If you’ve ever faced a big puncher before, you’ve probably noticed the power of his right cross within seconds of the opening bell. It can be a psychological hurdle when you’re trying to outbox your opponent. It’s hard to focus on establishing your jab when all you want to do is run and hide from his right hand.

There may be weak jabs and weak hooks but the right cross is almost always a powerful punch—even from a lesser-skilled fighter. It’s the kind of power you never forget and rightfully so; it’s caused many knockouts in the professional and amateur ranks. Luckily for you, the right hand can open up many opportunities for your counters. Why be afraid of the right when you can use your opponent’s momentum to land your own power punches?

Here are 10 classic counters for that right hand…

How to Counter the Right Hand

Watch the video above to see the counters in actual motion.

The most important skills for counter-punching:
positioning, awareness, & trained reactions.

Counter #1 – Jab Interception

This is probably the easiest counter to the right hand but also the easiest to mess up. All you have to do is extend your left glove so that your jab counters straight up the middle while his right hits the back of your shoulder. The easiest way to knocked out with this counter is by leaving your chin up and having your left shoulder down.

Countering Tips:

• Lift your left shoulder to cover your chin.
• Aim your glove into your opponent’s eyes (very effectively for blinding him, especially if you’re using a low powered speed jab).
• You can also simply extend your left glove into his face and push him back (again, it’s more effective if you stick your glove into his eyes).
• Keep both feet planted so you can transfer more power into him. This also keeps him from running you over with the momentum of his right hand.
• You can also try this counter while pivoting clockwise out of the way with your front foot. If you’re pivoting, then your counter jab would land OVER your opponent’s right instead of inside of it.

Counter #2 – Inside Left Hook

This is a deadly counter to the right hand that requires nothing more than a little bit of clever timing. The trick to this counter is to know that most fighters rarely throw their right hands straight from their chin. Their hand usually pulls back a little or drops a bit from the chin before it’s launched forward into a right cross.

So the trick to this counter is to throw your left hook when his right hand peels away from his chin. This counter is almost thrown pre-emptively. Even if your left hook lands before his right hand uncovers his chin, you will still cause partial damage.

Countering Tips:

• Rotate your head away as you throw the left hook so that his right hand will be deflected if it lands.
• Don’t worry about getting your hook inside his right hand, simply throw as if you want to exchange punches.
• This is also known recently as a “check hook”. You can also pivot out of the way while throwing this counter to make yourself more evasive.

Counter #3 – Outside Left Hook

This is a similar idea as the last counter but this time you try to land your left hook AROUND your opponent’s right hand. Depending on where your opponent places his right glove, this counter can be easier to land than the last counter.

If you’re longer armed or like staying more on the outside, it can be easier to counter with an outside left hook than an inside one.

Countering Tips:

• It may be easier to get your fist around his guard if you throw with a vertical fist than a horizontal one.
• Rotate your head away as you throw the left hook so that his right hand will be deflected if it lands.
• Don’t worry about getting your hook around his right hand, simply throw as if you want to exchange punches.
• You can also pivot out of the way while throwing this counter to make yourself more evasive.

Counter #4 – Right Hand Trade (to the head)

This is my favorite—and potentially most effective—counter to the right hand. Trade right hands with your opponent and make sure to dip your head down just a bit as you come in with your counter. Your opponent will be getting hit by your right cross while he’s coming forward with his own right cross. There are few counters as deadly as this one!

Countering Tips:

• Set your head in one place (preferably to your right side) before slipping your head slightly to the left when you counter.
• Rely on timing and speed as opposed to power. Your opponent will already be throwing himself at you. Loading up power will slow down your counter and make it easier for you to get hit. You can cause a lot of damage simply by reaching forward with your right hand and landing first. You can always follow-up with harder punches after you land the first counter.

Counter #5 – Right Hand Trade (to the body)

Here is another deadly counter to the right hand. Bend your knees and blast your own right hand into his body. This counter is crippling because once again he’s turning himself right into your counter. Aim for his solar plexus and all you have to do is watch the ref count to 10.

Countering Tips:

• Stand higher to make more room to duck under when you go to the body. Don’t give away your intentions by ducking low before the counter.
• Keep your eyes on your opponent’s head and don’t look at his body when you hit it. You want to be able to see follow-up punches and also keep from telegraphing your counter.

Counter #6 – Block & Left Hook

The right hand is probably the hardest punch to recover when compared to the other punches. It carries so much power and comes straight out. It’s not like a jab with flicking power that returns easily, or a left hook which naturally curves the hand back to the starting position.

Knowing this, you can easily counter the right hand simply by touching your opponent immediately after he makes contact with your guard. In this counter, all I do is cover up with a high guard and wait for him to throw his right hand. As soon as I feel contact from his right hand, I immediately explode out of my guard with a counter hook.

Countering Tips:

• Exhale when you block to help bounce the right hand off your guard so it doesn’t push you off balance.
• Counter immediately after you feel contact from his right hand.
• Keep your eyes open and look through your guard so you can see the right hand coming.

Counter #7 – Parry & Jab

Parry down his right hand and jab over the top. Slap the top of his incoming glove to guide his powerful right hand away from your face. This is a useful counter when you’re at long range and/or looking down at your opponent.

Countering Tips:

• Use only a small motion to parry his punch. Don’t take your left hand so far from your face that you expose yourself.
• Counter immediately. Some guys will make the parry and counter as one continuous motion whereas other fighters will make it two separate quick motions. Use the one that allows you to react the fastest.

Counter #8 – Slip Outside & Left Hook

Slip outside his right hand and land a counter left hook to the head or body. This is a difficult counter that relies on a bit of skill. You can read my detailed guide on how to counter the right hand with hooks. The rewards are tremendous if you can pull off this counter. You’ll not only scare him from throwing right hands but you’ll also be able to get much closer to dish out more damage.

Countering Tips:

• Set your head to the right side beforehand to give yourself more room to slip left without coming off balance.
• The images are showing a lot of movement to demonstrate the motions. Realistically, this counter is more effective when using as little movement as possible to slip the right hand.

Counter #9 – Shoulder Roll & Right Hand

Here’s a very easy and very effective counter. Roll away from his right hand to deflect its power using your left shoulder, then come back with a counter right. You can check out my guide to learn how to shoulder roll.

Countering Tips:

• Stay on both feet so you don’t lean off balance when you roll away from his right hand.
• You can counter back with any type of right hand—a straight, an overhand, or uppercut.
• You can also pivot slightly during the shoulder roll to take yourself out of harm’s way before throwing the counter right. If your opponent likes to throw his weight at you, this small motion will make him fall past you.
• Try to keep your eyes on your opponent during the shoulder roll, this makes the counter more accurate.

Counter #10 – Roll Under & Pivot, then Right Hand

This is a difficult counter that can help you escape bad positions and come back with your own power punches. What you do here is roll under the right hand while pivoting out of the way, then come back with your own right hand.

This counter can be used against opponents that like to throw their weight onto you, their forward motion allows you to roll under the punch simply by ducking under. You can also use this counter to escape when you’re stuck in the corner. Roll under and pivot through your opponent as he misses and falls into the counter. Then come back with hard counters.

Countering Tips:

• Keep your head high so that he aims higher. This will give you more room to roll under.
• Imagine yourself ducking forward and going THROUGH your opponent. Step your front foot under your opponent’s armpit and step THROUGH his body. Then allow your natural momentum to pivot you when your body weight transfers to your front foot. DO NOT try to roll and pivot around his punch (this traps you in front of him), instead GO THROUGH HIM and try to get behind him.
• Try not to duck your head so low that you don’t have time to come up with a counter.

Avoiding the Big Right Hand

Evading and countering right hands requires more than the simple memory of common counters. Below, I list the required skills for countering the right cross (or any punches) in order of importance:

• positioning – how to position yourself to minimize the effectiveness of your opponent’s punches while maximizing your own.
• awareness – how to detect a punch before it lands
• trained reaction – how to respond to an opponent’s movement

1. Positioning

Many fighters will complain that they don’t know how to avoid the right hand. Before you complain about not being able to avoid the shot, let me first ask you a few questions. Why is it that your opponent is able to throw his right hand without any fear of you countering back? How did your opponent get so close to you? Are you establishing distance with your jab? Do you even have a good jab?

If you don’t want to get hit with the right hand, it’s important that you don’t stand in the way of your opponent’s right hand! Don’t stand there, don’t drop your guard, don’t leave your left side so open! If you however DO want to bait his right hand, then by all means put yourself in harm’s way for strategic purposes.

Your position determines
what punches your opponent will throw at you.

My point is: where you position yourself in relation to your opponent determines what punches he is most likely to throw at you. At the very least, you should make your opponent work to throw his right hand instead of giving him a free opportunity.

2. Awareness

The #1 problem with countering right hands:
not knowing it’s a right hand until the arm is extended.

The number one reason why most fighters get hit by ANY punch, not just the right hand, is because they can’t tell a punch is coming until it’s too late. The trick to avoiding right hands is to know it’s a punch BEFORE it becomes a punch! Many fighters are taught to counter right hands by first seeing a fully-extended right hand, then avoiding it, then countering it. Is this you???…if so, you’re too late.

The most important skill to countering right hands is not to learn as many counters as you can, it’s to learn how to detect different kinds of right hands. You develop this skill by sparring slowly and having your opponent throw different punches at you. After being able to SEE AND ANALYZE many right hands in slow motion, your brain remembers what they look like and begins to recognize them even at high speeds. If you start off your drills too fast, all you’ll learn is how to counter but you’ll never learn how to sense a right hand in its early stages of movement.

I don’t need to see a right glove extending towards me to know it’s a right hand. I can already tell the right hand is coming just from the way that my opponent shifts his weight onto his front foot and starts turning his head to help rotate his body. By the time that he puts extra weight onto his front foot, I’ve already countered him (or gotten out of the way). The sooner you are aware of a punch, the more time you have to react to it.

3. Trained Reaction

Assuming you know how to position yourself and have a high awareness of oncoming punches, you only need to practice countering drills to counter-punch successfully. You should drill the counters above until they become second nature. Drill them while on the mitts or during slow sparring. Mastering the counters is not as important as raising your punch awareness.

It’s easier to counter immediately,
than to evade and then counter.

Theoretically, it is impossible to outpunch someone that started punching before you. Because of this, you should counter as soon as you can. The more time you spend evading, the less time you have to counter; which is why I don’t like wasting time defending before the counter. Defensive moves are really only helpful in 2 situations: one is when you aren’t prepared to counter immediately, the other is when the defensive movement itself creates the opportunity for you to counter easier (ie: slipping so your opponent over-reaches with his punch). At the highest levels of boxing, defending before countering can make you too slow to counter.

The best reaction will always be to counter immediately. Like I’ve said before, you don’t need to wait for his hand to fully extend into a right cross. You can counter him while he’s still shifting weight or beginning to exhale. I counter the moment I feel my opponent THINKING of a right cross.

The question I seem to be getting over and over is…

How did you get so good at ____ technique?

The answer is simple—I learned every kind of technique until I found the one I wanted. But I wasn’t always this wise, of course. I spent years wasting my time trying to perfect the few techniques I knew. I would drill the same jab for hours thinking that would make it faster and more powerful, or at least more effective. It wasn’t until I tried thinking outside the box that my fighting skills sky rocketed to a whole new level.

My golden secret is that technique is not perfected through repetition but rather through creativity. Here are 5 creative tips to develop YOUR fighting skills…

The Importance of a Fighter’s Creativity

My fighting improvement slowed when I stopped being creative. I was doing the same thing month after month and nothing changed, nothing got better, nothing new came in. My punches were a little faster and stronger and my cardio was better, but I was still pretty much the same fighter. I wasn’t growing rapidly like I did when I first started boxing because I was limiting myself. Instead of trying new things, I was doing the same things over and over. I thought I knew what the “right technique” was so that was all I practiced.

I didn’t really improve until I started appreciating the differences in other people’s fighting technique. It’s easy to look at other fighters and say, “Oh he’s doing this wrong. I would NEVER do it like that.” But then I grew up and let go of my ego. I realized boxing isn’t about WHAT I THINK. It’s about how I respond to opponents. And I’m not going to be very good at responding to opponents if all I think about is myself!

You have to stop thinking about yourself
if you want to be creative.

The creative fighter will learn, grow, adapt, and improve faster than all other fighters!

Creative Tip #1: Get Tired

Try getting tired. I mean getting SERIOUSLY tired; like to the point where your shirt is soaked in sweat and you can’t feel your arms anymore. Some guys burn out in 30 minutes. Others take 3 workouts in a row. Wherever your failing point is, the sooner you get there the sooner you can take yourself into new territory.

Only when you have nothing left of yourself
are you able to absorb something new.

It isn’t until you’re completely dead tired that you can finally learn how to box. It is in this moment of absolute fatigue that you are ACTUALLY boxing your opponent instead of boxing the way you feel like. When you have no energy left, you stop caring about yourself and your own agenda. You’re just fighting the way that feels the most natural. The real learning starts when you stop trying to be you.

Haven’t you noticed that you usually learn new tricks at the end of a workout instead of at the beginning?

Creative Tip #2: Fight Somebody New

Fighting new opponents always brings out something different in you. Fighting is a lot like dancing; no dance is ever the same, ESPECIALLY when you dance with a new partner. Sure it’s more comfortable to keep sparring with the same guys, you feel safe because you know what they do. You know how to look good against them and know how to avoid their best punches.

TRY THIS: going to another gym and sparring a new opponent.

Fighting somebody new doesn’t always bring out the best in you, but it definitely brings out something NEW in you; you’re out of your comfort zone, you’re nervous and never seen this type of movement before. It’s the perfect recipe for something magical. He attacks you from a new angle and you freak out with a counter you just made up—you’re bound to do things you’ve never done before.

So maybe you do terribly and get embarassed. But one thing’s for sure when you go home that day; you have something new to think about. You have something new to work on. You are guaranteed to develop something new out of yourself that next week at the gym.

Creative Tip #3: Limit Yourself

This is actually something designers do all the time, like making something look nice but only using 2 colors. Or making a car that looks cool but also has to be functional. Have you seen that amazingly functional mp3 player design that has only one button? (It’s called the iPod.) Anyway, my point is to grow yourself by limiting yourself.

Take away your favorite weapon or try forcing yourself to use new punches. Try sparring an entire day without throwing a single left hook. Or how about ending every combination with a jab instead of the right hand? Or maybe you can start every combination with an uppercut. Or how about trying to stay more inside instead of outside, or vice versa? Watch videos of yourself and pick up on your own tendencies. Then force yourself to do something different.

Less is more.

The trick is not to add more things, it’s about removing things from your reportoire so you can focus on fewer things. Having this narrower focus allows you to specialize in more specific aspects of your fighting ability. Yes, you will feel handicapped. But struggling to find victory through a handicap will make you a better fighter.

If you keep doing this for years, you may come to an amazing discovery. You start to realize that you can never be limited. You realize that you don’t need a perfect left hook or perfect conditions to win fights. You also realize that you can be creative and win no matter what limitation your opponent tries to enforce on you.

Creative Tip #4: Copy Another Fighter

Maybe you think you already do this. You’re sick of being you. You’ve probably been watching videos of Mike Tyson or Floyd Mayweather or some other famous pro boxer. But this isn’t what I want you to do, because copying a pro isn’t possible. He can do things you can’t. He has skills and athleticism and years of experience that you don’t have. Here’s a much better idea:

Copying another fighter from your gym
is much easier than copying a pro.

It’s easy to get carried away and want to be the next Floyd Mayweather but it might be a better idea to copy the guy right next to you. You can see how he trains every single day. You know his workout and his warm-up routine. You can see every little detail of his movement in person and can even ask him to give you tips.

The fighter you copy doesn’t even have to be better than you. I recommend you find anybody who does something entirely different from how you do it and ask him to teach you to do it his way. Maybe you don’t agree with his punching technique but you might learn something that can improve your technique OR EVEN BETTER: gives you a new technique to use.

This is how I improved most of my skills. I got sick of being me, so I started fooling around at the gym and mimicing other fighters. Before I knew it, I was better at somebody else’s style than even he was. By the next week, I had already absorbed his style so naturally that I became a different fighter.

Creative Tip #5: Get a New Trainer

This is sad but true. Every trainer/fighter relationship has its limit. Sometimes it’s the fighter that’s not ready to learn everything from the trainer. Other times it’s the trainer that doesn’t know how teach his fighter. Even if you stay with the same trainer, it’s always a good idea to get a second opinion. You will always be surprised at what other trainers might say about your technique.

You don’t need a new trainer,
you just need a new opinion.

A good tip is to be in a place where you can absorb advice from multiple trainers. This is why I love being in big gyms with many different fighters and trainers. You have the opportunity to observe different styles and absorb new techniques. I went to 10 different trainers and asked them how to throw a right cross and guess what I got…10 different explanations of  how to throw the right hand. And you know what…they were all right! I use every single one of those methods today and I can’t even tell you which one is best…because it all depends on the situation!

Creativity Leads to Perfection

It is always the creative fighter that becomes the best fighter. It’s easy to think that you can perfect something by practicing the same thing over and over again but this isn’t true! Most fighters I know will search the entire world for the perfect technique and then practice nothing but that same technique over and over until perfection. All you’re doing is perfecting your limitation and reliance on the perfect conditions of that technique. What happens if you face an opponent that won’t let you use that perfected technique?

The best way to perfect a technique is to keep adding new variations as you practice it. Approaching the same technique from different viewpoints ultimately leads to SOMETHING MORE POWERFUL THAN PERFECT TECHNIQUE: it leads to perfect understanding. Truly understanding a technique allows you to change it to fit different situations and beat different opponents. Technique is only perfect when you understand it.

The next time you see Muhammad Ali beat someone with the jab, you know it’s not the same jab. It looks the same but it’s not. The opponent is trying all he can to avoid it and Ali is skillfully altering his jab constantly to maintain his dominance.

You don’t perfect things with constant repetition,
you perfect them with constant change.

Did you know…?

8 out of every 10 boxers don’t know how to come in with the jab.

It’s a random statistic I just made up but my point is: hardly anybody moves their head when they come forward with the jab. Anytime you bring yourself closer to your opponent, you’re potentially walking into a dangerous counter punch. For this reason head movement is crucial for all forward movements—ESPECIALLY THE JAB.

It’s time you learned how to SAFELY come in behind the jab.

Move Your Head When You Come Inside

Example of jabbing WITHOUT head movement…

Here’s me in my boxing stance…

…and this is what happens when I jab straight forward without moving my head.

I can understand beginners being taught to come in with their head straight up. It develops good form and posture and confidence and power and all those nice things. But once fighters learns that, it’s time to get slick real fast.

Always be ready to slip when you come forward.

This should be a general rule of boxing. Slipping is FAR MORE IMPORTANT when going forward than it is for going backward. If you’re coming closer to your opponent, you have to slip to stay safely in range. Coming in with a high guard works too but how can you attack on your way in if your hands are busy blocking?

You don’t have to slip every time you go forward but you should always be ready to do it. The amazing thing is that many fighters are taught to slip when going backwards or at the end of combinations but very few if ever are taught to slip when coming forward with the jab. Most trainers let their fighters to come in with their head straight up. If you’ve ever sparred with a slick pro, then you already know that’s never a good idea.

How to Move Your Head When You Jab

Move your head along a 3 dimensional axis

Think of your head as being able to move within the range of a three-dimensional sphere.
Your head can be placed:

• LEFT or RIGHT
• HIGH or LOW
• NEAR or FAR

So here is the essence to head movement when you jab:

STEP #1 – place your head in one spot

STEP #2 – move the head to another position when you throw the jab

Again, be creative and use the full three-dimensional range you can place your head. Try putting it low, and then bringing it up high. Or putting it to the left side and then bringing it to the right. Keep moving it to different spots to be more evasive! This tactic also works well going backwards—try it.

You don’t necessarily have to bait or slip your opponent’s punch. It’s simply the idea of moving your head when you throw the jab. Again, it’s crucial especially when coming forward with the jab.

Now let’s see this simple technique in action!

Jab & Head Movement Drill

This is a great drill for you to practice this head movement:

Step #1 – place your head in one position to bait the jab

Step #2 – move your head slightly and counter jab

*** Please watch the video, it’s a far better demonstration than the pictures alone.

Example #1 – HIGH to LOW

• Stand tall and then drop down and jab him in the stomach.
• Even if he blocks you can still push him back off balance.

Example #2 – LOW to HIGH

• Lower yourself to bait the punch downwards.
• Then stand up and counter-jab over the top.

Example #3 – LEFT to RIGHT

• Rotate the body forward to bait the jab straight on.
• Slip to the outside while throwing a counter jab.
• If you have long enough arms, you can use this to setup with a left hook counter.
• This setup can also be used to go “NEAR to FAR”.

Example #4 – RIGHT to LEFT

• Post your head to the right to bait a really long jab.
• Cut over to the inside and counter jab on the inside.
• It may seem like a scary angle because you’re moving towards your opponent’s right hand but actually it’s a very awkward position for him to reach you once you’re shifted to his right side.

Example #5 – FAR to NEAR

• Pull away when he jabs.
• Then come back with your counter jab.
• You can also do the reverse of this by going “NEAR to FAR” (not pictured). Put your head in close and then counter-jab as you pull your head back out.

Move your head to a different position when you jab.

The examples are simply examples. In the images, I am showing extra-exaggerated movement for demonstrative purposes. In actuality, the movements should be very slight—you move just enough to avoid the punch. Don’t limit yourself to my examples. Be creative and come up with different positions and different angles of moving your head. Try using more diagonal angles (ex: move from low right to high left, or forward right to forward left to back right with multiple jabs).

This is a great evasion drill and helps you develop the natural slipping AWARENESS for boxing. You will become a far more deadly fighter once this movement becomes so natural you no longer think about it!

Advanced Tips for Jabbing with Head Movement

SET UP YOUR RIGHT HAND

All this work is not merely to hit your opponent with a jab. It’s to set something up. Everything you just learned is supposed to be automatic. Using head movement to land the jab is the easy part; it should be trained into your subconscious. The real work you should be doing consciously is to land that right hand as fast as possible.

So when you slip, make sure you keep that right hand ready to throw. Don’t over-twist your body or make yourself come off balance. Don’t take your right hand out of position just to land a jab! You should always feel like your jab is SETTING UP THE RIGHT HAND!

Your jab should set up the right hand,
not take it away.

Focus on Moving Your Head, Not on Slipping the Punch

Once you get used to the movement, you shouldn’t be too worried about slipping the punch or waiting all day to avoid a punch. Move your head and you’ll be ok. He will miss as long as you move from the position he aimed at.  You only have to move a few inches which is easy to do even if you barely moved. As long as you’re aware of incoming fire, you can go back to focusing on being offensive!

Change the Angle of Your Fist

You can also think about angling your jabbing fist differently. The palm doesn’t always have to face the floor; the palm can face sideways (like a hook) or up (like an uppercut). BE CREATIVE!

Try Using Footwork

Try using the same head movement tricks BUT with a small dash towards your opponent. Get within just outside of his range, and then quick jump in 2 inches while you move your head and throw the jab. This is a very deadly maneuver that many experienced fighters do very well. It’s one of those things that separate the average amateur fighters from the better ones. Again, the key is to make a SMALL DASH.

Learn Head Movement from the Pros

The best way to learn this type of head movement is to spar a pro. That’s how I learned it and it’s one of those things you never forget. You never realize how slick someone can be until you fight him.

For those of you who don’t have the opportunity to spar a pro, I highly recommend for you to watch videos of James Toney or Bernard Hopkins fighting. It’s preferable for you to watch them sparring and to really look for that subtle head movement. Almost all pros do it but it’s so subtle you never see it unless you’re sparring them yourself. I can see it now only because I know what to look for.

Head Movement is about Awareness, Not Evasion

The greatest benefit of learning how to slip
is to increase your defensive awareness.

The slipping movement itself doesn’t really matter. The real lesson here is awareness! The real benefit to learning how to slip is not so that you can slip every punch but more so that you are fully aware of every punch. This increased level of awareness allows you to make whatever split-second reaction you like—slipping, rolling, countering, etc.

You would think it’s common sense to be ready to slip but this isn’t the case for most boxers. Most boxers are so focused on throwing their power punches that they aren’t aware of jab counters. And they wonder why throwing the jab is so scary at times. They complain about getting countered or they complain that their jab doesn’t get there fast enough. Or they waste a lot of energy trying to jump into range.

The real answer is simply awareness. Once you’re aware of incoming counters, you can pretty much walk into range and pop your opponent in the face with whatever you like. It’s really that easy.

So you’ve decided to be great and built up your confidence to pull you through. What happens next? It’s time to change your life to get what you want. If you want to be great, you have to change your life and change yourself. I don’t know how long it’ll take you but I do know you can start being great TODAY.

It’s hard to imagine that you can be great in just one day but I’ll show you exactly how I did it.

Why change your life?

You have to change your life because you ARE your life. You cannot change yourself by living the same life over and over. The most unsuccessful people in the world are the ones who stayed the same all lifelong. The successful ones are the ones that kept changing. Change is challenging and scary and tiring, but it’s the only way to become better than what you are now. If you have the will and sacrifice to change, you can become greater than you ever imagined.

By why are some people so afraid of change? I can only think of 2 reasons:

REASON #1 – they don’t want to change their lives

Maybe they’re already successful or they don’t know what they want. Or they’re scared or they don’t like change. I think it’s the craziest thing to hate change. If you hate change, it means your goal sucks. I have never met a person who didn’t want something better than what they had now.

I’m not talking about making lots of money and driving fancy cars. I’m talking in a spiritual sense as in being more alive and contributing and enjoying life more within your true destiny. Some people make it sound as though change is difficult and not fun and not exciting. To them I say it is YOUR GOAL that is difficult and not fun/exciting. Go find a new job or new girlfriend or new ambition that makes you WANT to change. Live life to its fullest, ok?

Some people WANT to change but they don’t want to change 100%. Some people will try to be great by changing 98% but this doesn’t work! Unfortunately, the laws of the universe don’t work this way. If I’m wearing a business suit and I want to go running, I will have to change my outfit entirely if I want to be a successful runner. I can’t just ADD running shoes, I actually have to change COMPLETELY into a running outfit. Maybe my analogy sucks but my point is: you only have some much time and energy in your life. If you try to divide it, neither area will be AS successful.

I’ve heard fantastic excuses and reasons for not changing 100%. If this is you, then you can stop reading because you obviously don’t want it that bad anyways. Without that true desire inside, you will never give enough of yourself to become a success. You may be talented enough to achieve something but you will never reach your true potential.

REASON #2 – they don’t know how

If you got this problem–GOOD. This article is for you. Keep reading because changing your life is pretty easy if you want to do it.

How to Change Your Life

Make conscious decisions.

STEP #1 – Become Conscious

The first step is to know where you are in your life. Next is to know where you want to be. Then you want to see if you’re headed there. So many people realize they’re unhappy but many don’t know where they want to be or don’t know how to head in the right direction. Your first step is to become conscious of things that affect your life!

Most likely everything–and I do mean EVERYTHING–that happens to you will affect your life. You may not realize it but it is. The way that you wrap your hands, the people you greet first at the gym, the direction you face when you stretch, the friends you have, the music you listen to…EVERYTHING YOU DO affects your life. You can live like a zombie and just be a reaction of the environment around you or you can wake up and start altering as many variables as you can to give yourself the best chance in life.

The more conscious you are, the more alive you are.
The more alive you are, the more control you have over your life.
The more control you have, the more power you have to change it into what you want!

Want to be great? WAKE UP!

STEP#2 – Make Conscious Decisions

Only when you are finally awake are you able to realize all the ways that you can influence your life. By becoming conscious you can start accepting responsibility for everything that happens.

Instead of saying, “My opponent is so strong that I can’t fight back.”

• You can say, “I can improve my skills, even if I lose.”

Instead of saying, “My coach sucks so I suck.”

• You can say, “I can find a better coach.”

Instead of saying, “There are no boxing gyms in my neighborhood.”

• You can say, “I will create a million dollar empire and move into a great neighborhood and hire the best damn boxing trainers!”

Hey, some of these are pretty damn hard if not impossible. I never said change was easy, but at least you can be conscious and find a way to make a great decisions. No more sitting around and acting like you don’t have control over your life.

You have to accept responsibility for your life!

YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS TO YOU! No more blaming shit on bad parents, bad coaches, bad genes, bad luck. Take responsibility for the time and energy that you have now and direct it towards what you want. If you can’t do at least that, you don’t have the right to complain. I’m not asking you to work 100%, I’m asking you to LIVE 100%. Yes, LIVE, make great decisions that take you where you want to be. We take the path of greatness not because we sadistically love hard work and suffering but because we love challenging and living to the best of our ability.

The secret is to decide on everything. Starting today, you can begin making your decisions that affect YOUR life. Don’t wait and let outside people and outside influences affect your life. The only time you let others decide for you is when they know better than you.

How to Make Great Decisions

It all comes down to great decisions! Once you’ve decided on something with great conviction, there is nothing that can stop you. Notice that I did not say “right decisions”, I said “great decisions!”

Great decisions come from
always keeping your goal in mind.

Everytime you decide on anything, have your goal in mind. Before you decide on ANYTHING, ask yourself, “Will this decision take me closer or farther to my goal?” You can apply this rule to EVERY DECISION that you make.

When you set your alarm clock to wake up the next day, you need to ask yourself…”What time should I set my clock if I want to be a great champion?” Maybe you originally thought of waking up at 11am or no specific time at all but now that you questioned yourself, you gave yourself an opportunity to make a great decision! You get to say to yourself, “I WANT TO BE GREAT. I’m gonna wake up at 7am on Saturday so I can go for a run.”

Then the next morning when you put on your running shoes, you ask yourself, “How long should I run for if I want to become champion?” Maybe you don’t know the answer so you go reading up on google and see that the answer is 3 miles. Is that the right distance? Is it too long or too short? Are you even wearing the right shoes? Are you running the most challenging path in your neighborhood? Are you drinking enough water?

But you can’t just end there, you have to keep questioning yourself with everything that you do during the day. When you get hungry and think of something to eat, maybe you can eat something that will help you towards your goal. When you get bored and watch videos on youtube, maybe you can watch something entertaining that will help you towards your goal. When you hang out with friends, you have to decide how they might potentially be distracting you from your goals. There are so many things that might not seem to matter but they all add up. Everything you do is somehow forming habits or statistical outcomes that could potentially affect your future. You can start making conscious decisions by questioning EVERYTHING that you do.

It doesn’t matter so much that you have all the right answers. It matters that you were conscious enough to care and think about all these previously unnoticed variables. With a constant conscious, you will eventually become more aware and discover the right answers for yourself.

How I changed my life

There was a time when I so badly wanted to improve my balance & footwork. I was sick of falling over during sparring matches or losing my balance for almost no reason. I didn’t know where to begin and didn’t even know that my balance was bad. All I knew was that I was falling around a lot.

I started easy at first. I asked coaches for tips on stance and balance and footwork. It helped but I was still getting knocked off balance. Then I started training harder and spending more time on conditioning my lower body. That helped too but it didn’t give me the results I wanted. I didn’t feel like I had control of my balance. Being a very athletic guy, I was frustrated by this crippling disadvantage.

Next, I started adjusting my technique, punching softer and leaning in less. I kept thinknig to myself “BALANCE BALANCE BALANCE” throughout an entire sparring match. I tried moving around less, then moving around more, and altering my stance in every way. I would watch videos on Youtube and try copying one fighter, and then another fighter, and then another. Everything I tried gave me a different result but never the result I wanted.

…and then something happened—I decided to make it my LIFE’S GOAL to improve my balance at ANY COST.

Things got serious when I made this ultimate sacrifice. My obsession with balance started to consume me. I wasn’t a fighter thinking about balance anymore. I had become some sort of monster fueled by a raging thirst for more balance. I was previously only working hard in the boxing gym but now I was willing to change my life. I didn’t realize it at the time but this would be the moment that changed my life forever.

Every minute of everyday, I kept asking myself the same question over and over, “Will this improve my balance?” I asked it when I chose what foods to buy at the super market. I asked it before deciding not to go hang out with friends so I could stay home to work on some balance drills. I asked it before deciding whether to take the elevator or walk up the stairs. When I parked my car, I purposely parked farther away so I could do balance drills while walking up to the store. Even when I brushed my teeth, I thought about how I could stand to improve my balance. This conscious goal would alter every decision I made during the day. Little by little, this conscious awareness was changing my life.

Some of you may think I’m already crazy but this was still only the beginning.

I started looking around on the internet to find every aspect of balance that I could. I watched gymnasts, dancers, circus performers, street performers, athletes, etc. I watched videos of little girls jumping around the dance floor and spinning on one foot, sometimes even on ONE TOE! It was frustrating to see chinese monks stand on top of elevated columns UPSIDE DOWN ON THEIR HEADS. I thought to myself “IF THEY CAN STAND ON THEIR HEAD, surely I can stand on two feet!”

I read books and researched information online. While out in public, I paid attention to the way people walked. I watched how cats walked and jump gracefully around over my neighbors’ fences. I stood as much as possible to practice being on my feet longer. I once pulled over while driving home from work to watch a ballet class through the window.

I asked friends from all different sports for balance advice (fencing, wrestling, judo, tae kwon do, etc). I asked my brother, a famous dancer, for balance tips. He blew me with a whole range of knowledge. I remember one time he told me, “dude, your feet are weak. YES, YOUR FEET! It doesn’t matter how strong your legs are: if your feet aren’t strong enough to grip the floor, you won’t be able to apply leg strength to keep yourself up. It’s like having a strong chest but weak forearm muscles; it would weaken your bench press.” And then he would give me a set of exercises to increase the grip strength of my feet. This pattern of discovery would continue OVER A HUNDRED MORE TIMES over the course of a year. I learned a whole new range of core exercises that make boxing core exercises seem like a joke.

I left no rock unturned in my quest for better balance. I asked everybody and anybody who had an opinion on where good balance comes from. I had to keep changing the way I thought about balance. Outdated balance theories were replaced by newer and more thought provoking ones on a weekly basis.

I was trying all sorts of crazy things.

• stand on a basketball while talking on the phone (sometimes over 30 minutes).
• stand on one foot and closed my eyes every time I brushed my teeth.
• stand on a flipped over bosu ball every time I wrapped my hands at the gym.
• wore ankle weights for 60 days straight! (even while sleeping, in the bathroom, out with friends, EVERYWHERE)
• learned over 10 new ways to walk (developing different muscles and different styles of movement).
• walking barefoot around a rubber track for 2 hours.
• did handstands every 30 minutes at home
• standing on one leg frequently at home…washing dishes, doing laundry, reading books, etc.
• slept on the floor with no pillow for over a year
• sat on a medicine ball (avoiding all chairs with backs) for 2 years
• Don’t be fooled by this modest list! I tried over a hundred things in addition to the usual boxing footwork exercises.

Achieving Greatness

I wasn’t a crybaby making excuses about being born with bad balance. But I also wasn’t an over-confident bragger claiming to one day have the best balance in the world. I was simply a guy looking to improve himself by any means necessary–no less, no more. I didn’t know when I would get there; I only knew that I would get very far by working very hard.

I had become a changed (and slightly possessed ) man. I don’t know when it happened but I eventually had the best balance & footwork in the gym. I also had a newfound respect for fighters that somehow managed to have good balance despite never going through what I did. I didn’t feel jealous that they achieved the same with much less effort. Moreso I felt so lucky that it was possible for me to be better than them through hard work.

I had more respect and acceptance for myself. When you work so hard on something, you come to love it even if it’s not perfect. When I see someone wish they were better or wish that they were someone else…I think to myself, “You would NEVER wish that if you had invested some real effort in yourself.”

When I paint a picture, I prefer to have it over an expensive masterpiece even if mine is less amazing. I love my painting because it is my work. When you work hard on yourself you will realize the same. You will love yourself not because you are the best but because you put your best effort into it. And once you prefer your own work over someone elses, you have in fact become great.

Your life should be your work.
If you don’t love your life,
it is because someone else influenced it
more than you did.

Greatness is in the journey, not the goal

I wish I could say this was only the story of my enduring quest for better balance, but in reality it mirrored all my attempts to improve myself. Similar things happened when I tried to increase my endurance, my punching power, my boxing technique, everything! Everytime I tried to improve, I made a complete fool of myself. I still remember the time somebody told me I didn’t know how to breathe, can you imagine hearing that as a trophy-winning athlete? Everytime I thought I knew something somebody stepped in and showed me I didn’t know shit about boxing or life or even greatness.

All the hard work I spent didn’t make me the most balanced fighter, but it did make me an absolute beast. It doesn’t matter what I do now. If I want something, I tear right through it and easily outwork everybody along the way. Once you have a system for being great, you can reuse it for anything else you like and have everything you ever wanted in life.

How do you know you’re making the right decisions?!

How do you know you’re living the right way? How do you know that your training is preparing you for future championships? Nothing is a mistake, it’s all part of a learning process called life. Nobody knows for sure that what you’re doing is the best thing to do. But the fact that you tried and you took charge of your life, you now have control of yourself and it’s only a matter of time before you figure out the exact settings to become great.

I’d say 90% of the things I tried were an absolute waste of time. But the other 10%, that really helped. And 2% of it made me better than everybody else. Finding this 2% made the useless 90% worthwhile. This 2% of greatness is the reason why you should give 100% in everything. My journey for better balance wasn’t easy but I have the best footwork in my gym today because I kept trying. I am by no means a balance expert but I’m very proud of my effort. I know that I’ve worked hard and I’m glad to finally be in the right direction.

Only when you’ve done absolutely everything you can, are you ever allowed the right to ASK for greatness. Even today, I realize there are so many things I haven’t done yet in my life. Knowing this makes me content to stay humble and know that I haven’t earned my right to be great yet. I just keep working hard knowing that I’m getting closer.

Greatness Begins Today

Every decision you make throughout your day is potentially bringing you one step closer or farther from your goal. If you’re conscious of this, you can change your life, change yourself, and BECOME THE SUCCESS that you want. Or you can sit around forever, following somebody else’s instructions and wondering why you have to wait forever for success.

Treat success as a direction, a constant effort,
and not as an end goal.
You can be great starting today.

A great champion was champion long before his victory, before the fight had even begun. He becomes a champion in the way that he coaches himself and takes charge of his life. He was champion because of the the way his mind affects his reality.

My brother once said to me, “Don’t wait for greatness. Live your life like you ARE a champion. Train like one, act like one, BE a champion. Live your life so that everyone around you says, “You know what? The only thing he’s missing is a title belt.”

Read the other parts:

• How to Be Great, Part 1: Deciding to Be Great
• How to Be Great, Part 2: Strengthen the Mind

If you thought slipping was only about moving your head, you were wrong.

Slipping isn’t limited to just straight punches or head punches. Advanced slipping techniques allow you to slip hooks, uppercuts, body punches, ANYTHING! I’m talking about a crazy James Toney level of slickness where opponents can’t even lay a finger on you. The masters of slipping are untouchable!

Reach the next level of defensive slickness by learning how to slip USING BODY MOVEMENT!

How to Slip By Moving Your Body

I hope you guys enjoyed my first advanced slipping guide on head movement.

Today you’ll learn to slip with body movement. Slipping with the body makes you infinitely more elusive by giving your opponent the slimmest target possible.

Making yourself a slimmer target is many ways more effective than trying to outmove your opponent’s punch. It great increases your chances of evading the punch and relies on much less energy and reaction time. Using body movement is also a safer way of evading punches because you’re in position to roll or block landed punches. Slipping with only head movement can be risky and quite dangerous if you get caught.

Benefits of Slipping with Body Movement

• increased defensive effectiveness against all punches
• less energy and less reaction time needed than head movement
• can slip punches entirely (head movement alone cannot slip body punches)
• decreased damage even if the punch connects
• positions body to counter

To help teach body movment, I made up this technique called “turn the blade”.

Turn the Blade

The principle behind this defensive technique is to imagine your body as a blade. It works like this:

• bait the punch by showing your opponent the FAT side

• turn your body (the blade) to the SKINNY side when he punches

• repeat!

Turning your body constantly makes you far more elusive because it gives your opponent the slimmest target possible. The act of rotating your upper body also serves as a deflection to roll off any landed punches. This “turn the blade” technique does rely on skills that are similar to the shoulder roll.

This technique is used more often than you think especially at the advanced levels. You never realize how elusive somebody is until you fight him yourself. To the casual spectator, it looks like one fighter keeps missing a guy that is standing right in front of him. To the opponent it looks like a guy who is right in front of you but spins when you try to hit him.

Common Punching Angles of Attack

First we learn the 6 common angles of attack. Just about every conceivable punch your opponent throws will originate from one of these 6 common angles. This isn’t so much because of the boxing style but because of the way the body is made. It is more natural for punches to come from these angles.

• Common Punching Angle #1 – straight left
• Common Punching Angle #2 – hooking left
• Common Punching Angle #3 – upwards left
• Common Punching Angle #4 – straight right
• Common Punching Angle #5 - overhand right
• Common Punching Angle #6 - upwards right

Turn the Body to Slip All Punch Angles

Slipping the Straight left

• Position #1 slips outside the jab and sets up counters from the outside. Also for getting into range and or smothering the opponent afterwards.
• Position #2 slips inside the jab and sets up counters from the inside. Also useful for using this as part of your in & out movement. Slip inside with some counters and then pull out.
• I can also alternate between these 2 positions if the opponent attacks with multiple jabs.

Slipping the Hooking Left

• Position #1 turns your body sideways and sometimes leans away from the hook. This movement easily slips or rolls off the left hook from your boxing stance.
• Position #2 is useful after throwing a right hand. Sometimes my right hand can’t recover in time so I use the left glove to block high and drop my right glove to block low. I leave the body sideways instead of recovering to neutral position to avoid the chance of turning into a counter left hook.
• Position #3 is a great way to slip body hooks by turning sideways and pulling the body back just a bit. I lift the elbows to let the body hook pass and I counter over the top.

Slipping the Upwards Left

• Position #1 avoids the left uppercut easily by rotating the body slightly and leaning away.
• Position #2, I extend my left arm to push opponent back while leaning away from him.

Slipping the Straight Right

• Position #1 slips the right hand by standing high to let the right pass.
• Position #2 slips the right hand by going under. This can be a good position if you want to get closer to your opponent or push him back. It’s probably a good idea not to stand up right away if you sense a left hook coming afterwards.
• Position #3 slips the right hand by using an over-rotation to the left. This is an easy way to slip if you just threw a right hand and feel the counter coming before you’re able to pull your hand back.
• Position #4 can also be used after throwing your own right hand. It’s easier to rotate to the left if you step your left foot out.

Slipping the Overhand Right

• Position #1 avoids the wide right by turning your body sideways and leaning back. If your opponent swings the punch more sideways, this position will let the punch miss right past you.
• Position #2 is a good option if your opponent is swinging over at you. It’s a great way to make your opponent miss by going under his punch — please excuse the bad photo, it doesn’t clearly show that I went under the punch and not outside the punch. Going under the punch allows you to escape out behind him and land counters while he turns around. (Also useful for escaping when you’re cornered.)
• There is a TIP to Position #2. Instead of trying to duck under his punch, dip forward as if you want to catch his punch on your forehead but then bend your knees just a little. This is all you need to make his punch sail over your head.

Slipping the Upwards Right

• The easiest way to avoid uppercuts is to lean away. Too easy.

Body Movement Instructional Video

Watch my video for a much clearer demonstration of slipping with body movement!

Favorite Examples of Body Movement:

The one thing all these guys have in common is that they slip punches entirely. Not just straight punches but wild swinging ones and even body shots.

• James Toney – old school skills! This guy slips EVERYTHING. He keeps pivoting and angling from the waist in all sorts of creative ways. Watch this beast in sparring.
• Prince Naseem – one of my all-time favorite unorthodox fighters. Great punch awareness and always has his body at the right angle. Have you ever seen anybody move like this?
• Pernell Whitaker – another crafty defensive technician. He loves to get so low that his body isn’t in harm’s way. Mike Tyson was somewhat similar to Pernell Whitaker in squatting super low. Can you ever get tired of this defensive wizardry?

Final Tips on Slipping with Body Movement

Optimum Defensive Angle

Body movement is about changing the body’s angle,
not about moving the body out of the way.

The main purpose of body movement is to place your body in the optimum defensive position. Although the ultimate goal is to slip the punch entirely, it’s also ok if it becomes a roll or a block. Focusing too hard on slipping every single punch will exhaust your energy quickly. It’s better to focus on placing your body at the optimum angle and then letting the position naturally slip or roll or block. You’re not trying to swing your body out of the way but rather to make slight shifts in the body angle making it easier to defend.

The better you are at finding the right body angle, the less movement you have to make in your body. This is why it is ADVANCED SLIPPING TECHNIQUE. Any beginner trying this will probably find it to be too hard, too slow, and too much movement.

Different Positions for Different Purposes

I demonstrated several ways to slip certain punches because your body is always moving during the fight. Different positions will be easier to reach in different situations. Different positions also allow you to respond differently to your opponent’s next move. Always angle yourself in a position that feels most natural for you and puts you in position to counter or slip the next punch.

Waist Movement

Many of these movements require strong core and back muscles. If you don’t have the body for this, don’t wreck your back by yanking your torso all over the place. Make slight movements and slight angles at first. It also helps to support your upper body by moving your feet to keep the upperbody balanced. (For example: step back with the back foot when you lean back.)

Throw a Counter

Don’t just slip–counter back. Many of these positions give you great angles to fire back. Once you master the body movement, try doing them with a counter. Eventually you will be able to incorporate these body angles while trading punches. Your opponents will be completely confused when they keep missing and you keep landing!

Last reminder: this is an ADVANCED defensive technique!

• Don’t forget to check out Advanced Slipping Technique, PART 1 – Head Movement

I was coaching 2 fighters in the ring the other day when a familiar scenario played out for the 1000th time. One fighter came forward with wild punches while the other fighter retreated behind a long jab. The boxer was trying to maintain his perfect technique but still couldn’t manage to keep the brawler from landing at will.

I begged the boxer to stop and trade with the brawler but he couldn’t do it. It wasn’t in him to exchange punches. When the sparring match ended he asked me, “Why does he keep beating me?”

Here’s what I told him…

You can’t fight for shit. You don’t know how to trade punches and you seem to enjoy running more than you do punching. The other guy is kicking your ass because he’s fighting and you’re not. Try using your skills to fight, not to avoid fighting. Or better yet, try learning how to brawl!

What’s the difference between a brawler and a boxer?

• Answer: Nothing.

They’re both boxers. Boxing and brawling is really the same thing; they’re both fighting. Many people refer to boxers and brawlers as two different styles, defining the boxer as more slick and skilled whereas the brawler is more wild and aggressive.

The reality is that they’re relative terms. Pit 2 fighters of different skill levels together and one will look more like a boxer whereas the other a brawler. The “brawler” will seem more aggressive because he is trying to land punches. The “boxer” will seem more defensive because he’s already able to land punches.

The Fighter’s Primary Goals:

• attack
• counter attack (defense + skills + attack)

The fighter’s primary goal is to attack. Once you can land punches, THEN you can think about using a defense and other skills to AID your attack. A brawler is wild because he’s trying to fulfill his primary goal — ATTACK. The boxer is a step beyond by trying to attack AND DEFEND. When I fight someone better than me, I look to exchange punches. I only focus on defense once I know I can hit my opponent.

“You have to learn how to fight
before you can learn how to box.”

Where many wannabe boxers screw up is by focusing only on the technique and defensive part. But without the essence of a fighter (the “brawler’s” need to HIT), they lack the aggression needed to really win a fight. As a boxer, your first requirement is still to hit your opponent. Only after you establish contact are you allowed to focus on technique and defense.

It’s not easy being a fighter. Taking punches hurt so it’s tempting to skip the brawling skills and go straight to defense. The important thing is you must have what it takes to outfight brawlers when needed. Deep inside, you have to be a fighter too. You need the mind of a boxer, but the heart and aggression of a fighter. Without that fighter’s heart, you’re nothing.

How to Fight Like a Brawler

Remember, a brawler’s #1 goal is to hit the opponent. So all these instructions are to help you hit in the best way possible. It’s not about technique, it’s about the attitude and intention behind your movements.

1. Look at Your Opponent

Seriously, guys. Eye contact. LOOK AT HIM! BOMB HIM! Everything you do with intention takes eye contact. Everything you focus on will need your visual focus. When you read, you look at the book. When you play basketball, you look at the basket. When you box, you look at your opponent so you can hit him. Don’t look away or avert your eyes. Stare him down! Focus on the target, look at your opponent! If you can’t even hold eye contact, I can’t imagine how you’ll ever learn how to throw and evade punches.

Look at Everything

There are plenty of opportunities to hit your opponent. The head, body, chest, stomach, chin, behind the ear. You can aim anywhere. Start using your eyes aggressively and keep scanning for openings. For all you guys who complain that you can’t see anything–WAKE UP! Open your eyes and look! You are a coward if you cannot look at the opponent standing right in front of you!

2. Trade Punches

Your opponent is most vulnerable when he’s punching,
so punch when he punches!

 Attack him RIGHT when he attacks you. I’m not talking about slipping and countering. I’m talking about countering right away. Brawling is where you prove who’s the better man. When you trade punches, it communicates: “My punch is better than yours. My right hand will hit harder than your right hand. I’m not afraid to trade because I’m better!”

Everything you do is offense or counter-offense. Hitting is the focus in brawling, not defense. Exchanging punches is the brawler’s favorite scenario.

Counter with the Same Punch

Imagine that your opponent is vulnerable to the same punch he throws. If he throws a jab, you counter with a jab. If he throws a right, you throw a right. If he left hooks, you left hook. The easiest way to trade is to throw the same punch. Trade jabs, trade rights, trade hooks. NOTE: Uppercuts are hard to trade because some fighters will lean back as they do so.

Touch with the first shot

Never waste your energy on the first shot if you’re the aggressor. The better fighters are usually skilled at evading single shot counters. So you need at least one setup shot before you drop the bomb. Throw a fast shot before unloading your power punches.

Burst AFTER His First Shot

Wait for him to throw one punch, then follow up with 3. Keep doing this to break his rhythm. It communicates aggression. It communicates that you want to fight. You want him to think that anything he throws at you will be returned with more. From a strategic standpoint this tactic works because many brawlers aren’t very good at moving in and out. Their bodies are usually stuck in position allowing you to force multiple punches onto their position.

3. Breathe Faster

Fast breathing equals fast punches. Don’t worry about the punches, don’t worry about the power. Simply breathe fast to increase your handspeed during the exchanges. Quick explosive breathing will give you quick explosive punches. Next time you exchange flurries, focus on the breathing not the punches.

Exhale for Every Movement

Exhale when you punch, exhale when you defend, exhale when you move. Using a quick exhalation with every movement makes you faster. The faster you breathe, the faster you move. If you can breathe faster than your opponent, you can move faster than your opponent. Don’t worry about trying to think fast or be fast. Just breathe fast!

4. Crash into Him

Imagine that you and your opponent are two cars and that you want to get the best possible crash. The best “crash” would be when both of you are coming forward at the same time. This strategy works well for many reasons. Most people are better at moving forward than they are moving backwards (especially the brawlers). It’s harder for them to back up when they have so much forward momentum.

Attack when he comes forward

If he’s already chasing you, you’ve got your work cut out for you. There’s nothing a brawler loves more than an opponent that comes forward. If he’s going away it’ll be a bit of a challenge. You’ll have to walk him down cautiously and be ready to attack when you feel him change directions and come forward. Remember the goal is to exchange when both of you are coming forward into each other. Have fun and enjoy the fireworks!

5. Try to Fight

Don’t try to sit there and think. Don’t try to be tricky. Try to fight. Walk forward and hit him hard. Challenge his pride! Make your opponent fight. The more he punches the better. The more he commits the better. The more he fights, the easier it is for you to fight.

Don’t try to SAVE YOUR BODY, USE YOUR BODY!

If you’re going to be tired, be tired of punching not tired of defending. If you’re going to fall, fall into him. If you’re going to be emotional, be angry not afraid. Don’t spend energy to SAVE ENERGY. Use all your energy! Show everything you’ve got. Later on, we’ll talk about being clever but brawlers don’t need to be concerned with that. Brawlers are the truth, they know what they want and they go straight for it.

TRADE PUNCHES?! Johnny, are you crazy?????

Look, I’m not saying for you to go out there and get killed. I’m saying you need to be able to stand up for yourself and learn how to fight. Because once you know how to fight, boxing BECOMES THE EASIEST THING IN THE WORLD! First try to brawl, go out there throwing and taking punches. Once you know how to brawl, learning how to box will make fighting so much easier.

A true “boxer”:

• can hit the brawler harder than the brawler hits him
• can be more defensive without becoming less offensive
• can outbox a brawler without spending more energy than him

Skills make fighting easier.
But first, you have to know how to fight.

What’s the proper way to use head movement? What’s the difference between head movement and slipping? How do you slip without losing balance? How do you slip WITHOUT pulling on your head? How do you slip punches faster and easier?

The secrets to slipping are answered in THIS guide!

The problem with slipping…

I’m not trying to tell you that slipping isn’t useful. I’m simply pointing out the common flaws and limitations of slipping. Understanding the advantages and disadvantages of slipping will allow you to use it more effectively.

Slipping is a defensive technique
that allows you to counter faster
because your hands aren’t used for defense.

PROBLEM – slipping often compromises your position.

Naturally, a fighter will slip a punch by moving his head off the center line. This is where the problems begin. Taking your head off the center causes you to take yourself off balance. This off-centered position sacrifices your balance, power, speed, and mobility for the sake of avoiding one punch. Regardless of whether you want to counter back, slip some more, or move away–it’s harder to do when you’re off balance.

If you slip by pulling your head off center, you’ll be forced to move your feet in order to regain your balance. This makes it easy for opponents to keep taking your ground.

So here are the 2 conflicting principles of slipping we must satisfy:

1. Slip the opponent’s punch
2. Keep your head at the center

…and now we’ve come to the grand question!!!

HOW DO YOU SLIP WITHOUT MOVING THE HEAD?!!!

The Million-Dollar Trick – “Head Movement”

So how are we supposed to use head movement when I just told you that you can’t move your head? It’s a trick! It’s all a trick!

The Trick to Head Movement:
Make your head appear to be moving,
without actually moving your head.

Yes, the trick is to make your head LOOK like it’s moving! Please watch my video above to get a visual demonstration.

The Trick to Head Movement

Move the body WITHOUT moving the head

Notice how my head & body stay in the same position but it LOOKS like I’m slipping back and forth. I can shift back and forth between these 2 positions however fast or slow as I want, to make it look like my head is constantly moving.

SIDE VIEW

Study the pictures above carefully. The clever use of my limbs make my head appear to be moving but my head barely moves at all. I’m trying to move my body so that it appears like I’m slipping back and forth, tempting my opponent to throw to one side instead of straight down the middle.

Using the Arms to Simulate “Head Movement”

Head movement using the arms

In the images above, moving my arms around makes it look like I’m slipping back and forth. Looks like I moved alot, right? NOTE: I am showing you my style of movement. You don’t have to copy me. Your arms can be in different positions and move in different ways to simulate head movement.

Head movement WITHOUT the arms

And now I make the same movement but without my arms. Can you see now that I barely moved at all?

Using the Legs to Simulate “Head Movement”

Head movement using the legs

Here’s the same effect moving only my legs. Notice how in the first image I looked like I was leaning away. And then in the second image I looked like I was crouching forward. Once again, it’s just a trick; the only thing I did was rotate my legs. My body and head are still in the same place—MAGIC!

The Wrong Way to do “Head Movement”

Pulling head off center = BAD

I’m sure you’ve seen this before. Maybe you’re like me and did this for a long time and wondered why slipping was so difficult. Sure it works because you ARE moving your head but it’s hard to keep up. Swinging your head back and forth like this requires a lot of energy because you’re upsetting your balance. Furthermore, it’s even harder to do against fast punches. It’s much easier and much more effective to fake the head movement.

What’s the Point of Head Movement?

Head movement makes your opponent aim off your center

So what’s the point of all this crazy movement? Why am I trying to move everything but my head? It’s not that I’m trying not to move my head. The focus is on moving only enough to create the ILLUSION of movement. The illusion of “head movement” tricks my opponent into throwing punches off my center. The “head movement” baits him to throw to one side making it easier for me to slip the punch.

Slipping at the center VS slipping side-to-side

Think about it. If your opponent keeps firing at the center, you’ll have to keep moving your head from one side to the other. If you can make your opponent throw off the center, you can slip simply by staying in the middle.

In essence, head movement makes slipping MUCH EASIER!

I’ve heard many coaches yell at their fighters to “move your head!” without much success. There are simple reasons for this. Bobbing your head side-to-side isn’t going to help your defense if you don’t have a strong awareness of incoming punches. Making constant slipping motions can make you tired or even distract you from seeing the punches. You must know that “head movement” is NOT the same as slipping!

 ”Head Movement” is DIFFERENT from “Slipping”

• Head movement is to make your opponent miss. (moving the head only enough to simulate movement)
• Slipping is to avoid the punch. (moving the head only enough to avoid the punch)

Head movement only LOOKS like a slip, it’s an IMITATION of slip movement. Effective head movement makes the actual slipping easier. Your opponent’s punches will come off target making large slip movements unnecessary. Combining head movement with slipping allows you to counter, slip, or move away more effectively.

“Head movement” allows you to slip punches,
WITHOUT giving up your balanced position.

Examples of Pro’s & Amateur Boxers using “Head Movement”

• Bernard Hopkins vs Jean Pascal – watch how he does it every time he gets close to Pascal
• Andre Ward as an amateur in the olympics – he does it fast/shifty around 4:10 and slow/subtle around 11:49

Sometimes they do it fast and shifty like I did in my instructional video. Other times it’s relaxed and liquid but they pull away with a slip when a punch comes. The pros usually do it slow (as if they’re fluidly breathing). The amateurs typically use a more energetic shifty/jerky kind of head movement. Almost everyone in the Olympics is always shifting around; watch any Olympic fight and you’ll see what I mean. Once you understand how to move your head, you can do it with your own style. Right after I learned this, I noticed that all the slick guys do it in some way or shape or form.

• Read my guide on slipping here: How to Slip Punches

Straight punches are supposed to be faster and longer leaving you less vulnerable than curved punches…but only when thrown correctly.

Somehow I managed to box for years before being taught how to throw a straight punch. I thought I knew how to punch so I was surprised when my trainer showed me why my jab and straight right were actually slightly crooked.

Here’s one little tip to make those punches really straight:

Analyzing Your Straight Punch Technique

How do we know a punch is REALLY straight? There’s more to a straight punch than simply a straight arm. If you do it wrong you’ll lose out on strategic advantages and may even hurt yourself. There’s a way to guarantee that the fist will travel in a straight line and that the power generated is exerting force in a straight line.

Let’s dig in a little deeper to see what makes a straight punch REALLY straight.

The KEY to Straight Punches: Stretch the INSIDE of your arm!

Do you see the subtle difference between both versions of the “straight punch”? Stretching the INSIDE of the arm means stretching with the bicep/chest muscles and reaching forward with the big knuckles. Stretching the OUTSIDE of the arm means stretching with the tricep/back muscles and reaching forward with the small knuckles. Now let’s step back and see how these seemingly tiny differences can affect the way you fight.

CORRECT Straight Punch (stretching the INSIDE of the arm)

Straight punch coming out…

Notice how when I stretch out the INSIDE of my arm, the arm goes straight and almost flicks out of the way…

…making way for an easy RIGHT HAND!

The left hand flicks back home effortlessly and makes room for the right hand to come in. Notice how my chest was stretched while I threw the jab. It’s as though my straight jab was pulling in the straight right. DEVASTATING!

INCORRECT Straight Punch (stretching the OUTSIDE of the arm)

Now let’s try it the “wrong way”. Suppose I throw a straight punch while stretching the outside of my arm…

…this causes the arm to rotate to the inside. Do you see the problem?

What happens here is the arm will most likely curve into a slow recovery (instead of flicking straight back). Because I stretched the outside of my arm, my body rotates away from my opponent making it harder to follow-up with another punch. The fist has even swung inwards further blocking my right hand.

Now some might argue that this extra rotation will make the right hand stronger because it has to swing harder. Well that makes sense but you might appreciate a faster 1-2 from time to time.

WARNING: at the higher levels of boxing, rotating your head off the jab could get you knocked out! The reason why is because your head has to turn back when you throw the right hand. And the best counter-punchers will catch you with a right-cross while you’re head is rotating into it. This is part of the reason why you should avoid turning your jab into a left cross.

Straight Punch Technique – VIDEO

Benefits of Straighter Punches

Better Form

Good form will deliver more power and reduce the chance of injury. By stretching the inside of your arm and reaching with your big knuckles, you are hitting with a straighter arm. Throwing *crooked* “straight punches” will hurt your hands because the fist swings inwards (even if only slightly) and impacts on the smaller knuckles. This mistake alone is the cause of many common hand injuries for beginners!

More Speed

The straighter punch arrives faster and has less recovery time because it bounces straight back at you. A *crooked* “straight punch” has that looping effect where it swings off to the side requiring you to spend more energy to recover the hand. By the way: a straighter punch has much less telegraphing making it appear faster to your opponent.

Strategic Advantage

A straighter punch can penetrate your opponent’s defense better. A straight punch can truly penetrate up the middle whereas a slightly curved one gets deflected away. Worst of all, you don’t want a straight punch to over-rotate you so much that it slows down your follow-up punch.

*** Why Do Some Fighters Stretch the Outside of Their Arm?

Some fighters do it because they’re trying to get extra reach or extra power. Others don’t know how to punch and so it’s more natural to swing wide than to punch straight up the middle. The biggest risks of stretching the outside of your arm is landing on the smaller knuckles (instead of the first two), and also that you might be pulling yourself off balance and slowing your follow-up punches.

It’s not improper technique to stretch the outside of your arm when you punch. Just know that this curve your punch slightly.

Final Thoughts on Straight Punches

There’s no right or wrong way to throw a straight punch. The tip I gave is to help you throw straighter and to be more aware of your form. Just know that if you stretch the OUTSIDE of your arm, the straight will most likely curve into a cross. If you want a cross, throw a cross but if you want a straight, throw a straight. I’m here to open your eyes to different technique not change your strategy. The more techniques you know the better.

Some of you may be wondering why it has to be stretching the inside vs the outside. Why can’t you throw a straight punch with both sides even? In theory, it makes more sense to stretch both sides evenly. In reality, your torso naturally rotates your shoulder inwards when you punch so it’s best to counter-act this rotation by stretching the inside to create the “straight punch effect”.

*** Precaution:

• If you’re new to this straight punching technique, don’t straighten your arm so hard (especially while warming up with shadowboxing). You’ll risk hyper-extending your elbow which hurts like hell.

“It’s not the punches you throw, it’s how you throw them.”

It sounds like that cliche lecture you’ve heard all your life about quality over quantity. Well the saying holds true for boxing as well. Throwing quality punches (with accuracy and timing) is far more useful than throwing punches in bunches (wasting energy and leaving you vulnerable).

But it’s more than just quality. Throwing punches with different rhythms confuses opponents. You can use different rhythms to make your attacks more effective without inventing new punches or spending extra energy.

You can create an infinite number of combinations even while throwing the same punches over and over…simply by changing your attack rhythm!

Why You Should Change Your Attack Rhythm

Throwing combinations with the same rhythm is the easiest way to be predictable. Smart opponents can sense when the next punch will come and know how to react before you’ve even thrown the punch.

Q: What’s the most predictable attacking rhythm?

A: HARD-HARD-HARD

Throwing non-stop hard shots is how most beginners will attack. It doesn’t sound smart but that’s exactly what I used to do. I practiced nothing but hard shots for months. The punches got faster and stronger but they were still predictable. After a sparring session with a pro, he told me, “Johnny, I can feel your punches coming. You punch the same way all the time.”

He meant that I was throwing my combinations with the same rhythm — every combination sounded like *bam!-bam!-bam!*. Everybody could sense my rhythm and knew when I would attack. That little bit made it easier for everyone to evade my attacks. Fortunately, I learned how to alter my rhythm by changing the speed and holding back my power on certain punches. Over the years, I come to recognize these 7 basic attack rhythms you’ll see used over and over again.

Attack Rhythm #1. (fast-HARD-fast-HARD)

Example combos:

• 1-2-1-2
• 2-3-2-3

It’s simple but it works. Imagine somebody throwing a 1-2-1-2 combination. Instead of trying to throw all four punches powerfully, you throw the jabs super fast and then smash in the right hands. Instead of bam-BAM-bam-BAM, your combination sounds more like baBAM!-baBAM!

The combination is instantly more effective because you put more emphasis on the right hands by bringing them in faster. Your opponent is so busy trying to evade your jab, he gets hit by the hard right hand. This is a great rhythm for fighters with really hard crosses. Fast jab and HARD cross, over and over.

You could also be unorthodox like some fighters and throw a 2-3-2-3 combination with this rhythm. How this works is you would throw tapping right jabs followed by huge left hooks. I remember Roy Jones Jr easily outboxing his opponents in the Olympics with the same combination.

Attack Rhythm #2. (fast-fast-HARD)

Example combos:

• 1-1-2
• 1-2-3
• 3-1-2

It’s a simple combo but many fighters are scared to throw it exactly as described. They’re afraid to wait till the 3rd shot to throw the first hard punch. Anyways, so here’s how we do this: throw 2 really fast shots to surprise your opponent and then finish with the 3rd hard shot. In the first example combination, you throw 2 really fast jabs to disrupt your opponent. The 2nd jab will come as a surprise if you throw it fast enough, which sets up your right hand perfectly.

As shown above, you can also throw the 1-2-3 and 3-1-2 combination with this same rhythm. The first two fast shots should make your opponent put up his defense while the 3rd shot delivers the damage.

Attack Rhythm #3. (evade-fast-fast-fast)

Example combos:

• slip-2-3-2
• slip-2-1-1
• block-3-2-1
• pull-1-2-1

This is an easy evasive attack rhythm that works surprisingly well. All you have to do is evade your opponents first punch, thus breaking his rhythm, and then blitz him with a fast 3-punch counter before he regathers his senses. Up above, I posted a few examples of easy combinations to throw. Don’t worry too much about what he throws; evade the first shot and counter with 3. Keep doing it over and over.

This is a great rhythm for high volume fighters or fighters with fast hands. I simply walk towards my opponent in a stalking manner. As soon as he fires, I pull away and then come back with 3 punches. Do it over and over for maximum damage. Try it!

Attack Rhythm #4. (fast-evade-HARD)

Examples combos:

• 1-slip-2
• 2-slip-2
• 2-roll-2

A quick counter rhythm to put your opponents on their toes. Throw a fast shot, evade the counter, then counter back hard. Throw a jab, slip the counter, counter right hand. Or throw a lead right, roll off the counter, then hard counter right. It helps to be fast and sneaky. This combo works best in the beginning of fights when it’s too early to commit, and at the end of fights when opponents get lazy with their counters.

Attack Rhythm #5. (fast-fast-fast-evade-HARD)

Example combos:

• 1-1-1-slip-2
• 1-2-1-slip-3
• 1-1-2-slip-2
• 1-2-3-slip-3

Another great attacking rhythm with an evasion and HARD counter at the end. Throw 3 fast punches to force your opponent to exchange, evade your opponent’s counter, and return a HARD counter. Do this right a few times and you’ll scare your opponent from fighting back.

In the first example combo, I’m slipping a counter jab. In the second example combo, I’m slipping a counter right. In the 3rd and 4th combos I’m rolling under counter rights and left hooks. These combos work best against aggresive fighters and punchers. They trade eagerly so you beat them by throwing fast shots to bait their counters, then evade before countering hard.

Attack Rhythm #6. (fast-HARD-HARD-fast)

Example combos:

• 1-2-3-1
• 1-2-3-2-1 (fast-HARD-HARD-HARD-fast)

This attack rhythm is a series of hard punches that start and end with fast shots. The fast shot at the beginning sets you up, the fast shot at the end gets you out. The finishing shot at the end must be fast to disrupt your opponent’s counter. Theoretically, you could throw endless hard shots and throw the fast one only when you sense your opponent about to counter.

Attack Rhythm #7. (HARD-HARD-HARD-evade-fast-fast-evade)

Example combos:

• 1-2-3-move-1-1-move
• 2-3-2-move-1-1-move

This rhythm is a lot of fun and incredibly annoying for your opponents. Throw 3 hard shots, move, double jab, move again. Your opponent will be thrown off because you keep switching between hard and fast combinations. You’re hitting him hard and then running, then throwing 2 jabs when he’s expected more power shots. On the repeat attack he might be expecting to exchange against jabs but now you’re throwing power shots again. Your constant movement will break up his counter attacks. He’ll be defending at the wrong times and trying to exchange at the wrong times.

Tips for Fighting On Rhythm

Some of you are wondering about the difference between a fast shot and a hard shot. Aren’t ALL punches supposed to be fast and hard? To some degree, yes. But it’s also impossible to shift your weight over on every punch AT FULL SPEED. So a punching rhythm is creating by mixing in arm punches for speed and full weight shifts for power. Using a rhythm throws off your opponent because some punches come faster or harder than others. He won’t know where to concentrate his defense and just the fact that you keep changing things up will confuse him.

Fast Shots Set Up the Hard Shots

The fast shots don’t necessarily have to land. They’re used to set up your harder shots. So instead of trying to connect, you could try throwing at different places (elbow, forehead, opposite side, etc) to make him defend a different area and expose himself for your hard shots. You could also throw the fast shots at your opponent’s guard or use feints to keep him defensive.

Combine Different Rhythms

If you haven’t already noticed by now, it’s possible to flow from one rhythm to another. Use different rhythms to make different combinations so your opponent’s can’t figure you out. You can win entire fights throwing nothing but the 1-2 over and over if you use different rhythms. Hell, that’s exactly what some world champions did.

The latest boxing questions on boxing equipment, punching technique, safety issues, and boxing training.

1. What headgear do you recommend for better vision?

Thank you for your excellent website. I am a grappler (wrestling & BJJ) who is focusing on boxing right now to grow as a mixed martial artist. I am new to boxing. I take punches well (I still have yet to have my bell rung or even be stunned despite getting bloody bruised and cut) but I feel maligned with most headgear since my peripheral vision is compromised. One of my trainers told me to take off my head gear recently and when I did I was un-hittable. I even threw my hands down and slipped everything. With the headgear on I took about 50 shots in a 3 minute round. Big difference. I read your list of headgear and tried them to no avail. I get the claustrophobia going and get blindsided as soon as the Hannibal Lecter mask comes on. I feel like a swarm of bees are coming at me. Any new headgear you recommend? – Ali

• Try the competition headgear like Adidas/Everlast/Title…and get the ones with the open face and no cheek protectors. There’s also a chance that you’re wearing the wrong size which could make your face feel buried in there.

2. Is it possible for smaller fighters to beat bigger fighters?

Hi Johnny!

I’m from Italy and i joined boxing a few mounts ago…Boxing is really difficult O_o!!!! First of all I want to thank you for your site. Very interesting, I learnt a lot!!!!

Secondly I wish to ask you something about boxing…You said that the force of a fist is proportional to the weight of the boxer. Is for this reason that weight categories exists? I mean can a smaller boxer beat an heavier one? Or it is just impossible? I guess smaller one are faster than the heavier ones.

I thank you, and I hope that you’ll never get tired to write articles! I’m sorry for my bad english -_-’…

 Goodbye and arrivederci a presto!
Alessio

• Hi Alessio. It’s definitely possible to beat a bigger fighter. Assuming all attributes are the same, a fighter with an advantage in one area can win. Having an advantage in size is a whole other story. Being bigger allows you to punch harder, absorb shots better, be able to push your opponent while not being easily pushed back. The bigger fighter might also have advantages in height and reach.
• So it’s possible but fighting someone bigger, you may give up many advantages and just because you’re smaller doesn’t guarantee you’ll be faster.

3. Do you have any strength exercises using free weights?

alriight johnny,been reading your website for a while now and i have started boxing training 4 months ago.I really enjoy going the gym and currently go 3 times a week for maybe 1 1\2 hours per session.my workout consists of 15 mins interval running ,30 secs slow jog 1min faster pace,3x3mins d/e bag,3x3mins hook and uppercut bag,3x3mins heavy bag and 3x3mins speedball, to finish off i do some weights not heavy just enough to do 20 reps 3sets(back,shoulders,arms),what i’m asking for is some strength exercises using free weights ,i do a few sets of clap pushups and medicine ball throws against a wall ,just want some new exercises to keep my workouts from getting too repetitive,by the way i’m 44 ,6ft 5 and weigh 110kg.Great website mate, really enjoy reading it! Thanks, robby

• I really like the exercises using a medicine ball. They’re all over the internet.

4. Are Title heavy bag gloves any good or Everlast better?

• I prefer the bag gloves by Title. They’re good.

5. What how many sets/reps/recovery time should I have during my workouts?

A few last things – I am interested in trying to increase speed as well and have been hearing about plyometric exercises. Is there an exercise routine with detailed information like number of sets/reps/frequency you would recommend? I am also wondering if there is any recovery time recommended between workouts (like with weight lifting)? Right now I’m doing 4-5 days a week 60-90 minutes per day since I have more free time. When work gets busy I can usually only fit in 3 days or so. – Mike

• There’s a workout I released on this website. A good break time is 1 minute as most.

6. Can you tell me if my workout is good?

Johnny,

When I am unable to work in an actual training class here is the workout I do. Check it out and tell me if this an effective way to train or what I can do to improve on it.

30 min run 3.5-4.0 miles

10 min jump rope

10 min shadow boxing

20 min heavy bag

10 min pushups

10 min ab work

10 min pull ups

Any input you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

How long before you get t-shirts?

Thanks

SEBASTIAN

• I would take time off the heavy bag and put it into the speed bag and double-end bag. The t-shirts are on their way! (Thanks for asking.)

7. What size boxing gloves should I use?

Let me start by saying I love your newsletter, man. I’m a beginner and I’m looking into buying my first set of boxing gloves. I weigh about 220, do you have any suggestions of what size of glove I should use? Also what are some of the better brands out there?  - Juan

• 16oz is the minimum size for you. Check out my Boxing Gloves Buyer’s Review.

8. Do you have any tips or ideas to fight like James Toney?

Hello Johnny, I am Spaniardguy… I enjoy your site and now I am enjoy your boxing intructional video and ebook. Sorry to bother you, but I take a motivation that you can help to resolve partly. Yo are a great fan to James Toney. I too. If you have time, could you tell me some tips or ideas about fighting like him (I wouldn´t go that far, hehehe)?

• Spar at slow speed and try to evade your opponent’s punches without taking a backstep. See if you can become more creative at slipping. Instead of just moving your head, see if you can angle your body so that your opponent misses entirely. I have a guide coming out to teach more advanced body movement.

9. Can you please help me with my reflexes? – Zach

• Spar slower so you can see everything. It’s hard to have fast reflexes when you can’t see what you’re suppose to react to.

10. Do you have any recommendations on the Fighting Sports Tri-Tech gloves?

Hello Sir,

First, I want to say that this is the most valuable, real and useful information I got over the internet about spurring. My name is Yuval, and I am new to the fighting sport. I am doing Krav Maga, Spurring, Bag, Cross fit, and I love it. I totally hooked.

I bought my gear at Sport Chalet, and after the guy at the fight store that I went yesterday told me how poor quality they are, I decided to return them and do some of my research before I am investing hundreds of dollars in high quality gear. Your website and experience have been very useful and helped educate me about the field.

I am thinking on getting Fighting Sports Tri-Tech brand. Any recommendations? Laces? Loop & Hook?

Also, thank you for the recommendation to put hand wraps on anytime I train.

I could not find any review on grappling gloves or mouth pieces?

Is the Dr. Shock brand worth the price? or is the plain, cheap Everlast mouth piece is good enough?

Is the Hayabusa MMA pro gloves are the way to go with those sort of gloves?

Again, thank you very much. Sharing you knowledge and experience have definitely made a difference for me.

Yuval

•  I like the Fighting Sports Tri-Tech gloves, a couple of the guys here use them. The hook & loop are a much better choice. They secure the wrist well and make it easy for you to strap yourself up. I’m not an MMA expert and never use those MMA gloves so I can’t give you any advice there.
• Doctor Shock mouthguards are definitely worth it. The cheap mouthguards wear down fast and don’t seem to lock my jaw as well.

11. Do you any good body weight exercises to stay in shape?

Hey Johnny,

I’ve got a question. I’m away from home for about a year and that means no boxing either, unfortunately. Do you know any good body weight exercises that will me keep in shape? That means no dumbbells, or any other type of equipment. Thanks in advance!

- S.J.

• Push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, dips (use a chair). Search the internet for calisthenics (bodyweight exercises). As long as you have gravity, you can get a full workout using only your body weight.

12. Is 33 too old to start boxing and compete?

First of all, I appreciate the website. Very informative, and positive. Not the brash, tough guy, in-your-face talk that I see on some sites.

I am 33 years old, and I work on computers for a living. I sit a lot because of my job so I workout after the workday. I have always been interested in boxing but never did anything about it. Just over two months ago I found a gym, and I love going there. I am still working on basics, as well as my weight, but I am making pretty good progress on all fronts.

My question for you is, how old is too old to get into the sport? Now I know that I am not too old to train, spar, etc.., but is 33 too old to begin the pursuit of possibly fighting an amateur bout or two?

Thank you very much.

Tony

• There are open divisions and masters divisions for older fighters. 33 is not too old at all, there are many people who get into the sport late and still have a  great time. You might be too late for the olympics and a pro career but it’s never too late to get in awesome shape and challenge yourself.

13. What I do to increase jab strength?

hi johnny

first of all great site and thanks for taking the time to share this with us.

i just wanted to ask regarding the jab im a cruiserwaight boxer and have a weak jab, thus setting up other shots after the jab can be a little difficult in the ring. my arms are conditioned so im not to sure what to do although my coach think not too much of it however i my self know i realy much on the jab

so what if anthing would you recomend i do to help my jab strenth wise

once again thanks for all the time

kam

• The jab’s strength is its speed and accuracy. The power comes from the snap, not necessarily the strength behind the jab. You can add power to the jab by stepping forward an inch when you throw it.

14. Should I adopt the outside boxing style?

Johnny, I am 12 years old and I have just begun boxing. I am medium-height and am pretty fast, but I don’t have much power. Would a outboxer be a good style to adopt? – Ty

• Everybody who wants to learn how to box must learn how to box from the inside, outside, everything. Boxing from the outside is not a style, it’s a part of boxing. You have to be ready for whatever situation presents itself.

15. Can you help me with ______?

Hi Coach,

first off, great website, I’m a big fan.

I am a newbie to boxing and have been training for about the last 6 months. I am looking at signing up for a locally hosted charity fight night between us and our sister boxing club. I have several questions in regards to my training over the next few months:

1. Roadwork – I do none at present. I am EXTREMELY flat footed and use customised orthotics. Being on the heavier side, I avoid running as it tends to hurt my knees. Is there any effect from replacing running with an elliptical cross trainer or other low impact cardio machinery in the gym? How much and how often should I be doing? – do you have any guide on this?

2. Do you have any tips or aids to ensure your wrist/forearm is aligned the right way when punches impact. I tend to use a fairly powerful cross and recently my outer wrist has been hurting after every session. I have tried taking some time away from training and the usual icing of the affected spot. I also try and wrap my wrists tighter. This has all helped but not reduced the problem. I am trying to change my punching style from a “great big powerful cross” to a “snapping punch”. Do you have any other recommendations?

3. The common sense boxing diet is logical, but can you provide some advise around quantities? I am unable to keep up with 6x meals a day due to work/study/training commitments. I can only manage 4 meals a day. I am currently 110kgs at 6’0 tall. My objective is to get down to 95kgs over the next 6 months. What macro break down shall I aim for with the proteins/carbs/fats split in terms of weight (g) per day. eg: 180g protein, 250g carb, 50g fats, etc.

4. I know this is subjective, but how many training sessions do you recommend?

At present I attend:

2x squad sessions a week – these cover technique/drills/sparring

1x technique session a week

2x conditioning sessions a week

I am looking to add one bag session with several rounds on the heavy bag followed by the speed ball.

Is that a suitable target?

5. Lastly, I like to add in 1x session a week of heavy compound lifting – military presses, bench presses, squats, deadlifts, etc – I know you aren’t a big fan of weight training, but I definitely feel like these help my “power shots”. What are your thoughts?

regards,

V.V.

ps: Is mailbag a fortnightly/monthly feature – just so I know when to expect an answer and don’t get fired from work for refreshing your webpage every minute waiting for a reply

• Hey VV, I update the mailbag whenever I have time which isn’t much nowadays. For you, I will make this one special exception and answer it now because the next one might not be for a month. I don’t have a guide on running alternatives but will certainly make one.
• The reason why your wrist hurts is usually because of punching form and/or technique. My suggestion is that you stretch the INSIDE LENGTH of your arm when you throw those crosses. That’s the distance from the index knuckle to the inside of your shoulder (where it meets the chest).
• The Common Sense Boxing Diet already answers the recommended number of calories to consumer per day. How much should you eat? This is what your body needs, according to the American Dietary Guidelines 2010 (from the US Department of Health): 2400-3000 calories for active men (reference size 5’10″ 154lbs), 2000-2400 calories for active women (reference size 5’4″ 126lbs)
• Everyone’s body is different. You will have to experiment with different amounts to know what is right. There’s a section in that guide called “Meal Portions”. Other than that, I recommend you follow what is recommended by the American Dietary Guidelines. If you are unable to keep up with the 6x meals schedule, you will have to find a way…otherwise, your diet will be less than perfect. That’s simply the way the body works. I use to pack food in a plastic container everywhere I went. It was a hassle but I made health my priority and always found a way.
• Your current training session is pretty intense so I wouldn’t recommend any more training than that. I would say it’s perfect for competing amateur boxers.
• Lifting weights to punch harder is like trying to build muscle so you can jump higher. Can it work? It depends on how you do it. Is that how the old school greats did it? NOPE. Are there far better exercises than weightlifting for building power? OH YEAH!
• I’m not a big fan of heavy weightlifting for boxing because I use to be a powerlifter and it turned out to be a huge waste of time for boxing purposes. But since you asked… I beg you to try 2 months of weight training…and then 2 months without weight training. And see for yourself which period allowed you punch harder, with greater punching range, with higher punch output, using less energy. I’m not asking you to believe me…I’m asking you to see for yourself how big the difference is.

16. What can I do to improve my ability to see punches better?

I just love all the advise u give us!!!!it helps allot. I just wane know(if u can help) what can I do to basically make myself to see the punches coming my way? – storm

• Spar at a slower speed so that you can learn to SEE the punches. Once you can see it, you can slowly pick up the pace. If you spar too fast in the beginning, you’ll never be able to see it and you’ll flinch for ever. Of course, I don’t want you to watch every punch being thrown at you. The goal is to build your sensitivity to punches so that you can feel them coming.

17. When are you considered a boxer?

I had a question, when are you considered a boxer? Is it when you are training and full on sparring with other ametuer fighters? Or when you are actually competing? – Vinnie

• In a literal sense, you’re a boxer if you train and participate in the sport of boxing. But if you want to be serious boxer, then it will take a least a couple months of hard training before you will be respected as a fighter.

18. Do you have any advice for sparring body shots?

hi was just wondering if you could do an artical or give me some advice on body sparring. We do it alot at my gym in england and i know it can give you bad habbits because you always block your body rather than your head. Can you tell me how you should block and where you should hit your opponent and how to look good. thank you rob

• Block wherever your opponent tries to attack you. Aim anywhere you can reach your opponent (chest, stomach, solar plexus, heart, liver, kidney, ribs). A good idea is to intercept with an uppercut straight up the middle when your opponent throws a wide hook to the body.

19. How can I box professionally if my country doesn’t have professional boxing?

Hello Johhney,

first of all i want to convey me greetings to u and your team. i am ahmad sadeed and i live in afghanistan. i am really a boxing fanatic and i have been following ur site for a long time. i have a bachelor degree in law and i am working with an american company in afghanistan right now. previously i was going to a kickboxing gym but it was not what i wanted. after graduating from law school, i started going to boxing gym. i exercised a lot and tried to be a smart and sharp boxer. no exaggeration, i am good at it. coming to the point, in my country there are no pro boxers who participates in any kind of competitions. all of them are amatuer and our boxing national team has never taken part in olympics or any major championship. maybe the reason is our poor boxing quality and less interst of our officials. i don’t know. i am really suffering and frustrated cause i am getting older. now i am 22 but until i reach the level i have to, considering these conditions, it might take so long. i am looking forward to ur comments. every day inside the gym i discuss ur topics and my trainer likes them a lot and he encourages me to continue my hard work. i want to sacrifice every thing of my life for boxing. even i refused my promotion at work cause it will prevent me from concentrating on boxing. but i am scared that after losing every thing i may not reach anywhere. is there any other way to become a pro? i will try my best to get to our national team and maybe through that i reach other competitions.

• Ahmad, I suggest for you to enter the amateur boxing competitions in your country and do really well. Record videos of yourself doing well in competition and send them to promotion companies and boxing managers around the world. Somebody may be willing to sponsor you and handle the paperwork for you to fight in another country. Your best bet is to talk to an experienced amateur boxing coach, maybe he has connections.

20. Can you recommend a couple of quick snacks to eat before training?

Hi Johnny.

I train twice a week at a local club for fitness and weight loss. I have lost over 30lb in 3 months and really enjoy the training. I leave work and go straight to training and then have my evening meal when I get home ~ I’m usually ravenous by the time I get home.

Please could you recommend a couple of quick snacks I could eat a couple of hours prior to training as I have tried bananas or sandwiches but I can’t find the right balance. I either run out of energy or get a stitch.

Brilliant site especially from a beginners point of view.

Regards

Simon

• I’ll eat a large meal about 2 hours before training, and then a small meal like protein bar and a fruit right before training. You can also eat something small (even a candy bar) during training.

21. What can you tell me about hand problems and safety issues in boxing training?

Dear Mr.Nguyen,

My name is Santos, and I currently attending the Science Academy of South Texas. I am enrolled in a course named Engineering Development and Design in which I am required to identify and create a solution for a problem using engineering. I am interested reducing felt force in the hands during boxing training sessions in order to help prevent hand and wrist injuries.

I found your website, and I was wondering, as an expert, what you could tell me about common current hand protection during boxing training (i.e. using a punching bag).

You help would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Santos

• The biggest problem with hand injuries is that boxers are punching an irregular shaped object. The human body is shaped differently and hard and soft in different places. You can use proper form to keep the wrist from bending but often, you attack and whatever angle is available. An opponent could easily move or parry which may bend your wrist. Hundreds of punches can be thrown in a round at high speeds making it highly likely for the wrist to be at slightly angled upon impact.
• All safety equipment can only cushion the impact, it doesn’t keep the wrist from bending. I guess the solution would be to find a way to secure the boxer’s wrists during punches. Maybe better handwraps or gloves would be the solution.

22. How much should I train?

Hello, thanks for the website, it has helped me a lot in my boxing goals. But I have some questions.

My name is Kurt, and I’m currently 18 and I’ve been interested in boxing since I was 17. I just turned 18 in July and I want to one day go pro. I just had a few questions on some things. Now the first is concerning my age. At 18, is it too late for me to want to turn pro if I’m just starting out? And if not, How long do you suppose it will take me to do it?

Also, I’m 5’11 1/2 – 6′ and I currently weigh 218. Now I can cut some body fat off to be a good fighting weight and I’ll probably get down to 200 or 205. Now I’ve been weight training for about a year before I got into boxing and my current trainer said I should stop lifting and I did stop and now I just do a lot of calisthenics. My trainer also told me that for my height I should be fighting at cruiser-weight because heavyweight is mainly has taller guys. But here’s the problem, I gained A LOT of muscle mass in just a year to the point where many thought I was on steroids. And 90% of my family has a long history of having big people. So genetically I’m prone to gaining weight. Which means that even if I do calisthenics, I’m still probably gunna gain muscle from it. I’m a good example of a mesomorph. So is this a problem? And if I do become a heavyweight, what are some of the pros and cons of the situation.

And one last question. I like to train a lot and I want to be the best conditioned boxer I can be. Now I looked up some boxers routines online and the only boxer that has any resemblance to my body type that I can think of is Mike Tyson (and by no means am I saying I’ll be anything like Tyson). But I looked up his training program and I watched some videos of him talking about it, and I found out that he jogs 3-5 miles everyday, he does a ton of calisthenics every day, and he does a lot of other boxing training (like ring work, mitts, heavy bag, speed bag, slip bag, jump rope, etc.) and he did this at least 6 days a week. If I wanted to be well conditioned could I follow this routine, or would I risk over-training?

• You’ll only get injured if you try to train like Mike Tyson, or any other professional boxer. It takes years to develop the body to handle that amount of punishment. You’ll have to trust your coach to guide you at the right pace. I would match the workout of other boxers in your gym before you increase the workload. Don’t forget that rest is an important part of strengthening the body.

23. How do I shadowbox properly?

Hey Johnny – I really dig your site and put lot of your ideas to use.

Just seeing if you’ve already done a write up on how to properly shadowbox..I can’t seem to find anything. In particular, how many rounds, pacing, things to concentrate on etc

Cheers dude!!

Ben

• Shadowbox by throwing punches using proper form. Once you can throw single punches with proper form, you can start throwing combinations and increasing the speed. There’s no set rules, you throw punches and work on your defensive movements like slipping and rolling while you do it. It helps to do it in front of a mirror for you to check your form. You can shadowbox to warm up, work out, or warm down.

24. What’s the footwork when coming forward with the 1-2?

Hey man,

I love your site, it’s awesome! I’ve got a quick question for you please.

Can you explain the footwork for coming forward with a 1-2? Usually, my weight is 40-60, front foot back foot. If I come forward with a 1-2. I’ll step forward with my left foot AS I throw the jab and then I twist into the right hand, with the right foot twisting with it and slightly pushing so my weight comes forward to my front foot. I get a lot of power with this.

This is all fine, but if I want to throw the jab, 1-2-1, I literally have to jump into it because my weight is now more on the front foot after throwing the right.

I asked a guy at the gym and he said that the right foot moves forward after the jab and just before the right hand, so the stance is shortened back to normal. This allows me to throw the second jab as normal, but I don’t get any power on the right hand at all? :S

I’d really appreciate if you could explain this please, thanks man!

Matt

• Hehehe…great question, many boxers will fight for years before learning this. If you’re moving forward, you have to bring your feet with you in order to reach with both hands. If you have a strong weight transfer, you can fire the right hand while sliding up the right foot. If you take a smaller step, you can plant the right foot before firing the right hand. If you’re really clever, you’ll get into range without letting your opponent know.