How To Train On the Heavy Bag

The heavy bag is one of the most commonly used training devices in boxing, or any fighting sport. There are lots of different ways to utilize the heavy bag, so i'm going to go over a few of them.

Don't try to kill the bag, a lot of people the first time they hit a bag as hard as they can with their whole body behind it. This is a good way to hurt yourself, and will not help you at all so stop trying to impress people and use proper technique. Use a proper fighting stance and punch with average strength. Make sure you review proper punching technique and make sure that you keep your wrists straight so your forearm is directly above your hand. Punching the bag with too much of a bend in the risk is a very common way to hurt your wrist, maybe even severely especially if you are thowing harder shots.

The heavy bag is great for fine tuning punches and combinations. Practice hooks, straights, and most importantly jabs as well as combinations of the three. Circle around the bag so the swinging levels out, and to give you a good moving target from different angles.

Bob and weave as if you were in an actual fight, there is no point in just working on punches and not getting used to moving around as you are throwing, and you need to get used to the physical strain it will put on your body to be constantly moving in the ring.

Work in intervals of two minutes to start out with because this will probably be all you can take if you are just getting started and not used to bag training. Work your way up to three or four minute rounds. You can use a stopwatch, kitchen timer, or your ipod/cd player to time yourself. Do three rounds or so with, no longer than two minutes between rounds.

As you work on the heavy bag your punches will get faster, stronger, and easier to throw. You will find yourself being able to last longer and longer. Like with anything, the more work you put in, the more results you will see.

Corrales vs. Castillo Round 10

One of Chico's best comebacks.

R.I.P. Diego "Chico" Corrales

We are coming up on the one year anniversary of the death of Deigo Corrales, who in my opinion was the most exciting fighter ever to step into the ring. He had more courage than any two other fighters combined, and never dissapointed. Diego died on May 7, 2007 by crashing his motorcycle. This is a man that I would give all my respect to for his extreme courage and bravery. Whatever Corrales lacked in skill was made up for with heart he was a truly great warrior and it really is a shame that we won't be able to see any more fights from him.

Rest In Peace

Four Basic Punches/Techniques for Boxing

I decided I would start off my advice with an overview of the different punches used in boxing. So here it goes, hope it helps.

Jab- The jab is the most used and most important punch for any boxer, your ability to throw this punch well can literally make or break you. The jab can be used to separate and make space or used as a normal punch to hurt your opponent. It is the lightest and quickest punch of them all. Execution: Start in your normal fighting stance with your hands guarding your face, you should then extend your arm straight forward and "snap" it out in front of you. This should all be one quick motion and your hand should return instantly where it started after it is executed, and should be almost all arm with no body put behind it.

Straight- The straight punch is a strong damage dealing punch that is used mainly to do damage. It is much riskier to throw than a jab because you will be leaving yourself open for a longer period of time, but if the gamble pays off and a strong straight punch is landed it can be deadly. Execution: should be thrown similar to a jab but now you will put your whole body into the punch and rotate at the hips. As the name implies the straight should be thrown in a straight motion.

Hook- The hook is probably has the most potential to do damage and is the most capable of creating a one hit knockout. It is risky because it will leave your face open, but can really pay off if landed flush. Execution: The hook should be thrown usually at the end of a successful combination or when the opponent leaves themselves wide open. your arm should start in its normal position and then come in a hook motion and strike the opponent on the side of the head/body. You should twist at the hips and and put a lot of arm and shoulder into this punch.

Uppercut- The uppercut is another high damage dealing punch if landed hard, it can be absolutely devastating. The uppercut can be best utilized when an opponent is leaning in, which is common into the later rounds as a fighter gets tired. Execution: The uppercut is thrown with the hand starting low and then coming up in a swooping motion so as to catch the opponent on his chin or upper chest. The arm and shoulder should be utilized as well as the legs.

This is just a brief overview of the four basic punches, you will need to master all four in order to become a good fighter.

De La Hoya's Upcoming Final Fights

photo from espn

Oscar De La Hoya insists that he only has three fights left and then he's hanging up the gloves for good. The first of which will be against contender star Steve Forbes, and the highly anticipated rematch with Floyd "Money Mayweather. Who the opponent will be for the third fight is still up in the air.

Overview

I am launching this blog for fun as a site to talk about boxing. I am a fan and participant of the sport, I am in love with it. I am extremely knowlegable on this topic and I am creating this blog to share my knowlege with the public.