Advanced Drill Thread

[Smoke]

I know its obvious, but shadow sparring. If you do it the right way there is no better solo drill. I thought i was doing it properly a year ago, i wasn't.

Isn't shadow boxing essentially, sparring against yourself/an imaginary opponent?

I didn't know there was an improper or proper way to do it, other than throw techniques like you would during sparring.

[dwkfym]

THeres a certain art to being able to imagine an opponent. Its easier if you vividly remmeber a sparring session, but of course you need some experience to know timing and feeling of things in the ring. Also gotta throw everything liek you mean it. (this is if you didn't know this already)

[Sang]

Yeah i was going to leave it up to one of the better guys/girls to explain how to shadow box properly. It took me a while to figure out that shadow boxing is more than just standing in front of a mirror checking my hand positioning during punches.

I think kid or ash wrote up a good explanation recently.

[WhiteShark]

1) If you get bored while shadow boxing you're doing it wrong!
2) If you're slightly embarrassed at the detail of your imaginary friend you're doing it right!

[Smoke]

Thanks guys, I left feedback for ya'll.

[Hiro Protagonist]

Tie a string across the room. We usually used old hand wraps tied from corner to corner across the boxing ring. It should be about shoulder height. Now move down the line ducking your head under it and popping up on either side. Turn in the corner while ducking and head back the other way. Do this for a round.

This is to train slipping. Remember to use your legs not your neck or waist. Practice different turns in the corners find out what works best for you. Front foot or back foot duck and turn or turn and duck etc.

This is THE drill that trained away my "marching" problem and taught me how to cut off the ring.

Rope/string training is pretty much the base for what I do in the recent weeks:

It's a pretty nice to exercise torso movement, and to get a feel for the Dempsey Roll.

Coach has us span the string diagonally, so the intensity is gradually getting bigger the more you have to get down, kind of like with limbo dance.


Also, there is a drill that many might find silly, but that I personally found fairly rewarding as an alternative to shadow boxing or to bagwork: To hang a simple string from the ceiling and to box it (sorry, Engrish fail). The idea is basically to touch the string and to pull back, but not to hit the string. Taught me a great deal of precision.

Now, with the hands, it's fairly silly, but try placing a flying knee or a front kick without moving the string proved harder than I thought.

[Sang]

Watching Ippo improved my boxing too. I plan on trying that hand wraps across the ring idea someday soon.

Recently we did an interesting footwork drill in boxing that has taken my girlfriend from a mt marcher to a fleet footed boxer. It seems to be an interesting way to help develop a sense of timing and distance, very quickly people were using feints, leaving openings to counter and agile footwork.

Shoulder tag: Pair up and get in fighter stance, goal is to tag the other person on the shoulders with either hand. When you get touched you have to to touch the ground. Variation was with hands dangling and the target being the knees or hips.

Lately due to lack of grappling partners I've been doing a lot of shadow clinch sparring, its been working surprisingly well on Saturdays when i get to spar MT rules. Dam do i look like an idiot though.

[Hiro Protagonist]

:cussing: I would like to stretch that I usually have other training resources than late 90's anime.

The second drill you name is fairly common, though, I think.

One pretty amazing variation is: Touched one has to do twenty pushups, toucher has to to do ten (5x2) high kicks. Goes very much on the gas tank (Mine is small.)
- Also, if you're training with kids, you will want to very stuff like that.
That, or a kickboxing class will spontaneously evolve into ten -year-olds inventing the throwdown.

[MMAMickey]

Watching Ippo and reading Jack Dempsey's book improved my understanding of the 'Dempsey roll' immensely. Before that I was unable to use it under pressure.

I'm a big advocate of the pendulum bag for practicing slipping. Shadowboxing while using it adds an element of pressure for solo training.