Why does nobody talk about leaning into a punch instead of pulling back during a fight?

I spent 3 years at a boxing gym in Austin always trying to dodge or pull away, until a sparring session last month where the coach yelled "stay in it" after I ate a jab. Turns out moving toward the contact can soften the impact and set up a counter, which felt totally backwards to me. Has anyone else had that realization about any sport or skill where you were doing the opposite of what works?

2 comments

2 Comments

victor_butler4d ago

Hold up, wait. You're telling me you spent THREE YEARS in a boxing gym and nobody told you that? That's wild. I honestly can't believe it took a coach yelling at you to figure that out. I mean, I get it, it feels completely wrong to move into a punch, but that's like the whole point of rolling with it. You'd think someone would have broken that down for you way earlier though, right? Anyway, glad you finally got the memo on that one.

margaret993d ago

Yeah, "nobody told you that" is putting it mildly... I think my coaches just assumed I'd figure it out by getting punched in the face enough times, which honestly I did but not in a helpful way." "Three years of flinching backwards and wondering why I still got rocked every time, pretty sure my brain just needed a proper wake up call from someone yelling at me." "Glad the memo finally arrived though, even if it came with a side of public humiliation and a bruised ego.