Austin Women's Boxing Club

We’re back for another FOOTWORK WEEK! Side steps, back steps, shuffling, and more. Book an All Levels Boxing Class this week to get lots of practice time for those fancy feet!

Mindset, intention, effort...speed isn’t something you either have or you don’t. With the right attitude, you can increase the speed of not just your punches but your footwork, head movement, and reaction! In our All-Levels classes this week, we’re working on just that. Time to level 🆙

Even though we’re punching with our fists, strong balanced footwork helps keep us stable and sets us up for success. And good news! It’s footwork week! It can be used as a means of defense and it can help us close the distance. We can step with our punches, pivot away to get a new angle, shuffle left and right to make it harder for our opponent to find us and get settled. So many options! Check out a few tactics that Coach Alex used in this throwback to one of her fights at the 2023 National Golden Gloves.

Mittholding can be really challenging, but we think this young boxer is doing a *~phenomenal~* job. This video was taken just 3 minutes into learning how to hold mitts for Coach Karla. Clear queuing, mitts held at correct angles, hands are put down in between....this boxer is going to be a world-class mittholder at this rate. Want to be like her? Good news! It’s mittholding week during All-Levels Boxing classes! See you there!

But can you do that? Because Janis can. 💅💅💅

Check out this oldie but goodie. Once upon a time Alex and Rayna were working on slipping and countering in advanced class. And that’s what we’re working on this week in All-Levels! Timing and counters! The goal: react to your opponent’s punches without getting hit (timing it), and firing back with some punches of your own (counters). We’re practicing this a bunch of different ways this week: bag work, noodles, mitts....you get the idea. See you in class!

It’s multiphase attacks week! At its core, multiphase attacks are combinations of offense and defense strung together before exiting and moving out of range of your opponent. But Coach Alex - what does that even mean? If you throw 2 punches at your opponent and then shuffle away, the chances of both of those punches landing is not great. BUT! If you, for example:

1) Throw 2 punches (offense)
2) Then side step their jab (defense)
3) Then throw a nasty 2-3-2 (offense)
4) Then step and roll before you shuffle away (exit)...

..the chances of you scoring points greatly increases because alladat is really hard to defend. Long story short (too late): If you throw your combination and anticipate having to defend and come back with counters, you will likely land more punches. 🥊❤️

Variety is the spice of life! There are so many things that can be changed within a single combination to make it more complex - for both you and your opponent. Adding in head movement, feints, body shots, etc keeps things unpredictable. A boxer who doesn’t fall into patterns is that much harder to figure out and take advantage of. Got a favorite way to change up a combination? Drop it in the comments! And if you want dedicated practice mixing it up, be sure to head to an All-Levels class this week.