Drills for working on movment...

[notquitedead]

[If you don't want to read all this, please read the last sentence at least because that is the actual question lol]

I've started trying to focus more on boxing lately (I'm training for MMA and I'm mostly a grappler, so the movement and hand skills from boxing seem invaluable for me so I can get close safely and clinch) but unfortuneatly the first two weeks this month I couldn't go to my MMA class and the last two weeks the classes have been cancelled ( :cry: ). Last night (not knowing that the class was cancelled) my uncle and I went. It's at a gym so it's not like it's locked or anything when the instructors aren't there. We waited around for about ten minutes or so to see if anyone would show up.

Well to make a long story short, they didn't so my uncle and I decided to do some more training by ourselves. At first we just did MMA-style sparring (minus the kicks, neither of us have conditioned our shins enough and it's impossible to grapple with them on lol) and after that we were too tired to keep grappling so we decided to do some boxing (still with the small grappling gloves that don't provide much protection *ouch*). I tried working on movement as much as I could, but my footwork is horrible so instead of trying to use footwork to evade, I just focused on upper body movement (leaning back, slipping punches, etc). I did okay for never having any formal boxing training I guess, but I want to work on slipping, ducking, bobbing and weaving, etc. (if anything, being good at bobbing and weaving will help me get under punches so I can tackle them lol).

Anyways, what are some good ways to work on bobbing/weaving, slipping, ducking, and all that fun stuff? :D

[alex_000]

unfortunately for you sparring is the best way. But to learn weaving etc you must work light contact and 50% speed at first so you wont be afraid or mind if you get hit and graduately speeding up , but always keep it light.

You can work normall sparring or one side attacks the other side defences , the deffender learnes those stuff.

Some pad work can help but the person who holds them must know what he's doing.

There is no magic formula and unfortunatelly its a lot harder than it seems. You must learn to read the opponent and imagine what hell do next , combined with sharp reflexes. But you can't read the opponent if you cant decenty box yourself...

[notquitedead]

Thanks for the reply. I know it isn't going to happen instantly, but I have a few years before I can start fighting so I want to start working on more boxing stuff now if I can. If I can find a place to learn boxing for fairly cheap (so I won't have to give up MMA) that I can also get a ride to, I'd do it, but I doubt I will be able to make it happen. I might take a while off of MMA to do it or something, I'll try to work something out. :p

[alex_000]

don't you have a kickboxer or something in your MMA gym? I cant imagine MMA without some boxing ..

[notquitedead]

don't you have a kickboxer or something in your MMA gym?
The main instructor is mostly a grappler (former wrestler) so we work on that a lot. When we do striking, we usually just start sparring instead of doing drills for stand up (which means we don't work on some of the finer points of boxing). One of the guys that comes in sometimes is a kickboxer, and he tried to help us work on bobbing and weaving, but we didn't have much time that day. I'm gonna ask about working on this stuff more next time, but I haven't been there for a month so I haven't been able to ask yet. :cry:

[Ad McG]

Use a floor-to-ceiling or goofy ball. You will have a hard time avoiding it and you can really work your movement.

[oldshadow]

You can use a lead bag also. Take an old speed bag (leather) and cut the top of the bladder off. Fill it with steel or lead (my preference is lead shot). Do not fill it up completely, just the lower portion. One of the smaller Mexican style seams to work best. Sand can be used but it’s not as good. Tape the top of the bladder up with duct tape. Then lace the cover back up. Use the “S” hook to hang it back up on a rope. Make sure the rope is not too long, as this will make it too slow. You will have to experiment with the rope length.
With gloves on hit the bag with a jab. It will swing out then back at your head if it is hung at the proper height. Work on letting it go over your shoulder. By the way watch out when it goes past then starts back. Once you get the hang of it and experiment with it you can really help with your defensive movement.
There is however no real substitute for sparring for things like this.

[notquitedead]

Oldshadow, I've actually done something similar to that, thanks for reminding me! A while back, I taped up a pretty big water balloon (so it wouldn't pop and get water all over the place) and hung it up. I mainly used it for blocking and stuff, but it would be perfect for practicing slipping punches and stuff. A double end ball (the thing that attaches to the floor and the ceiling) is a possibility too, but water balloons are cheaper lol.