The purpose behind this post is to address a question related to shadow boxing.
Shadow Boxing can take on many forms and purposes. In my opinion it is one the absolute best tools for development and should be cultivated right from the beginning. Shadowboxing can be used for conditioning, technique development, warm-up, cool-downs, just to name a few. It is one of the best tools for developing smoothness, good transition and to experiment with new things. It has been through this tool that a lot of things for me have come to light.
When hitting the heavy bag a lot of people focus on power and develop the bad habit of leaving their punch on the target to long, thus reducing their force output. People also have this tendency when hitting focus mitts, although not as bad. This results in the habit of “trying for power” which also includes over rotating. These are dangerous habits to develop. You don’t have this issue with shadowboxing. Since your not hitting anything, that’s real anyways, you can feel when you’re out of balance more easily.
Many have a hard time in the beginning with shadow boxing for numerous reasons, I find mainly due to lack of a game plan. First start by having a game plan before beginning your session. Have two or maybe three things you’d like to work. This could be new footwork patterns, a new combination, a transition problem you keep encountering. You could also take the approach of working on addressing different fighting styles each round. Keep your movements and attacks smooth. You don’t want to execute attacks full force and damage joints. Only speed them up once you have ingrained the proper motor-patterns. Instead focus on executing your technique with the proper distance, i.e. just prior to joint lockout.
If your using it as a warm-up make sure to go slow. Focus on warming up the body and keeping a steady pace. Incorporate your game plan, which should be related to what you plan on training after your warm-up. As a cool down tool do the same thing, slow the pace and focus on smoothing out what you worked on during your training session.
People get in to much of a rush in the beginning. Think of your shadoboxing time as your time to clear your mind and focus on the task at hand, which my students know as bringing mindfulness to practice. Once you get the flow of it you can begin trying new things. Out of all the things I do for training shadowboxing is one of my favorites.
As always don’t be afraid to experiment a little. I use weighted gloves, a weighted vest, resistance bands, resistance between my feet and the list goes on.. You can incorporate intervals and similar protocols, however these are beyond the scope of this blog post.
Hope this helps Rob.
Author Short Bio: Tom Harvey is a Master Trainer with over 15 years of Fitness Consulting and 20+ years of experience in the Martial Arts. He currently works with students and clients on general fitness, sports performance training, Combat Athlete conditioning, Combat Athlete Striking and footwork, and Jeet Kune Do instruction.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Would you say this is a good thing to incorporate into a fitness routine even if I’m not training boxing?
I have been looking to get into some self defense classes but want to get in ok shape on my own first so I don’t die the first couple of weeks.
Thanks!
Hi Monica,
Absolutely. One thing you can do is first get use to moving around and punching and kicking “correctly”. Begin to increase the number of rounds you’re performing. You could start out at 2 minutes rounds and move up to 3 or just start at 3 and increase the number of rounds you perform in a session. Start with 3 or 4 and move up to 10 or 12, in a progressive fashion. You can also decrease the rest interval from 1 minute between rounds to 30 seconds. And within a round go through faster pace followed by a slower pace back to faster, etc. This could be timed as in interval training or based on how you feel as in Fartlek training.
Just a few ideas for you. Once you begin Self Defense training I would also incorporate performing shadowboxing in all out 15 and 30 second intervals. Since this will more closely resemble a physical encounter.
Thanks Sifu Tom for the information. It does help. I just need to work on shadow boxing and the fact there is no target. I realize now that when I do hit the heavy bag, I am focusing more on power than technique and that I am performing the technique wrong. I will try to step away from the heavy bag and only shadow box for awhile.
Try this.. Execute your techniques at a distance that you barely touch the bag. When doing this focus on the retraction or return part of the technique. When focusing on the return think of getting that punch or kick back faster than you fired it out. This should eliminate any delay that you might have developed. And as a side bonus it will increase your punching/kicking speed.
Let me know how it goes for you.