Defence
The defence system in boxing comprises three basic techniques: Evading, Covering and Parrying. Once mastered, each of these defences can counter almost any conceivable hand strike from any combat system.
Evasion
There are five ways to evade a punch: Left weave, right weave, back weave, left duck and right duck.
Left and right weave: These two evasions are primarily designed to counter the jab and cross punches but can also be used against the uppercut in certain conditions. The weave involves an upper body movement to the left or right, leaving the opponent’s attacking arm extending over your shoulder. To bring you close enough to your opponent that you can counter-punch, lean forward as you weave, about 45 degrees at the upper body.
Back weave: The back weave is simply leaning back out of the way of an incoming attack. It can be used against any head-high attack but you need to be careful not to lean back so far as to put yourself off-balance. It is a versatile evasion and ideal if you want to keep your opponent at a long range.
Left and right duck: These evasions can be used to counter straight and hook punches. These are ideal if you want to close the gap on your opponent and fight them at a closer range. As the name suggests, you are essentially ducking under the incoming attack. This requires you to lean forward at the waist and bend at the knees, keeping an eye on your opponent at all times.
Covering
Covering is used to protect the front and side of the head and the ribs against incoming punches. The five cover techniques are: High front cover, high left cover, high right cover, low left cover and low right cover.
High front cover: Used against straight punches to the head, this simply involves blocking the punch by raising your forearms high enough to protect your face. Make sure there is enough space between your forearms to still see your opponent, but not so wide as to leave a gap for him to penetrate.
High left and right cover: This is ideally used against the hook punch and is a simple raise of the forearm and fist to the side of your head to act as a shield. As with all of these covering movements, attempt to keep the arm tight and limit the space between your defending arm and head. If there is a gap, your opponent’s punch can find it.
Low left and right cover: This is used to defend the rib-high hook punch. You need to drop your elbow towards your hip and take the punch on the forearm or elbow. When you drop your elbow you run the risk of leaving your head open for an attack, so its best to lean forward as you drop the elbow to lessen the exposure of your head.
When practising combinations on a pair of focus mitts, have your partner feed you specific angles of attack before, after or during a combination of punches.
Parrying
The parry that is used in boxing is almost identical to that used in systems such as Wing Chun, with particular attention paid to maintaining minimal movement of the hand across the body. This prevents the head being over-exposed when the hand pushes the punch out of the line of fire. The parry is generally used against straight punches, because any other angle of attack that you attempt to parry generally leaves the head far too open. It is a perfect defence for when you are at long range and on the move.
Functional Defence
The sole purpose of your defensive system is to set up your opponent for an attack. As a general rule, only use your defensive tactics for a maximum of three punches and then either use your footwork to retreat and/or counter-attack with a series of punches of your own. If you stay there for too long trying to evade, cover and parry everything, you are likely to get hit due to the momentum of your opponent’s shots. You need to interrupt your opponent’s ability to attack by forcing him to defend, and exploit the holes created in his defence by counter-attacking.
Developing Defensive Skill
As with all combat-related skills, mastery is achieved through confidence; confidence from experience and experience from practise. Knowing the skill and putting in the hard work to make it second nature are the ingredients to success. If you look at the top-performing martial artists, they have all sacrificed quality time to practise and build experience and confidence to achieve mastery in their respective fields. Two of the best methods to master counter-punching and get the most from your training time are pad work and simulated sparring drills.
Pad Drills
When practising combinations on a pair of focus mitts, have your partner feed you specific angles of attack before, after or during a combination of punches. This will help build your counter-punching skill. You will initially need to pre-frame your response, but after a while it will become reflexive. Eventually, your partner can move around and vary his distance so that you are working your punch-counter skills in a way that reflects free-sparring.
Simulated Sparring Drills
These drills are the best for developing good defensive skills. Simply isolate one punch or angle of attack and have your partner feed it to you. As the punch approaches, use one of your defensive techniques to counter it. Once you are competent on one angle, change it or focus on a different type of defence. Start with one punch at a time and then build up to two- and three-punch combinations. Eventually, when you are sparring someone of similar skill, you should be able to evade, cover or parry about 80 per cent of the punches thrown at you. When you can do this, you are well on the way to being able to use your boxing defensive skills when it counts.
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