I’ve been boxing for a good, short while now, and things are coming along relatively smoothly(ish).
One thing I’ve heard from people throughout this challenge, is that they would like to try boxing but they don’t have time, or they are just a little too shy.
I understand this just as much as Suzie from down the block, I’m a busy bee, and in the beginning, I was a shy one too. Boxing is intimidating at first, I get it.
But fear not, soldiers. Because I am now a bee of the ‘Killer’ variety, so together, we can learn how to STING.
I’m going to teach you some things that can be practiced any time, anywhere, to give you a feel for what boxing is like. And eventually, I hope you’ll feel confident enough to come join us at the Sooke Boxing Club, where the real fun happens.
These moves are very basic, and will likely be poorly described. Unfortunately I’m not Muhammad Ali, I am a reporter who started boxing in December. So, bare with me.
The first thing you can practice is footwork and movement, because being able to get out of the way of punches is both important and awesome.
In order to work on footwork, you’ll need to have a proper boxing stance. To achieve this, start by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, with your non-dominant foot slightly ahead of your other foot, your knees bent, and your non-dominant shoulder rotated forward.
You should feel comfortable and balanced, so widen or tighten your stance until it feels like you could be hit by a truck and remain standing, but could also jump out of the way of a bullet. Quick and sturdy is the goal guys. Quick and sturdy, like an ox-rabbit hybrid.
Once you have your stance mastered, you can practice movement by laying some tape on the ground in the shape of a ladder.
To start the drill off, stand at one end of the ladder with your hands up by your face, next, step in to a square with your lead foot and let your back foot follow; then step back out.
Now, step to the side and line up with the second square on the ladder. Repeat this until you reach the end of the ladder, and then go back the other way. (Hint: your feet should never cross over one another, always try to remain in your boxing stance. So when one foot moves, the other should always follow to close the gap.)
The next thing to work on is obvious: Roundhouse kicks. I’m kidding, relax. You guessed it, it’s punches.
Surprisingly enough, most of your punches are going to come from your non-dominant hand, which is called a “Jab”.
In your boxing stance, have your hands up by your face, then extend your arm forward and rotate your hand towards your “opponent” to finish the punch.
For your dominant hand, which is called a “cross”, you’ll want to do almost the same thing, but rotate your back hip forward while extending your arm so that you can pack more power into that death punch. Other punches include uppercuts and hooks, but I won’t get in to those right now.
Once you get the hang of your jab and cross, you can add them to the ladder drill and combine them with your footwork. Work on stepping forward, throwing the punches, and then stepping back fast to avoid your “opponent’s” punch.
I fear that all of this information has went in one eye and out the other, because trying to put these movements to words has proven to be severely difficult. I feel like I’m having a stroke after writing this.
If you feel the same and this entire article was nonsense, just come on down to the Sooke Boxing Club, because I could show you better than I could tell you. And if you want a better coach than me, contact Ellen Connor at 250-634-4941.
To donate to the West Coast Wonder Women All-Female Card, please visit gofundme.com/west-coast-wonder-women.
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Dawn (Killer) Gibson writes every other week on her exploits at the Sooke Boxing Club. She’ll fight in the upcoming West Coast Wonder Woman all-female boxing card in Sooke on April 28-29.