Boxing 101: Footwork
“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. His hands can’t hit what his eyes can’t see,” said Muhammed Ali, ahead of his fight with George Foreman in 1974.
At the heart of what is arguably the boxing legend’s most famous quote is footwork—fundamental to every offensive combination and defensive maneuver.
“Footwork in boxing is the ability to maintain your balance and stability in the direction you are moving in,” described professional boxer Muhamad Ridhwan, head coach and co-founder of Singaporean boxing gym Legends Fight Sport. “It’s also about maintaining a position where you can attack and defend effectively.”
Maintaining Balance
The professionals might make it look easy with moves like the Ali shuffle (named after Muhammed Ali’s famous foot shuffling during his fights), but good foot work isn’t about being able to dance around the ring.
“More than just about moving your feet, the concept of footwork is about knowing when to move, how to move and where to move,” explained Ridhwan, who recently turned professional and now boasts a 2-0 win record ahead of his next professional outing in June. “You have to know when and how to get into range to engage your opponent and get out of range so your opponent misses his punch.”
More Than Feet
More than just about moving your feet, footwork involves your entire body. To do this right, “it starts with good legs for stability,” highlighted the 28-year-old, who also graduated from an International Coaching Course at the University of Physical Education in Budapest, Hungary. “It lets you engage your core, and then move your upper body and the hands. Anyone can move, but they may not be able to punch if they’re off balance,” he added.
Practice, Practice and more Practice
Like every aspect of the fight game, good footwork comes with practice. “There is no shortcut,” said Ridhwan, “shadow boxing and moving around in your fight stance is most important. You’d just have to keep working at it, repeat the motion until it becomes natural to you. That’s how it is.”
Describing his approach to the most basic aspect of boxing, “simplicity is the highest level of brilliance,” shared Ridhwan. “Basic footwork is a must, and many fighters do overlook this. I emphasize a lot on footwork and moving in the four directions (front, back, left and right) before progressing into things like pivots, side-steps and where possible, even switching your fight stance with many other combinations in between.”
Starting Right
To begin with, one needs to maintain a proper basic fight stance. “The orthodox stance (it’s the reverse for left-handed boxers) sees your left leg leading in front, and your right leg behind. Both legs should not be too far apart, shoulder width is just nice. Your legs slightly bent and your weight rested on the balls of your feet. As for your feet themselves, they should also be pointed forward at a slight angle,” explained Ridhwan. “Of course, your hands have to be up at chin-level to protect yourself,” he emphasized.
Understandably, moving around in this manner can feel awkward. But Ridhwan says that this is all part and parcel of the process. It’s all about getting your body adapted to being uncomfortable. Keep at it and it’ll only be a matter of time before your agility and stamina will improve.
In the meantime, one could consider working at it with cones, or buddying up with a partner and practice moving around each other to inject some variety into training.
Reuters
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