Dodging

[will56]

Does anyone have any tips for improving dodging of punches when sparring. Im trying to come up with something I can do outside of class to to help get out of the way of punches. Any help greatly appreciated.

[TJS]

thre are several drill's but you need a partner.

[Sasori_Te]

You can try walking a rope. Tie a rope to 2 points as far apart as you could get them. 20 feet or so should be sufficient. The rope should be shoulder height.

 

Start with the rope next to your right ear. Step, duck under the rope and slip past it as if it were a punch, throw a counter. Continue this up and down the rope. Going down and back constitutes one rep. You can do 2 reps to start and work your way up from there.

 

The object is to make the duck and slip as fast as possible. As with any other training exercise don't try to start at top speed. Get the feel for the movement and gradually speed up.

 

You can also use a "headache" bag to learn by yourself. It will let you know if you're not moving fast enough.

[Amosite]

Good dodging comes from knowing your opponents punch range. In kickboxing, it is a good idea not to duck too much as if your opponent is clever, he/she will throw a kick as you duck.

 

When sparring, stay just on the limit of your opponents range and slip your head a couple of inches to the outside as they throw straight punches.

[hobz]

I'm just curious, if you could give me some exact technique for slipping? I known how to but I want to make sure theres nothing I'm doing wrong with it.

[Justfulwardog]

You can duck straight down, or side to side. When going side to side, you want to move in a U shape. Most of your weight on your front foot.

 

Like Amosite said, you barely want to slip the strike. That way you wont be off balance. It will leave you with your footing to keep defending, or go offensive. It also leaves you in a perfect position for a counter, before they recover.

 

Oh, and I almost forgot. Be aware of your center. Your center is located just below your belly button. Ideally it should remain strait up and down, like a pole. You should not bend at your center, at all. This is a technique, that I have to keep reminding myself of. Being aware of your center makes you use your legs, not over extend, not sticking your head out past your toes, helping you get the most power in your strikes, and much more.

 

I could not figure out what I was doing wrong, after getting my front teeth loosened, and my nose fractured from my instructor's knees (I took two of them, one right after another. That was a bad night of sparring for me). I knew that when you bob and weave correctly, you should be well guarded. The answer was all in my center. By bending my center I was opening my elbows, thus allowing all kinds of bad things to accur.

[Amosite]

The trick with slipping is that a punch only has to miss by a couple of inches. A good practice is to stand toe to toe with your sparring opponent and slip jabs.

 

Both stand in regular stance, left foot forward, right hand on your right temple with your elbow down. As they throw a left hand jab, move your head to the right, (to the outside of the punch). You can move your right hand across to push their punch further past your head.

 

The trick here is that after practice, you will only be a couple if inches from their glove, but that's all you need to do.

 

Start slowly, taking it in turns to throw and slip punches. Later on in sparring, you can advance this to slipping to the outside and moving round to the side of your opponent, making them turn.

 

Best of luck.

[G Money Slick]

Just alot of bobbing and weaving drills. Make sure you have practiced your footwork as it is essential in kickboxing and boxing.

[Jiyn]

ive got no exercises to improve it but in a fight be light on your feet and keep switching which way you dodge otherwise your opponent will remember your teqnique and know which way you are going to duck

[valetudoisbest]

practice slips that set up punches (from a straight boxing standpoint) for example lean toward and to the outside (leftside) of a right hand (assuming ur orthodox) and it sets up the left hook which should lean to the right and pull back a tiny bit, throw punches while slipping as well, very useful, i've seen plenty of good knockouts that come from punches thrown while slipping and dont' forget to step while your slipping, it manipulates range, and if u step hard enough (don't lose balance) u can change angles as well