Below are the 4 basic punching techniques that you should learn first:

1. Jab

A jab is a weak punch but is very effective on keeping your opponent away. The opponent cannot counter this punch most of the time because of its quickness thus making it more effective even it doesn’t have much power. The purpose of a jab is to measure the distance of the opponent so that you can prepare for much stronger punch. It is also used to test the opponent’s defense and set for stronger punches. For those who have strong jabs, this can be used also to weaken the defense of the opponent. So that there is a chance that your next punch will be a clean hit.

You can do a jab by extending your lead hand forward from the defensive position. The hand and torso should rotate in and down. Pull back the hand after the jab landed and back on your defensive stance. Do this repeatedly to familiarize how it is done.

2. Cross

After the jab, the next punch you should master is the cross. It is part of the one two combination meaning a jab and then a cross combination. The cross is a straight punch thrown with the back hand from the stance position. While throwing the back hand, the lead hand should be on a guard position to defend a possible counter punch from the opponent. Then the torso should rotate counter-clockwise and transfer your body weight on your rear foot. Same with the jab, pull back your hand after the shot landed and back at your defensive stance. This type of punch is the most effective because it travels in a straight line so it will hit the opponent quicker and stronger.

3. Hook

Hook is a very destructive type of punch if being mastered and executed correctly. Execute it by throwing your lead hand in a curve angle aiming to land at the opponent’s side. Same with the other punching techniques, it also requires you to turn your torso and the rear hand stays in a defensive position. Because this punch is too strong and is aiming to hit a critical part of the body, a single hook is capable of knocking down an opponent immediately or if not this will surely leave a critical damage to the opponent.

4. Uppercut

An uppercut is also a destructive punch if being thrown correctly but also very risky to execute. If you’ll ask why, simply because if it doesn’t hit the opponent there will be a wide open space to your body that the opponent can easily hit for a counter. So you should put on your mind that if you cannot end the opponent with your uppercut, it is possible that it will be your end also.

Uppercut is thrown by using the rear hand from a defensive stance then rotating your shoulder and upper body upward. Bend your knees to have a better position of hitting the opponent’s chin. This will outbalance the opponent so that you can prepare and shot a stronger punch for a finishing blow.

All these punches can be mastered through multiple times of repeated practice. Always remember to punch together with your body especially the shoulders and torso. Rotate the body then punch.

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1. Reduced stress

It was already proven than any form of exercise can reduce stress same with boxing. Also through boxing, you can release all your frustrations and anger by throwing punches to the punching bag. Trust me, it will be a lot better after. Don’t stop until you are feeling okay.

2. Improve hand-eye coordination

Hand-eye coordination is a very important aspect on every person’s physical coordination. It will be the basis of a person’s reflexes and reaction time. Improving it is so important especially during aging because reflexes are the first to slow down as a person gets old. Boxing will help you a lot to improve your hand-eye coordination. All the trainings and workouts designed for boxing are for improvement of your body coordination. Though it’s tough for the first time, it will be easier through time of intense practice and it will certainly be worth it.

3. Total body strength improvement

Boxing workouts will improve your total body strength without you knowing. Even little drills like pushups and squats can already build so much muscle strength on you. So the next time you hit the gym for some boxing lessons, never think of missing the basic drills.

4. Improve cardiovascular endurance

Cardiovascular endurance means the ability of your heart, lungs and blood vessels to deliver enough oxygen to your body. Through boxing, your heart will always be exercised to cope up with your intense training. It will certainly improve your cardiovascular endurance and you will certainly have a stronger heart. This will prevent you from having any heart related problems.

5. Weight Loss

One hour of boxing workout is proven to burn at least 550 calories depending on the intensity level of workout you are doing. So it will certainly help you achieve that fit body you are always dreaming of.

6. Self-defense

Boxing is a combat sport and it will certainly teach you some street fighting techniques that you can use in case you are in trouble. It can be use as a self-defense but be sure that you will not become a person that will start a fight just to boast your boxing skills. You have to maintain humbleness and stay out of trouble.

7. Help build strong bones and muscles

The boxing drills and workouts will certainly build strong muscles in your body. It can also improve the strength of your bones. The effect of boxing is just the same with lifting weights at the gym. The only difference is that on boxing you are not just lifting weights, you are also improving your total body coordination.

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Below are the common possible mistakes that an amateur boxer can make. These mistakes may apply also to those boxers that are not an amateur already but are still lacking in skills on this sport.

• Throwing strong punches early on the training – Although boxers are considered great if they can throw strong punches but it is a mistake if you are still a beginner. Because as a beginner, you are still on a process of familiarizing the timing of your punches and how to throw it correctly. There is a possibility of you having an injury if you will do this mistake and it will certainly ruin your dream to be a boxer.
• Overemphasizing on the boxing preparations – Yes, jogging, doing jumping rope and other boxing warm-ups to prepare for a boxing fight is good but too much of it is already inappropriate. Doing too much of these exercises will lead to fatigue that will affect your performance on the actual fight. These will also lead to some injuries.
• Too much training – Over training will also affect a boxer’s performance. It can slow down a boxer’s speed and it can also cause an injury. The correct training should be until the capacity of your body. Rest when you are tired or something is aching already.
• Hesitation – Never hesitate to throw a punch to your opponent because it will serve as a window of opportunity for him to counter your punches. You will never win a bout when you will always hesitate.
• Drinking too much water during workout – It is very important to be hydrated during workouts but again, too much water will leave your stomach bloated and it will really be difficult for you to move or much worse, you will suffer an abdominal pain. The right thing to do is to take just a little amount of water during workout enough to dampen your mouth. Just take the amount of water that you want after your training.
• Focusing the practice only on punches – Though boxing is a sport of punching, you should not focus only on practicing how to punch. Remember, boxers are not just throwing punches on the ring. They are also dodging, running and etc. So better balance your time on practicing the different skills that you should have on boxing.
• Forgetting the basics – You should never forget the basics of boxing in the process of improving your skills. These basics are the most important fundamentals of all. You will never improve if you will forget these.

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Before Boxing

• Put on the necessary equipment or clothing like boxing shorts, boxing gloves and a shirt that you are comfortable with when boxing.

• Do not wear any jewelry.

• Do warm ups and stretching.

• Prepare yourself.

Boxing Training Tips

• Start your training by punching the punching bag lightly. Always keep your form while punching and do not exert too much force with it. Do not punch just because you want to show off your punching power to someone. We recommend that you punch lightly in order for you to familiarize how to punch first on boxing.

• Your training should be consistent and be better every day. Just rest if you are tired.

• Drink lots of water because you will be having too much sweat when boxing.

• Be humble at the gym and don’t hesitate to ask for help. Ask how you can improve more your punching style.

Punching Tips

• Turn your whole body when you punch. This will add more force on your punches.

• Try to practice and use different punching styles like hooks, uppercuts and jabs.

• The punching style that you will throw to your opponent will depend on the situation so better be observant and quick.

• Throw combo punches sometimes also.

• Do not let your opponent read what will your next punch would be because there is a chance that he will counter it.

• Always try to throw solid body punches to the opponent.

• Breathe out when throwing a punch.

• Always throw punches even if doesn’t land or it is just a weak punch. Because the moment you stop punching, that will be the time for your opponent to take charge and start hitting you.

Defending Tips

• The first rule of defense on boxing is to stay calm. Breathe normally and always look at the movement of your opponent.

• Defend using your hands and arm. Cover your face with your hands and the arms should cover your body. You should bow slightly to do it.

• Don’t take your eyes off on your opponent even when taking punches from them. Leaning back is a wrong move also and might take you to the corner of the ring. It will be the worst position that you will have. What you should do when your opponent is punching you is to defend with strong counters. Your counters should be on timing to affect him.

• Your movement should be on rhythm with his punches. Running around the ring to avoid his punches is useless and will make you exhausted in no time.

• When your opponent is firing combos at you, don’t wait for him to finish or to be tired because this might be your end also. Defend while getting ready to shot some counter punches. One great counter punch is enough to stop the momentum of his combos. A counter punch can even knocked out an opponent if properly shot at him. So, always practice counter punching because it will be useful every time.

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Boxing is a combat sport where two people are wearing gloves and fight using only their fists. They are fighting inside a boxing ring where they will try to knock out their opponent for a certain time in a round. Every round usually takes 3 minutes long with 1 minute break after each round. The number of rounds on every match is based on what title these boxers are fighting for.

Every match has a referee that will supervise the match. The boxer should knockout his opponent and makes him unable to continue the match anymore for the other boxer to win. Another way to win is to finish the match and wait for the Judges’ decision. Amateur boxing is popular all over the world. It’s both an Olympic and Commonwealth sport and very common in international games and has its own World Champions.

Professional boxing started in the early 20^th century when this sport was slowly regulated and made as a kind of sport. The bouts during those years happen in United States and Britain. But later on, boxing on United States became more popular and it became the center of professional boxing. After 1920, an association named National Boxing Association (NBA) was later on established to sanction “title fights”. NBA was later renamed to World Boxing Association (WBA) in the year 1962. Then another body was established in the year 1983 and was called International Boxing Federation (IBF).

Starting on the 21^st century, a boxer should be acknowledged by the three bodies to call as the “Undisputed World Champion”. Professional boxing match are longer than the amateur ones. Professional boxing also doesn’t allow any protective gear except for the gloves unlike Amateur boxing where a boxer can wear a protective head gear. This time, professional boxing is more popular than amateur boxing because most of the best boxers are fighting as a professional boxer.

Boxing Rules

NOT ALLOWED DURING THE MATCH:

• hit below the belt

• hold, trip

• kick

• headbutt

• wrestle

• bite

• spit on

• push your opponent

• hit with your head

• hit with your shoulder

• hit with your forearm

• hit with your elbow

• Punching on opponent’s back, or the back of his head or neck (rabbit punch), or on the kidneys (kidney punch).

• Punching while holding on to the ropes.

• Holding the opponent and hitting him at the same time

• Ducking lower than the opponent’s belt

BASIC BOXING RULES

• Take a full step back when the referee breaks you from a clinch. Then you cannot hit your opponent immediately after the break and that is called “hitting on the break”. It’s very illegal on this sport.

• After scoring a knockdown to your opponent, go to the nearest neutral corner as the referee will make the count.

• You cannot hit an opponent that you “floor” while he is on the canvas.

• The floored boxer has only 10 seconds to get back on his feet before losing the bout by the way of knockout.

• The boxer who is knocked down cannot be saved by the bell in any round.

• Any boxer who is hit by an accidental blow will be given 5 minutes to recover but if he can’t recover after that time then he/she will be considered knocked out.

• A foul that causes an injury and makes the fight to end immediately will make the boxer who committed the foul disqualified.

• But if there is a foul with injury and the fight still continues, then the boxer who committed the foul will be deducted two points by the judges.

• “No contest” will be ruled to the unintentional foul that causes the fight to be stopped and if the 4 rounds are not yet completed. If the 4 rounds are already completed then the winner will be the one with most points during those rounds. If the score is even then it will be called as a “technical draw”.

• A boxer that is knocked out of the ring will be given 20 counts to get back in the ring and on his feet without the help of anyone.

• In some jurisdictions the standing eight-count or the three knockdown rule also may be in effect.
• In other jurisdictions, only the referee can stop the bout.

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