training Archives | Ringside Boxing Blog

Combat Simulation: Getting the Most from your Sparring Session

Sparring offers fighters, from Boxing to MMA to Judo, an opportunity to test their skills against real live opponents. The experience of facing off against another human, even in a controlled setting, teaches you things that you can’t learn from hitting a bag.

To get the most out of a sparring session, though, you don’t just step into the ring and start brawling. If you don’t take a few key things in mind when you set up your sparring session, you may end up doing more harm than good.

In today’s article, we’ll discuss what you should keep in mind before, during, and after every sparring session.

5 Effective Ways to Encourage and Motivate Young Fighters

A coach provides feedback to a boxer during mitt-work. — Keeping a fighter encouraged and motivated is critical to their successful development.

When a fighter first starts training, it can be hard to contain their fire and passion. It’s all you can do to keep up with them as they eat up everything you throw down.

But then, sometimes, you can’t seem to connect. You can’t get them to see the value of a particular exercise. Or you can’t get them to understand why they need to “fix” they way they throw their cross.

In those situations, you need to find a way to break through and get on the same page. Read on to learn about some of the tactics that might help motivate your fighters.

5 Ways to Improve Hand Speed

Fighter hits the speed bag to develop fast hands — A fighter trains hand speed by hitting the speed bag.

They say, “Speed Kills”. People get excited about punch power. But fighters who can throw more punches than their opponent usually win the day.

You don’t need some innate, natural-born talent to have fast hands. As with every other aspect of boxing, you develop fast hands through deliberate training. It takes time.

And like many other aspects of boxing training, you need to train your mind as well as your body.

We gathered together five of the most fundamental exercises for improving hand speed. Read on to learn more.

Bagwork Fundamentals – 6 Important Tips when Hitting the Bag

We asked our friends at FighterCulture.com to write up their thoughts on some of the fundamentals of bagwork for us. This is a pretty good outline on some of the key concepts to making sure you’re getting the most out of your Heavy Bag work.

Hitting the heavy bag, commonly referred to as bagwork, is one of the most essential drills in combat sports like boxing, Muay Thai, or MMA. However, using the punching bag properly is a skill on its own.

man hitting heavy bag during bagwork training

In this article, we are going to talk about bagwork fundamentals and will give you some tips on how to utilize the punching bag the best way possible. Continue reading “Bagwork Fundamentals – 6 Important Tips when Hitting the Bag”

Boxing Drills: How to Improve Your Boxing Footwork

In the sport of boxing, all of the attention is focused on the hands. In a fight, success depends on how often those gloves land and how hard they hit. And knowing how to hit is essential for anyone wanting to step into the ring. But good boxers know that, in fact, victory flows from good footwork.

boxing footwork balls of feet stance

Good boxing footwork allows you to keep moving and keep your balance. It means never standing where you opponent’s punch ends up. You maintain control over your spatial positioning and stay hyper-responsive to your opponent’s moves. You can quickly step in and take advantage of an opponent’s mistake, deliver powerful, controlled punches, and then slip out of range again.

There’s a reason why the best fighters in the world put hours into perfecting their boxing footwork. Read on to learn about some ways to help perfect yours. Continue reading “Boxing Drills: How to Improve Your Boxing Footwork”

4 Signs You Might Be Competition-Ready

When athletes start to get serious about their boxing training, there are two questions that often come up: “how do I find a coach?” and “when will I be ready for a competition?”. We covered the first question with last week’s post on finding the right boxing coach to help you achieve your goals. This week we’ll be addressing that second question. If you’re starting to wonder how to gauge if you’re ready to sign up for a boxing competition and step in the ring for real, then please read on. Two fighters engaged in a bout at a sanctioned boxing competition Continue reading “4 Signs You Might Be Competition-Ready”

Find the Right Boxing Coach for your Skill Level and Goals

A boxer prepares to hit the mitts with his boxing coach

Top athletes have a combination of talent and inner drive that goes a long way toward making them great. Without some inherent talent and the discipline and determination to work on your craft, it’s next to impossible to become your best self and beat out the competition. At certain points, though, you need some help, and that’s where a coach comes in.

This is particularly true in boxing, a sport that demands peak physical fitness, refined technique, and lots and lots of toughness. Without a coach who knows what makes you tick, it’ll be easy to hit a wall. As you start your boxing training as a newbie or alter it to get to a new level, do yourself a favor and consult our tips for finding a boxing coach who suits your skill level and goals. Continue reading “Find the Right Boxing Coach for your Skill Level and Goals”

The Science Behind your Coach’s Training Regime

NOTE: This article was edited on 2/18/19 to include more information about Velocity Based Training (VBT) and common devices used to measure movement speed for use with VBT.

If you’ve been following this blog for a while then you know that boxing training constitutes more than just physical strength. We’ve discussed speed, movement, endurance, and mental preparation.

Now, we’re going to take a look at the science that supports the training that goes into boxing. If you understand the physical principles involved, then you will be able to better identify ways to maximize strength, speed, and your overall boxing prowess every time you put on your headgear and step into the ring.

Hitting the heavy bag to improve strength and mobility Continue reading “The Science Behind your Coach’s Training Regime”

8 Tips to Help you Succeed as an MMA Fighter

The octagon - where MMA fighters dream of victory

To say the popularity of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) has skyrocketed since UFC’s first event in November of 1993 would be an understatement. The UFC was valued at about $4 billion in 2016. It now consistently draws more pay-per-view buys than boxing and a comparable number to the WWE.

The popularity of the sport has inspired many people to start learning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in hopes of one day stepping into the Octagon. But before you set your sights on becoming a great MMA fighter like Conor McGregor or Demetrious Johnson, let’s consider what it takes to get there. Follow these eight tips to becoming a successful MMA fighter to give yourself a shot at the glory. Be warned though—you will need to put in a LOT of hard work. Continue reading “8 Tips to Help you Succeed as an MMA Fighter”

9 Exercises that Will Improve Your Punching Power

Hitting the heavy bag is a key element of boxing training.

While so much of what makes a great boxer or MMA fighter is technique, speed, and mental toughness, it doesn’t hurt to have a powerful punch. No matter how the fight is going, it can turn decidedly in your favor if you can land one devastating punch.

If you’re not blessed with innate punching power, though, don’t worry. Making these nine exercises part of your boxing training program can help you improve in a big way. Continue reading “9 Exercises that Will Improve Your Punching Power”