Stance & Footwork
Your ability to maintain a solid stance is critical in a fight. If you lose your balance you can’t attack or defend and you will likely fall. There are too many things to trip over like sidewalk curbs.
Your footwork must allow you to maintain your stance as you move. I’ve made a previous article and video about Bruce Lee’s footwork where you can learn more.
In this video we will apply footwork to combinations so we can move and hit while maintaining our balance and stance the whole time.
Don’t Stand Still
You don’t want to stand still and trade punches with someone. That is a recipe for disaster. Lucky punches and knockouts are soon to come.
We don’t win by luck, we win by using superior skill and superior tactics.
So that means we must move during a fight. Remember they are punching at your head. So make your head be somewhere else.
They will be standing still… or rather they might stand still and throw a punch then stumble and fall as you effortlessly control distance and timing with your footwork. Then enter with devastating force.
Let’s explore a street-modified boxing combination that uses footwork.
Stance Review
Here is a quick review of what makes a good basic stance.
You should always face the bag at a 45 degree angle. Don’t stand either sideways or squared up (think horse stance from Karate).
Your feet should be about 1 and a half times shoulder width apart. This might feel weird at first but it is athletic. Feet close together is slow and unathletic.
Your feet should be slightly pigeon toed or at least parallel with each other. No duck feet allowed. Duck feet make you slower and reduce footwork speed.
Of course your hands should be up.
Your butt should be slightly back and your chest should be slightly forward.
Jab > Cross > Hook
This is a classic but unlike Rocky Balboa we aren’t going to stand still and punch a side of beef. We will move with EACH and EVERY strike we throw.
In this example I’m using a heavy bag so that you have a point of reference. But I often do these drills with no equipment at all. I usually prefer to visualize my opponent. But in the beginning it can be very helpful to have a target so you know what you are circling and you can get a feel for the correct distance.
For the following example I will explain it from a right foot forward lead. For a left lead simply reverse the right direction for left.
Strike #1 is your lead jab. You will step forward and right at a 45 degree angle as you throw your lead-hand jab.
Strike #2 is your rear cross. You will step forward and right again at a 45 degree angle as you throw your rear-hand cross.
Now here is where it gets important. You have to add a circling motion to the steps other wise you will wind up facing away from the bag. Your goal is to keep facing the bag with your 45 degree angle stance that we defined earlier.
Strike #3 is your lead-hand hook or ear slap. For this you will still use the forward and right 45 degree motion but you will see me load and hop. Furthermore you will see that I rotate during the hop to land facing the bag at a 45 degree angle.
Notice how I have circled the bag roughly 90 degrees?
Your opponent will not be able to keep up with you if you move like this.
Conclusion
Stance and footwork are fundamentals. If you master these then everything else about fighting gets SOOOO much easier to manage.
Work on footwork for just a minute or so every single day and your progress will skyrocket!
Until next time,
Brian
