“I hope you are surviving the arctic weather. We have 20 degree days but no precipitation. Where are you now? Sean Glass invited me to the man weekend and I accepted. Though I could have a work conflict. What book of yours details boxing combinations? I feel ready to move on from the 1-1-2-1. What do you think?”
-Joe, by text, 1/19/24
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Nice to hear from you, Joe.
I’m on the knee of Cedar Mountain outside Selek Washington. Uncle Sham willing, I should be back in Portland on February 1, in San Jose March 25, and in Pittsburgh, PA on March 31.
Glad to see you will be at Man Weekend. Sean’s the second most savage Christian I know, and the most savage is scheduled to show, Brett, our best stick fighter.
If I had to pick a stick match for you it would be with Brickmouse, boxing as well.
You will be the lightest man there, him second lightest.
Good news is, you self coach and solo train better than any of the hundreds of men I have coached. It is amazing that you have a resistance to boredom that has had you practicing that same basic boxing combo for three years! That is to the good.
My two boxing manuels are Solo Boxing and The Punishing Art. I forget what is in what. There are 5 to 10 boxing Q&A’s like this in each: The Combat Space, On Combat and Being a Bad Man in a Worse World. But all that stuff is on this page. I recommend Solo Boxing, as it was written for the solo fighter, with The Punishing Art more for the fighter/coach, like Sean.
You are a good southpaw who can switch hit in a pinch.
You will be lighter than the other men but of medium height.
I want to see you box Jersey Jon, since he’s the best boxer there and you are taller and quicker.
You should also box Brickmouse if he is there, an infuriating pain in the ass to fight in any set.
The 1 is the jab:
-A. Blind jab, palm down high at the eyes
-B. Power jab, palm down
-C. Sneaky jab, thumb up
-D. Up jab, palm up, for a taller man to protect his hand or with small gloves.
Every combo should end with a jab that is not a power jab, unless he is short.
The 2 is the straight rear hand
-A. Power, palm down
-B. Sneaky, thumb up
-C. Cross, explained below, misidentified by most MMA, kicker and commentary sources
I want you to practice three combinations:
-1. The Harry
1-2-1
Blind jab over his lead with a pass step, stepping diagonal across the front of his lead foot. This should miss. The idea is to put something in his eyes.
As soon as your lead foot lands, send a sneaky rear hand, down the middle.
Then do a safety pivot to a jab, the sneaky jab most likely.
The end of the Harry combo should set you at 90 degrees. The idea is to get him chasing and following and resetting, opening up in an effort to get you back in front of him.
…
-2. The Snake
2-1
Catch him opening up following you, sink the sneaky left between his gloves, then pull it back in a high shield while you side step left and pin his chin with the power jab. The nuance here is in whether you are stepping past, to the side or setting down for the 2. Mix this up as you imagine baiting him.
…
-3. The Trap
2-1-2-1
Sneaky left with the pass step to the chest to stop him,
To a blind or power jab over his shoulder,
To a cross over his lead into his ear or eye or chin,
To a power jab as you step slide left, finishing the way you did the Snake. This is to keep you from getting cornered.
A Cross is a pronated straight rear that “crosses” over his lead. As such this last combo works good against a shell fighter or peek-a-boo man like me, your old sparring partner. Jon does that better than I ever did.
You should have a good outing.
I also want you to practice rolling with punches. Being a stick fighter your head and neck are kind of stiff.
Get down on your knees with your boys and glove them up, letting them use your face for a punching bag. Practice rolling with the punches, using your shoulder to deflect the wrist. Let them hit you and be careful of hyperextending their elbow with your shoulder. Practice looking at the glove coming, letting it make contact and rolling while being hit. Start in this hole and then start anticipating it with your shoulder roll.
Have your wife watch, then move to your feet and have her punch you. Don’t lean away like Hopkins, but rotate on your hips and pivot with your feet to apply “english” to the punch.
Watch Duran versus Davey Moore for the start of the drill. Then look at Mayweather and Hopkins for the shoulder roll.
As part of the boxing clinic, we will do a southpaw section and cover this the day before fighting.
At this juncture, you just want to tap and move and only sit down on the punch that catches your man stepping around or setting down on his heels.
Your weakness will be dealing with hooks, so keep your hands high for this.
