Boxing and kickboxing matches are won not in the ring but in the gym -- before the match. The degree to which you train, condition, spar and practice is the gauge to measure your expectation of success when it is time to fight an actual bout. Boxers and kickboxers use a variety of traditional exercises while in training, but they also use training techniques practiced most often only by fighters.
Shadow Boxing
Shadow boxing is running through the motions of boxing or kickboxing without a partner. In some cases, the athlete practices by literally moving around his shadow. In others moves, he uses his reflection in a mirror or simply visualizes an opponent. Far from random motion, shadow boxing is an opportunity for the boxer to work his form and practice a game plan -- a way of encoding his technique and strategy into his muscle memory.
Bag Work
Unless you have properly learned how to hit a punching bag, you have not done it the way a competitive boxer or kickboxer would. Fighters use several kinds of bags to build strength and conditioning in the muscles that power their strikes. They use heavy bags for power work and speed bags for rhythm. Highly competitive fighters may also use specialty bags, such as a "jitter bag" that moves randomly when hit or a slip bag to practice dodging an incoming punch.
Pad Drills
Pad drills allow a fighter to punch and kick a solid surface to work on his form, power and timing. With pad drills, a partner holds padded mitts or pads that form a target for the incoming strikes. Depending on his needs, a fighter might work the same strikes over and over for form, or he may work combinations of attacks in context to build speed, rhythm and accuracy.
Sparring
No boxer or kickboxer enters the ring competitively without having first spent hours sparring against trained fighters. In sparring, two athletes square off in the ring in a mock boxing or kickboxing match. They fight by the same rules -- often with the same round timing -- as in a real fight; the only difference is their purpose. In a match, both fighters are out to win. When sparring, each looks to learn about his strengths and weaknesses -- and to teach his training partner the same things about himself.
Posted in: Boxing Exercises