Fundamentals
Keep offense at 30–40% early on
Pace offense
If you go all-out on offense from the start of the round, you end up trading punches without knowing how the opponent attacks. Early on, hold your offense to 30–40% and use the rest on watching the opponent and defending. Once you can see how they attack, raise your share of offense. This is a way of pacing for people who get into exchanges early in sparring and tend to get caught trading shots.
| Type | Fundamentals |
|---|---|
| Guard | Written for orthodox (left foot forward) |
Keep offense at 30–40% early on: how to do it
- Early on, keep your output down and limit offense to 30–40%. Feel things out with the left jab and similar punches, and use the rest on defense and watching.
- Watch which punch the opponent leads with and from what distance they punch.
- Once you feel you have the pace, raise your offense to 60–70%.
Keep offense at 30–40% early on: key points
- The goal early on is to learn the opponent's attacking tendencies. Use the attention you save on offense to watch how they move.
- Even after you have the pace, keep offense to 60–70% and leave room for defense.
- If you only attack, you end up punching at the same time as the opponent and get caught trading shots.
Keep offense at 30–40% early on: common mistakes
- Going all-offense right from the start. You trade punches without knowing how they attack and get caught trading shots.
- Not throwing anything at all because you're trying to feel things out. The opponent gets to punch freely and you can't watch them at all.
Keep offense at 30–40% early on: how to practice
- In shadowboxing, build the round so the first half is mostly left jabs and defensive movement, and you throw more flurries from the second half.
- Try the same split on the heavy bag. In the first half, mostly single punches and footwork. In the second half, raise your output.
Related techniques
Left and right are written for orthodox (left foot forward). If you're southpaw, swap left and right as you read. How to read the notation
This is Japanese-style boxing: techniques as taught at a boxing gym in Japan. American or Mexican coaches may teach some of them differently.