Developing Footwork (diary entry)

05.03.18 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGdVMyI3uck   My client’s second course on Western Boxing for Martial Arts Cross Training brought him up to the seven hour mark. Building off this course, where we have focused on upper body mobility and defensive tactics, we looked more at footwork and looping punches.   The lesson began with our revision of combining footwork with head movement. This was trained through line-work, then as partner-work and then onto the focus mitts. Techniques and combinations were trained in isolation and then integrated.   Next we looked at drawing and angling off. Here the defensive fighter picks his shots rather than looks to clinch, as we did in the previous lesson. Muhammad Ali’s anchor punch is a great tool to use in this situation, as are jabs high and low. The main objective here is to get your opponent to follow and then quickly change direction as you set up your punch. The masters of such a game were Sugar Ray Robinson and the two men who were greatly influenced by his style: Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard.   The lesson finished with a round of sparring. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SeE3UKt74Y