Hi there, I am Mike Gales for Everlast Nutrition.
In this video, I want to take a look at the bob and weave in boxing.
There are a ton of videos out there on the boxing bob and weave.
Yet I have not really seen any that properly explained this to beginners. Let's see if we can try and do that.
A bob is the motion of going up and down. While the weave is
pretty much a motion that will see you going from side to side. The term weave
is how fabric is interlaced at right angles. I'm sure you've seen a
weave before, if you've ever taken a look at certain clothing or how one of those old
school picnic baskets is made. For the purposes of this bob and weave video,
I just want you to note that my head is changing directions in both the vertical
up and down and the horizontal side beside planes. Before we get to the
how, I always find the most important question is the why. So why would anybody
want to do this? I'm going to use my friend here who is new to boxing to help
me properly explain this. He's going to be perfect for this video because
he's over 6"3 and I'm only 5" 11 and a half. When he aims his punches towards my head,
there's going to be a certain zone. I am going to label a kill zone for
this particular video. It's within that kill zone that the punches are
going to have the most leverage and thus the most power. Basically any
punch that's going towards my face and that lands on me within that kill zone
is going to have enough leverage to really hurt. What I'm looking to do
with my bob and weave is to maintain a proper boxing posture. That way I can
still block punches and punch back if I need to. I also want to move my head from
side to side and weave around that kill zone. That will take away the leverage of any
of those punches that were intended for my face. Punches will still land on me
while I'm moving but as long as I stay directly out of that kill zone they're
going to lack the leverage to do a severe damage. I'm also going to keep my
hands and my shoulders up nice and high just in case you threw a punch below the
kill zone that was intended for my body. A few things to make note of here.
You want to bob and weave using your legs and not your lower back like this.
You also really don't want to be pulling back like this during your bob-and-weave
either. Why you ask? Well if you're solely using your lower back to bob and weave,
then you're going to have very little to no power for your counter shots .
Most likely you're going to be way off balance. Use your legs to perform the
bob abd weave and that way you're going to have much better balance. You're also
going to be much better positioned to strike if necessary. Also your head
should never go more forward than your feet. This will be much easier to do
if you're bending at the legs and not lower back. If you do start weaving with
your head past your feet then you might just accidentally knock yourself out, by
crashing your head right into your opponent's knees.
Long story short, keep your shoulders and your hands up high. Bend at the knees and use your legs and not your lower back.
to bob and don't be weaving with your head more forward than your toes.
All right next up remember that you need to bob and weave your way outside
of that kill zone. If you're not using your legs have, your are hands down and
you are moving your head within that kill zone, well and be prepared to get hurt.
Making your head and moving target is a great idea.
You need to make sure that you weave out of that zone because if you're head
is stationary in the target area of the box your opponent can and will most likely hit
you hard. So just keep in mind that your main goal here should be to move your
head in such a manner that it stays most often out of that kill zone.
I know a few of you may be asking why not just bob up and down? You could just
simply bob up and down to avoid punches but then you are kind of a
jack-in-the-box that's just waiting to get clobbered. Because eventually you're
going to be coming right back up into the center of that kill zone.Your
opponent is going to be ready, willing and able to punch you right in the face.
Now comes the beauty of the bob and weave because believe it or not you're
able to move. I know that you're saying hmm yeah you've already told us
that you can move your head out of the kill zone.
I'm not just talking about moving your head. You can use the momentum created by
that bob and weave to also move your feet. As your bodyweight weaves towards your lead leg,
very little weight will be on your rear foot. You can easily move it
forward a step. Then the weave will have your bodyweight returning to that rear
leg. You can then push off the floor and propel your lead leg forward
as the weight of your weave returns to that lead leg. I know that sounds
complicated but thank God a picture's worth a thousand words. You can take a
look right here and see what I mean. I'm using the momentum of the bob-and-weave to
propel myself forward. A step at a time. You see with the Bob you're pretty
much a stationary target as your body weight is simply going up and down.
With the weave, your body weight is being shifted from leg to leg. You can now
use that momentum to move yourself forward as you bob and weave.
This can be a huge asset when fighting taller fighters. They usually have a
longer reach and that is an advantage. Yet I can use my bob and weave to get
under their punches, avoid their kill zone and then get within range where my
shorter arms can actually do some damage.
Also the bob and weave can turn defense into offense. The reason for that is
because as you leave you're transferring your body weight from foot to foot.
You're able to build momentum. You can then use that momentum to throw hard
strikes once you bypass your opponent's punches and get within range.
My opponent thinks that he has me but nope. I used my bob and weave to get out of
the range of his punches. Then I use that momentum to land a hard offensive
blow.
Now that you know why, let's take a look at some simple drills on how to bob and
weave. There are a ton of experts out there that may have completely different
techniques. Yet for beginners, I think this will be easy way to grasp it.
You want to be in your proper boxing stance. If you're not sure how to
do that, I'll put a link in the description below. You want to bend
your legs and bring your rear elbow to your rear knee. Then you will weave your
momentum to your lead leg. You're going to have your lead elbow
touch your lead knee. Then you're going to come up on that 45 degree angle.
You will repeat this over and over. You're going to notice that
your head will be making a V motion around that kill zone. Don't worry it
becomes a lot easier once you build momentum. Here are some drills that you
can practice with a partner. Have him slowly and let me emphasize slowly throw
hooks towards your head as you bob and weave underneath them. After you have
that down, you could add in the counter shot or two. Please remember guys
that this a drill. You are partners and you should not be throwing real
punches at each other's faces. The whole point of this drill is to get both your
body and your brain into a bob and weave scenario. Not to have you get injured.
Once you've mastered bobbing and weaving in place then you could try
throwing some forward movement into the mix.
One last tip about the range of the bob and weave. It must be
done in close quarters or else you're just wasting energy. If it's done from a
distance, your point is just going to sit there and watch you move around and
waste energy for nothing. Even worse from a distance he's just going to wait
for you to tire. Once you pop up he's going to pounce and pop you. Just be
mindful. This has been Mike Gales for Everlast Nutrition. If you like these
videos and please click the little like to subscribe. As we're always posting up
great tips and new ideas to make sure that you get into the absolute greatest
shape possible.