of the body), the more power and accuracy you will get in the jab
- As the hand extends, turn your thumb down toward the ground so the punch lands with the top two knuckles
- Bring the hand quickly back to the face on a straight line, we call this chambering your punches
CROSS AKA 2
- The cross is your rear hand, straight power punch
- The power comes from transferring your weight from your rear leg to the lead leg, as you pivot on your back foot and rotate your shoulders, extending your arm fully
- Upon landing, the toes and heel on your back foot should face the same direction as the punch (without over pivoting or under pivoting, for optimal balance)
- Remember to rotate your fist at the very end to add snap—land that cross with the top two knuckles. After landing the punch, you must chamber and bring your weight back to your rear leg
HOOKS
LEAD HOOK AKA 3
- Starting with 70% of your weight on your lead leg, pop your elbow up so that your arm is bent on a 90-degree angle, thumb up
- The power comes from shifting your weight from the lead leg to the rear leg, as you pivot on the lead foot and rotate your shoulders
- The elbow should be directly in line with your hand as you land the hook— arm, fist and core tight and engaged
REAR HOOK AKA THE 4
- Starting with more weight on you back leg, you will pop up your rear elbow at a 90-degree angle and shift your weight from back to front as you rotate your shoulders and pivot on your rear foot—squashing that bug
UPPERCUTS
LEAD UPPERCUT AKA 5
- Start with more weight on your lead leg with your shoulders squared up— think front slip
- The power comes from the quadricep and legs as you lift up and rotate your shoulders. The uppercut is the one punch where your hand will dip down along your belt line as your throw it with your palm facing you upon landing
- Use your legs! Kind of like shoveling (not that you Californians would know anything about that life!)
- You can keep your weight forward or shift your weight back, depending on the succeeding punch in the combination
REAR UPPERCUT AKA 6
- Starting with more weight on the back leg, the power comes from lifting and shifting your weight from back to front. Again, the hand will dip down along your belt line as you throw the punch. Pivot on your back foot and rotate your shoulders. Make sure you keep your other hand up to protect that money maker!
DEFENSIVE MOVES
THE SLIP
- This is a lateral movement (side to side) as you twist your shoulders
- Visualize you are getting out of the way of a hook.
- Always maintain good balance with the core engaged as you shift weight from leg to leg
- Keep your eyes on the prize
THE ROLL
- Visualize that you have a marker in your mouth, and you are drawing a “U” as you bend your knees and torso and duck underneath the imaginary punches
- Always shifting your weight from leg to leg
- Stand up tall in between each roll to look for a counter shot—think half legs, half torso
- Make them miss, make them pay!
THE DUCK
- Stay in your stance and bend your legs as if you are doing a squat
- Squat down to avoid the punch and pop right back up