Better Boxing Footwork

Normally, boxers have great footwork. Most boxers are more fluid than practitioners in other martial arts. Still, there is a major problem with the way lots of boxers move and dance around the ring. Learn how to move properly....

Bruce Lee's Advice on Moving

Bruce Lee always advised moving with a purpose. That means not moving when one (a boxer) doesn't have a reason to.

Boxers are fast and fluid. They dance around the ring. But sometimes that's the problem -- they dance and bounce without a real purpose.

These boxers are expending a lot of energy. Certainly, a boxer is in good enough shape to last many rounds, but how much more efficient it would be, if the boxer didn't have to waste so much energy.

So, why do boxers move like this?

Know Why You're Moving While You Box

All of this dancing and bouncing back and forth confuses the opponent, right?

Well, yes and no.

On the one hand, it's fast movement, weaving in and out, just out of the range of your punches. But on the other, it's a chance to learn your opponent's rhythm.

And even a broken rhythm, with enough repetition, can show some patterns that a boxer may not want to share with his (or her) opponent.

Another reason boxers bounce around the ring is to try to force the opponent to commit to a punch that has no chance of landing. This puts the dancing boxer in a good position.

This is actually a good tactic, even though it expends a lot of energy. Still, it has limited uses and doesn't need to be employed throughout the entire fight.

Again, know why you are moving in a certain way.

Boxers, Limit Your Movement Now

It's great practice for a boxer to limit movement while training.

Fighting in a hallway, a small child's room, or while standing in a box all limit the movement to just a step or two in any direction.

Practice boxing with this restriction of movement. Practice until it feels comfortable.

Then the next time you are allowed freedom to dance and bounce, you'll feel as though you have an advantage.

And even with that advantage, think Bruce Lee -- move with a purpose.

For an article on how to develop speed punches that are faster than they need to be, click here: Speed Punch Training.

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Keith Pascal is a martial-arts writer and has taught martial arts for 25 years.

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