Topic
Frank Benn posted some great tips on how to improve fighting ability to rec.martial-arts back in 1999. His post covered a range of topics from stance, to punches, tips on range, shadowboxing and angles.
Summary
You'll want to read the actual posting for all the details but here is a summary and quotes from the article in an attempt to entice you to read it:
- Your stance should have chin tucked, lead shoulder slightly shrugged, elbows in, hands up, knees slightly bent, feet shoulder width apart, nearly parallel. and groin not open.
- Learn to become really comfortable standing just out of his reach. Develop the sensitivity to gauge people's reach, and allow them to just barely miss.
- Never take your eyes off of your opponent.
- Don't always try to stay out of his reach, or you'll always find him out of your reach.
- The thing that weakens an opponent's offense is your own offense. Everything else (e.g. slipping without countering, blocking as an isolated movement) is just prolonging the inevitable.
- Learn to read his hips. Whenever a hip comes toward you, that is advance notice that something is coming from that side.
- The jab helps to make you a good boxer. Without one, you're just a puncher (which can also be effective, but requires specialized attributes to pull it off).
- There's a saying in boxing that your jab is a can opener, and your cross is a spoon. The opponent is a can of meat. You've got to use your can opener to open the can BEFORE you can use your spoon to dig out the meat.
- Two things to remember in throwing your hook. Lead foot rotates on the ball like you're crushing peanuts. Lead arm hooks horizontally and tight, like you're grabbing one of your friends around the neck with your arm and saying, "Come here!" (the noogie position).
- Balls of the feet are the gas, heels are the brakes
- It is better to give than to receive (ie. better to be punching the opponent than receiving punches).
- Speed is very important. But quickness and suddenness are even more important. Don't build up in speed. If you do, you will tend to miss against a person with movement, even though your punches are fast at full extension. This is because there is a discernible buildup in your acceleration.
- Relaxation is important for speed. Don't tighten your fist up until you're almost fully extended.
- Look down your punching arm like you're looking down the barrel of a gun. This will help that arm to provide cover for your chin on that side while you're punching.
- Proper loading is essential for power punching. But, do not telegraph. Conceal the shift of weight in your combinations.
- Your cross will put you in a bob position. You should be ready to stay low and elbow block, weave under, or jab to correct your posture. DO NOT just stand there fully extended with nowhere to go.
- In your stancing and movement, do not put more than 60 percent of your weight on either foot except in brief extreme situations.
- Don't dance around, or bounce up and down. Quick, short, even-keeled adjustments are what you want. Stay mobile, but don't waste any motion. In keeping with the gas and brakes analogy above, stay on the balls for quick range adjustment, but SETTLE IN on your punches.
- Your hips are your generator. Plug everything you do into your generator. Throwing punches without the hips is like fighting a duel with an unloaded gun. You might get the first shot off, but he'll be the one who really connects.
- Better to make him miss by an inch, than by a mile.
- You have to drop your head to the level of your target. THIS INCLUDES BODY SHOTS. Not to do this is to get hit.
- The power of your punch is on the very end of it. This is one way in which boxing/fighting is a range game. You've got to find your distance, in order to tee off.
- Often, an opponent is ready to move once off of your first attack to make you miss. But, usually after this first movement he has nowhere to go unless he's pretty good. Often you can catch him flatfooted at this time, if you're ready to follow up and keep gaining range.
- The chin is the magic button. Tuck yours, exploit his.
- Jabbing is a game of controlled lunging in coordinated footwork to achieve the right range for other things.
- The quality of your sparring partners will influence your skill level. Highly skilled fighters do not need to go full contact all the time to get a lot from the exchange.
- You should shadowbox EVERY DAY.
- Number your punches, work with a good feeder calling them out by number. The feeder should collide the mitts with your punches so that the mitts do not snap back, making it possible for him to stay with you on faster combinations, and to give you a satisfying impact when you punch.