[Closed] The countdown has begun (Ultra White Collar Boxing content)

someone is going to try and give me a good shoeing

Don't use your shoes. It's against the rules.

Running as training? Planning to use the run away technique

there is a reason boxers do lots of skipping. If you can't, learn.

Skip will be as close as you can get to the scenario of fighting
IMHO learn to keep your hands up covering your face - its harder than it sounds and learn to punch properly so you dont drop your hands

Punch a bag for one minute and see where your hands are then imagine doing that whilst someone hits you.

Practice skipping whilst people punch you in the head. Build up to 15 minute intervals.

Get a heavy bag and a rope. Do intervals. Good luck.

Learn to throw a left hook, straight right combo as hard as you possibly can. Keep practising. Land em within a few seconds and knock him sparko 😀

Six minutes of exercise with a couple iof rests during will be easy enough, right?

Wrong. Boxing is incredibly tough - just look at what Freddy Flintoff went through to do one 8 minute fight.

Be prepared to beast yourself for the next few weeks - tabata training would be good. And the advice on skipping is right.

I did a bit as an 11 year old (just sparring). The guys at the gym - just a bunch of amateurs with regular jobs - were supremely fit. And I remember the first time I went in the ring to do some sparring and got punched - ouch!

Good luck and keep us updated!

Good on you for taking on such a daunting challenge for charity. I've only sparred but I've got to say that it's some of the hardest exercise I've ever done. Considering your current level I'd say any exercise would be a start, but circuit training and boxercise would give some overall improvement in a short time.
Other than that; hands up, don't punch with a bent wrist and if you're on the ropes and taking a lot of hooks to the head get your elbows up (inner forearm/elbow interface bloody hurts, it'll make him think twice).

You'll probably be surprised how hard it is physically to 1. punch correctly (so you dont hurt yourself) and 2. throw more than 6 punches without collapsing into a heap on the floor.

If it were me I'd get training on a bag, learn to pace yourself and do a decent amount of fitness in the 6 weeks (running, skipping, whatever suits you best).

Good luck

Learn to throw a punch, how to use your body to get real force behind it.

Learn to jab and cover up especially if your opponent goes all windmill on you.

You will have big gloves but getting punched in the face hurts.

I hope you have self control

Get someone who knows what they are doing to wrap your hands.

Good luck.

Make sure you create an appropriate playlist to train to, I can suggest the following to start with:

Eye of the Tiger - Survivor
Burning Heart - Survivor
Heart's on Fire - John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band
No Easy Way Out - Robert Tepper

And whilst in the ring if you are seeing 3 of your opponent, hit the one in the middle....
😉

PS - Good luck!!

There is no training that is going to prepare you for it, I'm afraid. Not even close.

You are about to experience a level of physical exhaustion you will not even have got near to before. Its unbelievable how much it takes it out of you. Prepare to be utterly drained.

You will look on pro fighters who can go 12 rounds with almost god like respect, and stare in wonder at the level of fitness they must have

The skipping is good to get your footwork right. It also impresses kids no end, when they got their skipping ropes out, and discovered there was no way on earth they'd be able to do it better than you 😀

bag work is great but they don't punch back.

you can be the fittest person on the planet but if it all falls apart when someone starts throwing real punches at you its not really worth it.

spar as much as you can. learn your footwork and how to duck and weave. let the other guy wear himself out.

or just go for the windmill approach and hope you land something before he does....

It's all about the stare down. Practice your psycho eyes in the mirror and watch all of the Rocky films. Job done.

We're gonna need a montage...

[i]Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.[/i]

Mike Tyson

just go for the windmill approach

This.

bag work is great but they don't punch back.

Get a cool nick name for the ring announcer

Pondo the pummeler or the like

I did quite a bit of boxing in my 20s. nothing prepares you for the pain you will feel. it is unreal.

The main problem is when you are dead on your feet, and being punched, trying to remember how to throw combinations, and defend yourself. that takes years to learn.

so, just go in flailing, you haven't got a hope of learning any technique in 6 weeks..

You might want to get some dietary advice too. It used to be high protein followed by high carbs just before the fight.

Know anyone in an abbitoir?

Personally I'd have suggested spenting the entire day in the local Wetherspoons drinking Stella and Jagerbombs. Pile out of there completely smashed and then follow the Paul Kayne training method.

You could learn something from here,

Aim for this....

[img] https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTc4GmFgVgs-TG3Cm1QIlhpM8IimP7cX14H2jhiTMo4sum2UVYD [/img]

Accept the fact that six weeks training will get you this....

[img] https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSQEz7yftVnvHkCCck7_Fjjo8BgFM08vm_yMSNnL0OFQLBYdd0l6g [/img]

Learn how to dance; worked for this guy

I think the OP is just asking for fitness work, I assume all of the technical stuff will be covered by the instructors.

Cheers muchly for all the hints, tips and humour - I know enough to know that I don't know how hard it's going to be, if that makes sense. 🙂

Those two minute rounds will seem to go on forever. Very fast circuit training or squash is more closer to what you'll experience in the ring. Hopefully you'll dominate the centre of the ring and your opponent will have to do all the work. Good luck.

Good luck. A couple of minutes of light contact Karate sparring has me blowing out of my arse. 😀

"Pondo The Slat Hoofer"

"Pondo The Slat Hoofer"

We can request a nickname (and ring walk music ) and the MC will oblige - being a Harris I was going to go with the traditional Bomber, but I like Slat Hoofer.

If you go with Bomber, can you get a set of marzochhi forks to carry in with you?

Don't know if they'll be happy with the actual forks, but I can put an image on the back of my robe. That'll confuse em. 🙂

sorry, which bit is Ultra? Your collar, it's whiteness, or the boxing?

My younger brother did some boxing training in the forces a few years ago. He was a fit lad at the time and managed to swing a few months of solid training to prepare for it. Regardless of this he didnt ever mention that he hadnt been fit enough (Maybe he was).

What he did say was that the ones that had previous boxing experience stood out a million miles. They didnt waste loads of energy and they didnt get hit as much. My brother basically windmilled the guy and the guy just covered up. Eventually you have to take a rest and then the guy goes to town on your tired body.

If it were me i would heed most of the advice here. Learn to cover up and move. Make the other guy burn out and when you see him tiring, go to town on him as best you can. If you get in the ring with someone who knows what they are doing, then just run about as fast as you can.

Oh, and chase chickens. If you can catch a chicken you will be like grease lightning

[i]If you get in the ring with someone who knows what they are doing, then just run about as fast as you can[/i]

Indeed! I trained with some amateurs years ago - when they hit the pads, it's so different from the normal blokes... so much more powerful.

I went to photograph a charity match between two local amateur clubs last year, [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/trailofdestruction/sets/72157644530135729 ]you can see more photos here[/url]

[img][url= https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3709/14290528206_8f468652ce_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3709/14290528206_8f468652ce_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

As someone who had only ever watched the sport on TV, and having no background in it, I noticed a few things.

1. Those guys are physically, the most fit athletes I have ever seen. The amount of training that goes on, even at an amateur level in incredible. Prepare to train like never before.

2. They are quick. Like, REALLY quick. Those punches were landing faster than I would have ever reacted. That can only come from a long, long period of training and practice. Keep those gloves up.

3. Throwing a punch is one thing, taking a punch is another. I came out of there with absolutely no illusion that I am tough. I would have been knocked the **** out within about, ooohh 3 seconds.

Even with gloves and head guards, and this was not even a competition remember, it was a charity night, nobody held back. If you're a pretender, get used to the taste of canvas.

Good luck

Running around wont really help as its is hard to hit womeone when you ar egoing backwards and they are going forwards

Secondly they will have th emiddle of the ring so you are always moving further than they are

Thirdly i will be very surprised if you footwork is good enough to not get you into trouble trying this you will either move the same way all the time and be predictable or cross your legs as you move. neither are good IME

get yer missus to flash her norks at the referee then kick him in the balls.

Edit - not the referee, your opponent.

Edit - Might as well do the referee as well for looking, the dirty bastard.

Err, correct me if i am wrong but this is white collar boxing. You are not supposed to be put in with the next great heavyweight hope. If you have no experience then i would sincerely hope the person you are facing is of similar stature.

My comments were more just against someone who has been shown the basics. My brother got put in with people who had boxed before and even being fit, strong and able to handle himself he said he didnt stand a chance and just windmilled and hung on.

Someone could get really hurt if you go in with someone who

1. Those guys are physically, the most fit athletes I have ever seen. The amount of training that goes on, even at an amateur level in incredible. Prepare to train like never before.

2. They are quick. Like, REALLY quick. Those punches were landing faster than I would have ever reacted. That can only come from a long, long period of training and practice. Keep those gloves up

I hope we haven't frightened pondo out of it! 😆

None of the above is true, boxing is in fact one of the easiest sports to master, and actually not physically demanding to partake in. Foot work and punch combinations are quickly learned and due to the gloves the impact is really like bumping into a person by accident. So you'll be fine.

Note: none of the above is in anyway true, but so far all you've got is good advice and the fact that, yeah it's incredibly tough, hurts and blimey you need more time.... So I thought I'd make you feel a bit better! After all it's not like you're getting into a contained area with some bloke who's sole aim is to hit you so hard in the head you faint....... 😆 😯

In honesty train hard it's really hard work and learn to cover up!! Good luck mate!!!

Practise "Elusive Style" like the legendary Shadow...

You've got so little time, all I can say is don't do conditioning that doesn't have punches being thrown in it. If you train your punches and guard, it will serve you better. As has already been said, if your fit but not trained, it won't matter.

It's about energy conservation, or being so much better than the other guy that it doesn't really matter.

Quick and easy training plan, go to the roughest pub near you, walk in and start asking anyone who looks dangerous "if they want some" you should soon get the hang of it.

#this might get you hurt, please don't try this at home, oh no it's OK you won't be you don't live in a pub, as you were.

Thank you all for the mix of helpful and non-helpful responses. 🙂 Quick question - is there any merit in cycling as an endurance base for boxing? Or am I better off sticking with the running?

It wont help unless you are doing interval sprints as Boxing is not really about endurance as it is all high intensity- granted for a long time but not in your case.

Worth checking out the free videos here https://howtofightnow.com/blog-and-articles/
I'm not actually sure how well respected he is as a fighter but he does seem to use logic and science behind the techniques he uses, more importantly he's pretty entertaining to watch/listen to. A lot of it comes down to repetition and muscle memory though so start your drills asap...

not sure extra cycling is going to help you move around more in the ring as most of the power comes from planting your feet and through your hips apparently. I'd train for 5 rounds with the aim of getting your recovery sorted in the interval between rounds.

I would have a think about strategy as are you really going for a knock out in 3 rounds? Great if you are like superman and can take a punch.
Classic cliches
Run up and down steps
Chop wood
Hit some meat
Bounce a medicine ball on your abs
Sweat a lot
Run riles up hills
Skip
Practice on a speed ball
Look pretty and shadow box in front of a mirror.

Get used to being hit and hitting.. Its hard keeping your hands up and punching.

Good luck pondo just remember keep shouting 'not the face...not the face' 🙂

Cheers, will check all links out over the weekend and spend some time researching - deffo gonna look up footwork drills and make a start on that, from my uninformed perspective mobility and good footwork is the foundation on which everything else is built. And the first sign of progress - on Wednesday I couldn't skip, this morning I can*, hurrah! 3 x 2 minute rounds on the bag still hurts but I'm not expecting that to change, TBH. Might change that to 5 as suggested. 🙂

* Albeit not very well or for long, but at least it's a skip in the right direction. 🙂

I was in the boxing club at uni, never did a proper fight but a fair bit of sparing. Training was boxercise, shadow boxing and circuits. A lot of it was focused on building up endurance / flexibility / speed in your upper body muscles. You need to be able to hold your hands up level with your eyes for minutes on end and keep moving about. Basically if you stop moving and your hands drop you get knocked out. Cycling will do nothing for this sort of fitness.

I ask only because the guy at the registration session suggested I do endurance running rather than sprinty stuff, I guess as a baseline - just wondered if cycling to work would achieve the same thing, or whether running is just more applicable than cycling.

Cycling does very little for muscles above the waist in comparison to running. All aerobic exercise will help as will every pound you can shed but if I were you I’d be running. Maybe cycle on the rest days.

The best training you can do is the very intensive upper body stuff. Don’t just wallop the bag, focus on keeping a good body shape (hands up – chin down) and punch it intensively for set periods of time, you will be amazed at how the strength drains out of your arms and shoulders and the lactic acid builds. Best find this out now rather than in the ring.

Its really is amazing how tiring it is hitting something stationary that is not hitting you back.

Keep shouting to yourself hands up as mine still drop from years of martial arts.

I'm really not bad at running and cycling but I can't imagine how that fitness would translate into making me good at fighting people 😯

Oh, and burpees! (proper ones with a press up and knees to chest)

One thing prepares you for fighting...fighting, time in the ring, did ameture kick boxing for a few years (late teens/early 20's).

Forget traing twice a week, get to a local club train 2 hours a night and run before work in the mornings as well, ask the local club to allow you to spare, getting used to being hit and not turning you head or flinching is very important.

Train hard fight easy...have fun!

Firstly, hats off for doing a good deed for charity and secondly, ARE YOU INSANE??!

I went to watch a white collar fight a couple of years ago and was inspired to give it a go, so started training twice a week at a local gym and 18 months later feel like I'm a year away from being ready! In 6 weeks I'm unsure you'll be able to learn much technique (my left jab was pathetic but it's one of the most useful punches for wearing the opponent down). Get as much time on the bag and pads as you can and start sparring asap. Throwing punches and learning combos is one thing, but remembering them while being hit is quite another!

Also re,ember to breathe - amazing how easy it is to hold your breath when scared/being hit and that will really tire you quickly.

Training wise, 3 minute circuits are a good idea. We finish off most sessions with 15 seconds of burpees, 15 seconds of press ups, 15 seconds of squat thrusts and 15 seconds of high knee sprints on the spot for three minutes, repeated two or three times with a 1 minute break between.

It's a killer but does work a lot of the muscles that you use when boxing, so maybe try starting off with 2 minute rounds of this with a 1 minute break between. I honestly don't think running or cycling will make any difference at this stage but it certainly can't help as a warm up.

Getting your hands wrapped properly is also essential - I was amazed at how much zinc oxide tape was used and how solid that makes the wraps before the gloves go on. I managed to fracture my hamate bone (between knuckles) when training once when I mis-landed a punch on the heavy bag. If I'd had my hands properly wrapped that day I'd probably have been ok.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Well 6 weeks ain't long....personally I would focus on technique and not injuring yourself by trying to push yourself to hard.

Practise a couple of techniques and combos over and over until they are auto. Plan and practise what you will do when you get smacked hard. Try to get some practise rounds in with someone who is handy and knows what's they are doing. Practise covering up.

And as for the fight, hopefully you are up against someone like yourself. Let the windmill in, work the ring, guard up let them knacker themselves. Use your jab to provoke if need be. If you can see the clock, put in an all out effort in the last 20-30 secs. 2 mins in the ring is a very long time....when you get knackered or hurt go in for the hug to try and slow down the attack. Don't go backwards. It is easy to combo forwards and keep pressure on, hard to when going backwards

(I used to compete internationally in a martial art but used to enter lots of local completions and classes for cross training)

Hello, I box, I have done for 20 years now, not all that well by county standard but my mate does much better. He's on the GB squad, elite champion and #1 choice for Olympics next year, we just got back from Sheffield. I train with him twice a week but no longer train at an abc myself. I don't fight as such now just spa, as i'm a husband and dad. I was invited to do white collar with a coach I have never heard of, I soon realised he was a poser and knew very little, so didn't bother. Please check your not just going to feed someone's ego on the good will to raise money, you could get hurt.

What i will say is my advice. Others may disagree...

Here's what I would do in your case. Ignore the 'cover till he tires and then hit him with all you got' that's like saying win an F1 race by staying behind the leading car then when he slips up overtake. There are so many other factors. You don't know if he will tire, you don't know how hard he can hit, you don't know how hard you can be hit, you don't know how he will react when he is hit. You need to dominate with ring work and keep ontop. Your not going up against a pro but an equal. Keep ontop of him, you will probably go to points.

You need to cut down on fat and build muscle, your organs are behind a cushion now, you need them to be behind a rock. Especially your arms (to cover) and gut as they are going to hurt.

You should be good at uppercuts if you cycle as power comes from springing up from your thighs.

You need to build a powerful punch, you do this with 'explosive energy' so lots of chops, kettle bell swings and sledge hammer into tires. You will need to be able to do this when your arms are burning with acid and you have been hit. Get a bag (always cheap on eBay) and hit it with lefts and rights till it swings on its bracket and is at arms length, now keep it at that angle and hammer it with left, right, left, right for about a minute (the bag will almost be stationary) go hard till your arms are burning (think cycling up a very steep hill in a hard gear till you want to puke and your thighs are on fire) now go straight into kettle swings/chops/sledge on tyre. This will prepare you to hit hard when your body's telling you no. Ignore the burning and if it gets too much remind yourself in 6 weeks your doing this with someone hitting you back. Saying that don't get too hung up on power your jab needs to be accurate like a lazer, a missed jab is a waste of energy and could leave you open.

I'm going to assume your orthodox, so build a strong right. Almost all my KO's have been off a corkscrew punch, this is sneaky as its unexpected and your opponent will have thrown a big right expecting you to be rocked. You will need to learn to slip first though. Your best off learning off your instructor one to one. Slipping is as important as punching. Don't panic when you learn the first few slips and a fist comes towards you.

If you can go 5 mins on a bag and you haven't boxed before your not doing it right. Stick to 1 minute at first be be knackered.

6 weeks isn't long at all, I'd look to be good at a few combos rather than be ok a loads. You will need to know these when being hit, everything changes if you've been hit so keep your cool.

As a basic plan I'd look at following

Jog 30 seconds on spot
10 burpees no hand raises
20 spotty dogs (10 each leg)
20 squat thrusts
10 burpees with hand raises
20 mountain climbs
20 press ups
10 burpees no hand raises
10 boxing squats - more of you have it in you.
Knees to chest for 30 seconds

Repeat this with one minute rest in between. Time it to get faster. Do it 4 times a day. Plank till failure every other day and do bag work daily (as described above) I wouldn't bother trying to learn footwork without instructor as weight transfer can be judged wrong easily.

Others may disagree but that's my 2p. Good luck.

^ edit

It wasn't white collar but similar thing I was invited to... White collar looks much better these days. Looking forward to your updates.

double post

Good stuff.. is it a coincidence your name shortens to KO? 🙂

My 3 memories of boxing club...

1- its the most knackering workout ever..

2 - you think you're floyd mayweather until the first time you are jabbed on the nose (usaully within 15 seconds of your first spar)

3 - Point 2 hurt....alot

goodluck

DezB - Member
Good stuff.. is it a coincidence your name shortens to KO?
POSTED 1 HOUR AGO # REPORT-POST

He he, no!

In my sports (caveat - not boxing) we were always taught the majority of points were scored on the counter. Never throw a single technique unless it is a lead out for another or a positional reason.

Size the guy up before you start to decide about the attack and dominate from the start thing that K-O suggests. I wouldn't advise this as a beginner unless you know you have the stamina to do it.

My best KO was an immediate sidekick to the face as soon the ref raised his hand. That was because I'd scoped the guy fighting earlier in the day and in his last 3 fights he had attacked in exactly the same way. My default approach if I hadn't seen them fight was to try and suss them in the ring by a softely softely approach provoking them and keeping safe. Worked for me, then again I only won the one world title (not in boxing....)

OP- Remember the first rule....you DON'T talk about it.

[i]I only won the one world title[/i]

Well, I'm impressed anyway.

Thanks all for the advice, loads of useful stuff - I wouldn't say this week has been a waste but I wish I'd listened to you lot and focused more on my sprinty stuff. That'll teach me to be more careful who I ask for advice in the future... 🙂

First training session tonight, bit of an eye opener. I liked how it was structured, 3x2 minutes of skipping (or star jumps) to warm up, 30 seconds rest between sets, then 3x2 minutes of a horrible jumpy thing. Hold some kind of rough high guard, then bounce as high as you can - feet out to the side/left foot forward right foot back/right foot forward left foot back. Who knew how lainful that could be!?! 🙂 Most of the rest of the hour was basic footwork, moving forwards, backwards and side to side, then last fifteen minutes was sequences of burpees, press ups and situps - 1 burpee, 2pressups, 3 sittups then 2 burpees, 4 pressups, 6 sittups, then 3/6/9, 4/8/12 etc up to 10/20/30. Couldn't get near that (have never been any good at that kind of thing), quite impressed (and scared!) how many did! So I'm shifting the emphasis to that quick, intense and powerful kind of thing - it's been in the mix along with some longer runs, but the long runs can do one, quite frankly. Early days but I'm enjoying the experience so far. 🙂

Week two done - had to miss last Saturday due to a prior commitment and have been trying hard but not really feeling it this week, so I was dreading tonight. Surprise! That was better - I can skip a bit better and the bouncy thing is just 1% less horribley horrible than it was last week, nice to see a measure of progress no matter how slight. More emphasis on footwork, tidying up and reinforcing the basics from last week, plus the start of throwing a few punches, again with the focus on proper technique rather than just bladdering it as hard as you can, I like. Interestingly, he said tonight that, in the time frame, it's only really feasible to teach a left jab and right cross, with a possible venture into the land of the left hook if time and our ability permits, so I reckon I need to give some thought to maybe trying to pick up a few more - get the basics right, as he says, but be nice to have a few more tools in the back pocket if needs be. We ended up with some more footwork games, try and tap your partner on the lead shoulder using only the lead hand and footwork (no Matrixing out of the way), then same thing but try and touch the opponent's lead knee - very interesting to see how quick you run out of legs. Mobility really is key, innit...

Event's almost sold out - 1200 capacity, yikes! This, my friends, is an enjoyable experience. 🙂

Good on you Pondo, keep at it.

Good work! Keep us posted.

Had to miss Thursday due to a prior commitment but that's it - back on the case and I'm not scheduled to miss any more sessions - happy days. 🙂 Definite change in tempo, the focus on fitness has changed and it's more about technique, moving well, still throwing those straights but adding some defense in there, parrying and blocking straights and hooks, interesting stuff. Good to start getting into some learning, but also puts the emphasis on me to keep the fitness levels pushing on - the good news is, even with a super-busy week that stopped me doing as much training as I wanted, I can still feel an improvement, the movements are all starting to feel instinctive, instead of wobbling around like Frankenstein's monster. This is a lot of fun. 🙂

its loads of fun till some gorilla is trying to knock your head off 😉

That said ENJOY

Have you had anyone trying to punch you yet? That is when it gets serious.

Keep up the reports and good luck

Just came across this thread, googling about UWCB.

I have my fight in just over 2 weeks time.

Some advice I can give, with what I've learnt so far.

Work on throwing punches (obviously), but do two things, one if possible do pad work, build it up from single jabs into one-two combinations with a jab and a straight right, then maybe a double jab - right combination. Learn to use your body to flow into each shot and don't try and force the speed just concentrate on technique, always bring the shot back to your chin, it'll condition you to keep your hands up.

Do a lot of padwork if you can, mainly for conditioning. Take breaks every now and again for a bit of rest but put the effort in also.

When out of range drop your hands slightly so you can see over the top and relax your shoulders, if your tense it take's up so much energy. After a while, you'll start to relax when you start blocking punches and throwing back in light drills/sparring.

After a lot of that, work a jab, right, left hook combination.

I've done a bit of sparring now and did some last night against several of my potential opponents, jabbing is key in my opinion as it sets up your shots and forces them to think, or stops them in there tracks.

When you start doing some light sparring, if you throw when they throw, throw another jab directly after. Put in a few feints with your body, double up the jab at times. Most people I've gone against are not expecting another jab or two directly after they have thrown one, it's also a lot easier going forward then backwards, force the pace to your terms if you can.

Once one of your jabs lands, learn to let go with the right, don't worry if a shot ends up coming back at the same time, it's likely to be a jab from them from experience and your right will stop them in there tracks most of the time.

If any of your trainers are running 1on1 sessions and at a reasonable price if you can afford them, do it.

The thing's I've learnt in 1on1 training have far surpassed what I have learnt in the lessons (although still great stuff!).

I've now done quite a bit of padwork from 1on1 sessions which has really started to condition my arms, my leg's are what tire the most rather then my arms, although I have quite a wide stance.

Also, do bursts of punches, so 20 seconds on, 20 seconds off, 20 seconds on, 20 off etc. That really does help, if you can get someone to help you do it, even better.

Get used to moving in your stance and throwing punches (jab mainly), don't throw hooks unless your close and can plant your feet, or you'll hit a lot of arms and get little power.

Really work on moving in stance forward, backwards and especially to the side, (both ways, don't circle around or you'll become predictable), it is very very tiring, I think that's caught a lot of people out.

Basically, keep it simple punch wise, until you get close and if you've learn about hooks throw some in, back out and get back on the jab.

Arm conditioning and fitness! If you can keep busy more then they can, even if your not as good, you'll likely do a lot better.

Goodluck!

No proper being punched just yet (although we've practised parries and slips the last couple of sessions, and depending who you're partnered with, some of them mean business! Fair enough given the ultimate aim of the exercise, but I wouldn't mind learning proper technique at a slower pace to begin, rather than just spasming blindly out of the path of a big right hand!), don't think sparring's too far off and I'm looking forward to that. Thanks for the info Kojn, loads of useful stuff, been focusing on fitness when training at home but I think I'll put a bit more emphasis on technique - might have to get Mrs Pondo a set of target pads, she'll be chuffed. 🙂

Been away for half term, haven't eaten [i]too[/i] bad but have had a few beers, I have managed to do a bit of fitness work so happy about that - interesting (and a bit concerning!) to note how much harder it is to push yourself training on your own. But from here on in I'll be doing three sessions a week at the gym, will aim to do a fitness session on every weekday and another couple based on technique on the bag in the garage, we'll see how it goes. 🙂

Sorry team, another question - is swimming any use? If it's the best thing to do, I don't mind running every day, but just wondering if throwing a couple of intense swims in might have merit.