I found this great article about how to improve your boxing reflexes on expertboxing.com. Here is the link to the original article but I summarized some of the most important parts.
What are fighting or boxing reflexes?
A fighting reflex is a physical response to a fighting stimulus.
A fighting stimulus could be:
- an opponent’s punch
- a discovered opening in your opponent’s guard
- any movement in your opponent
- a sudden opportunity created somehow during a fight
A physical response could be:
- you throwing a punch
- you defending the punch
- you moving away
- any movement you make
A fighter with fast reflexes is one that responds quickly to a stimulus.
A fighter with GOOD reflexes is one that responds effectively to a stimulus.
Naturally, you’d want to have the FASTER AND BETTER reflexes.
The goal is to develop TRAINED REFLEXES!
A reflex could be ANY reaction.
- a punch
- a flinch
- a duck
- a panic maneuver
A TRAINED REFLEX is an EFFECTIVE reaction:
- a counter-punch
- a defensive move
And what is a TRAINED REFLEX?
A trained reflex is an effective reaction most appropriate to the stimuli.
- Sense the stimuli
- React to the stimuli
Did you see the big secret? STIMULI, then REACTION! The stimuli first, the reaction second. Better yet, let me say it this way…
REACT TO THE STIMULI!
REACT TO THE STIMULI!
REACT TO THE STIMULI!
WHICH MEANS….
TRAIN FOR THE STIMULI!
TRAIN FOR THE STIMULI!
And say it one more time with me really loudly….TRAIN FOR THE STIMULI!
If you want to get good at reacting to punches, you need to train by looking at punches!
That’s all it is, when it comes to developing boxing reflexes. The better you get at sensing the punches, the better you will get at responding to them. You want to get better at seeing punches, hearing punches, feeling punches, sensing punches even before they’re thrown. The focus should always be on the stimuli.
Common Reflex Training Mistake #1 – not training with the right stimuli
And you have to train with the RIGHT STIMULI. If you want to get better at slipping punches, you need to have punches thrown at you. There’s no other way. Playing pingpong is not going to help. Dodging tennis balls as your friend throws them at you is not going to help. Sure, having fast reflexes in ANY activity is a physical advantage, but ultimately the guy with better trained BOXING reflexes will win the BOXING match.
Focusing on anything other than defending punches is going to be a giant waste of time! At best, you’d improve your coordination and instinctive reflexes, but you wouldn’t get any better at sensing punches or develop any effective reflexes. More on this later.
Common Reflex Training Mistake #2 – focusing on the reaction
So many boxer waste their time by doing the wrong kinds of drills for reflex training:
- practicing the defensive motion (slipping in front of the mirror or under the rope)
- practicing the counter punches (on the bag or in the mirror)
I’m not saying these drills aren’t useful (they are certainly essential for boxing training). My point is that they’re terrible for developing fighting or boxing reflexes. It’s common to see a beginner practice slipping motions in front of the mirror for a whole week, and then get destroyed in the ring, because he STILL CAN’T SEE THE PUNCHES COMING. What did he expect? How can you slip a punch if you can’t see it?
Just because I spend time slipping in front of the mirror and throwing punches on the bag, doesn’t mean I’m trained to see counter-punching opportunities. Shadowboxing and bag work has more do to with technique and conditioning. If I want to develop reflexes, I need to have punches thrown at me. Having a partner throw punches at me (even without contact) while I move around the ring will be far more effective for my reflex development because it exposes me to the stimuli (punches being thrown).
Hope this was helpful!
Robert Richardson (AKA Bobby Rich)
Elite Training Center
1628 South Pacific Coast Highway,
Redondo Beach, CA 90277
(310) 543-1600
www.elitetrainingcenter.net
Boxing reflexes
www.expertboxing.com
