STICK AND MOVE: TRAINING INVOLUTION #123

A competent fighter moves while hitting and hits while moving. These drills should help with that.

(A) Set your timer for 3 rounds of 3:00 mins each.

Round 1 — 3 minute Constant Action Drill. Shadowbox — with constant action! — until the timer beeps. Plenty of slips, pops, bobs and weaves please. And as Mark Hatmaker would say, “no lollygagging.”
Round 2 — 3 minute Lightning Bolt Drill. Assume your fighting stance. Punching all the while, surge backward at a 45° angle toward rear foot. Then surge 90° back in line with the lead foot. Repeat to the extent of your training space. Your path will resemble a lightning bolt. Now surge forward, away from your rear foot, at a 45° angle, followed by a 90° surge back to center line. Move like a fencer and never stop punching! See video below.
Round 3 — Double-end Ball. Get right on top of your double-end ball, so close that it will hit you in the face when it comes back, and fight with it for 3 minutes. Hit while you dodge, dodge while you hit! Don’t have a double-end ball? Make one for less than $5.

(B) Complete a 1/2 mile Balboa Run. I know, a half mile doesn’t seem like much. But trust me, if you do it “Balboa-style” — arms punching the whole time — and you go as fast as you can, it’ll feel like a half marathon. Still too easy? Add a weighted vest (I used a #5 and that was plenty) or carry hand weights.

(C) Meditation. After a thorough cool-down, set a timer for 5 to 10 minutes, assume your meditative posture of choice, and regulate your breathing. Then pick one of the seven symbols in the Hand of Mysteries — the key, the lantern, the sun, the star, the crown, the moon, or the fiery fish — and meditate on it’s meaning. When done, as always, record your performance and your realizations in your training journal.