It's not that I don't like poetry—I do. I just find Tolkein's poems to be completely uninteresting and a chore to read. He relies heavily on stock phrases and cliches, and his rhymes are so formulaic and conventional (night/light, sky/high, etc) that I can usually predict the next word before I get there. Reading his poetry feels like just filling in the blanks.
Hey r/boxingtips, I'm a coach in the Los Angeles area and I've worked with hundreds of people over the years, from boxers to MMA fighters to regular people who want to learn the Sweet Science. Here are a couple more tips for you.
Happy training dudes
EDIT: Since someone asked for a video on wrapping hands: https://youtu.be/IElKd4PvSfw?si=gE6l-9rIhgcixfpu Jeremy Williams was my first coach and I still wrap my hands like this.
This is based off a dream I had after drinking approximately a little too much cough medicine, but I still think this might be interesting
For a quick description of what I mean by 'evil clown', a humanoid entity dressed in clown clothes and clown makeup, with a knife. They are human-esque as, for the sake of this, they can survive in the vacuum of space and dont need food or water, but they will still die from other stuff that can kill a human
and what if 1 million of them spawned at random points in the universe every picosecond. I know it sounds like we'd get overwhelmed quickly, but they can spawn anywhere in the observable universe. Anywhere in space, not just on Earth (and they cant survive atmospheric re-entry either), not to mention, chances of them spawning underground or away from absolutely anybody
but still, statistically, a few would spawn on Earth where they can cause harm sooner or later
My question is: how long could we last in this scenario, assuming we couldn't stop the onslaught of evil clowns?
I competed as an amateur and started coaching ten years ago. I've trained and coached at some of the best gyms in L.A. I've coached people hundreds of people of all types and ages and I've cornered fighters.
Before I say anything else, the biggest and best tip I can give someone is this: Learn your fundamentals from a coach, and keep working with a coach for long after you've learned them.
Not YouTube, not your buddy that watched a YouTube video, not yourself. You need a coach to stand there and point out your mistakes, and that is absolutely crucial when you're first starting out and getting basics down. Everything is built off of fundamentals, so if those aren't solidly in place then nothing else will be, either.
That said, let's learn some technique.
Jab off the hook, and hook off the jab. Don't just throw right-left-right-left. It's predictable. Work consecutive punches from the same arm into your combos and you'll be much more successful. I made a long post here about this a few months ago, search for it.
Work the body. New guys and guys who are mediocre do what's called "head hunting." They only throw punches to their opponent's head. You have to put work in to the body as well. Consistent body work in the early rounds will slow a fast fighter down tremendously and pay off later, that's why they call it "money in the bank." Body shots, especially liver shots, are devastating and can end a fight instantly. Besides the liver, your other targets on the body are spleen, solar plexus, floating ribs, and heart.
Set traps for your opponent. All boxers have the same six or seven punches available to them, so we land shots by tricking our opponent. To do this, establish patterns and then break them. A basic trap is to throw body jabs at your man a few times. Once he's worried about the body jab coming, you feint to the body and throw a jab or straight up top. There is literally endless amount of ways to set traps.
Feints, feints, feints. Once you learn to feint convincingly you'll be much harder to fight. Feint the jab to draw a reaction, then jab. Feint the left hook and throw the straight instead. Et cetera.
BREATHE!!! It's crazy how common it is for people to forget to breathe when the pressure is on. Holding your breath makes you exhausted fast. Always remind yourself to breathe when you're working, and between rounds get in the habit of taking big, slow, deep breaths instead of fast shallow ones. Big deep breathes slow your heartrate down and help you recover for the next round.
RELAX!!! Being tense, stressed, or panicking will gas you out fast. A good boxer is always relaxed. A huge part of boxing is learning to be comfortable while you're uncomfortable.
When you throw a punch, the other hand should be glued to your cheek. Always bring your punches back to your face.
Put in your roadwork. If you're a boxer, you're a runner. When you do your roadwork, don't run at a sustained pace like a jog. Boxing isn't a jog, it's a sprint, rest, sprint, rest. We train how we fight, so that's what your roadwork should look like. Hill sprints are good. When you recover after your sprint, do it by running slowly, not standing still.
Don't look down at the floor when you slip or roll. Keep your eyes up. You want to know what you're coming up into.
Always be working on your footwork. Your feet are what get you in position to land shots, and get you out of trouble. Get your feet slick and you'll be everyone's problem. Shuffles, pivots, L-steps, etc. Get good at them all.
Happy training homies
This is meant to be a basic tutorial on one aspect of boxing technique: punches from the same arm. I'm assuming that you have a basic level of training—you know proper stance, footwork, punching, and defensive basics. If you haven't learned that yet, go to a boxing gym and learn it from a coach. This guide will also assume you are an orthodox fighter. If you're southpaw, just reverse left and right.
I'll be using a number system common in boxing. If you're unfamiliar, this is it:
1 - Jab
2 - Straight
3 - Lead hook
4 - Rear hook
5 - Lead uppercut
6 - Rear uppercut
So what is jabbing off the hook, and hooking off the jab? It's doubling up your lead hand. Throwing 1-3 or 3-1.
Basic level boxers tend to throw right-left-right-left. This is extremely predictable and therefore easy to defend. If you know what arm the next punch is coming from, you're one step ahead defensively. 1-3 and 3-1 disrupt this pattern. To be a good boxer, you need to know how to spot your opponent's patterns and habits, and how to avoid having patterns and habits as much as possible. Patterns and habits make you easy to hit.
A common, basic combo is 1-2-3. How can we mix that up to be less predictable? One of my favorite setups for the straight right is 1-3-2. After you throw the jab, your opponent is most likely looking at your right hand, expecting you to throw a straight. Instead, just after you throw your jab, you throw a left hook. Throw it almost like a double jab in the sense that you're not bringing it all the way back between punches. Leave it out there. We don't care if this punch has any power, we don't even care if it lands. It's a "throwaway punch," meant to set up the right hand. So, while your man is looking at that right hand, he gets a left hook. While he's reacting to this unexpected punch, we blast our right hand.
Same concept for jabbing off the hook. 3-1-2. Throw the hook and let him react to that, and then he's looking at your right hand. Instead, he gets a jab in the face, and then you fire your straight.
In both combos, we're doing the same thing: disrupting our opponent's rhythm. In both combos, we don't care if the first two shots land or not, we're throwing them to set up the straight.
You can also mix in hooking off the jab and jabbing off the hook to longer combos as well. Some good ones are: 1-3-1-2, 2-3-1-2, and 1-2-3-1-2.
You can also double up your right hand for the same effect: 1-2-2-3, 1-6-2-1-1, 2-6-1-3, 1-2-4-3. Get creative, the possibilities are endless.
Drill this on the bag and mitts, and then drill it on a partner. Once you get slick at this, you'll be everyone's headache.
Happy training!