Any great trainer and boxer for that matter will tell you that you absolutely cannot have effective defense without offense. It is like that saying “what goes up must come down.” Defense and offense work well together, it’s as simple as that. It should be common sense that in a boxing match, especially when boxing for the street, one will have to bring the fight to them in order to stay in the proper range.

To a boxer – this means making sure that the incoming punches are not landed! How does one do this? There are different blocks one can do as well as many different evasive moves to choose from. The great advantage to good blocking technique though is that this typically will line the boxer up for a great counter attack. A quick reference guide too different blocks are:

• Parries – This is a quick tap of the wrist and hand to make the opponent overthrow their punch, a deflection

• Catching – The easiest way to describe catching is a quick redirection of an incoming punch, this is why it is extremely important to always keep an eye on the opponent.

• Body shot parries – Also known as pendulum blocks, this is a sweeping motion away and down from the body.

Of course there is a wide range of blocking the needs to be considered as well, this includes blocking head shots, body shots, uppercuts, and so forth. Some evasive moves one can practice are:

• Slips – This is a move that requires quick diagonal or lateral movement of the upper torso including mostly the head and neck. A good slip would be easily described as a narrow miss versus a big miss by the opponent because the key is to set up for a counterpunch.

• Ducks – This is pretty self-explanatory here, a duck is a duck, usually ducking out of the way of a head shot.

• Slides and Rides – Many have heard of “bobbing and weaving,” this is where this movement falls. It’s a combination of slipping and ducking.

• Rock back – This is to be done when one’s stance is more wide, they body will sway back away from the opponent.

With boxing, these are a few wonderful tips to get any boxer in the proper mind set of counter every attack coming their way. The whole fight should be productive, there is no sense is wasting time, boxing is like a chess match, perfectly planning each and every move will ensure a win!