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8/8/2026 0 Comments MASTER YOUR MOVEMENT An Insider View of the Class There are many effective fighting styles and strategies. Within each are smaller strategies designed for different opponents, distances, and situations. Master Your Movement class brings those ideas together around one central scenario: The attacker is coming toward you. Instead of standing in front of a larger, stronger opponent and trading power for power, you will learn to use timing, speed, positioning, combinations, defense, and movement to take advantage of the moment they step in. This concept can be applied to both self-defense and sport boxing/kickboxing. The goal isn't simply to hit harder. See the movement. Control the moment. Strike. Move. Strike again.  The Eye of the Storm — Fighting Close A major part of the course focuses on what I call fighting in the “Eye of the Storm.” This is close range—the place where things can happen very quickly. At this distance, big, wide punches can become slow and difficult to use. Instead, we develop compact strikes, a strong defensive guard, quick combinations, body movement, angles, and the ability to reposition immediately after attacking. You will learn how your guard, waist, obliques, hips, shoulders, wrists, and footwork work together. With repetition, individual movements begin flowing together. Instead of thinking: Punch. Punch. Move. You begin learning to: Hit — Move — Hit. It becomes one continuous action.  Mid-Range — The Jab Becomes a Tool We will also spend considerable time at mid-range, where one of boxing's simplest weapons becomes extremely important: The Jab. The jab isn't only a punch. It can help you close distance, interrupt an advancing opponent, disguise your next movement, create an angle, or set up your defense. You jab—and you're already moving. Outside. Inside. Lower. Higher. Different angle. The opponent has to locate you again. Meanwhile, you're already setting up your next strike. The goal is to leave your opponent with one thought: “Um…where'd they go?” Kicks will generally be incorporated from mid-to-long range, allowing you to understand how kicking distance connects with your boxing and close-range movement.  Heavy Bag Point of View Now imagine the heavy bag is your opponent. The attacker is coming in! For many of our drills, we don't want to wait until the bag reaches us. We want to learn to intercept its movement. Here's a simple exercise that demonstrates the concept. Gently push the heavy bag approximately six inches. As it swings back toward you, catch and stop it at the center point. Don't wait until it swings past center. Meet it as it arrives. Now replace your hands catching the bag with a properly timed punch. That's the beginning of understanding the timing we're developing. As your skill improves, you'll apply that timing to punches, kicks, defensive movements, footwork, and eventually complete combinations. The heavy bag isn't just something we're hitting. We're learning to read its movement.  Speed Before Power Against an advancing opponent, trying to overpower their forward momentum can work against you. An inexperienced fighter often wants to wind up. The hand travels backward, the shoulder loads, the body tightens, and the person tries to muscle the punch. That takes time. It can also cause you to collide directly with the attacker's forward weight, eliminating one of your greatest advantages: You could have gotten there first. Instead, we develop compact punches from a proper guard and use body mechanics to generate speed. The waist continues to whip. The hips and obliques create torque. The shoulder and wrist complete the movement. Then the body is immediately available for the next strike or movement. No winding up. No unnecessary motion. Over time, speed and power begin working together.  Hit and Don't Get Hit Another major strategy in Master Your Movement is an idea I've taught for years: Hit and Don't Get Hit. One application is what I call: “Attack the Attack.” If an opponent begins moving toward you, that movement creates an opportunity. In boxing, the jab is particularly useful because the lead hand is close to the opponent and can travel quickly. Another option is the classic: ONE-TWO. Against an advancing opponent who is overextending or telegraphing their attack, a fast one-two can interrupt their movement. Against a more guarded or experienced opponent, the one-two may serve another purpose: it occupies their attention long enough for you to change position. The important part isn't simply throwing ONE-TWO. It's what happens next. ONE-TWO → MOVE → NEW ANGLE → CONTINUE. The attacker was coming after you. Now they have to find you again.  Throughout the course, you will learn four primary combinations. But these aren't combinations designed simply to memorize punches and kicks. Each one combines selected: Punches • Kicks • Defensive Movements • Stances • Footwork • Angles • Position Changes Each combination gives us a framework for understanding a particular situation. As you improve, you'll begin seeing where individual pieces can be changed, shortened, extended, or combined. That's when memorized technique starts becoming your movement.  Beyond Boxing Gloves We will rep the fundamental boxing punches extensively, but we'll also explore how certain movements translate when boxing gloves aren't being worn. For self-defense applications, we'll examine alternative open-hand striking options and how changes in distance, angle, and target affect technique. The emphasis remains on control, accuracy, movement, and responsible training rather than simply generating maximum force.  Learn While You Move One of the things that makes Master Your Movement different is how the class is strategically structured. You will be moving for almost the entire hour. We aren't separating “learning technique” from “getting a workout.” The technique becomes the workout. We introduce the fundamentals, practice them, and then keep repeating them through target work, heavy-bag drills, footwork, defensive movement, combinations, and conditioning. At first, you're learning the movement. Then you're repeating it. Then you're performing it faster. Then you're putting it into combinations. And eventually, you're doing it with enough intensity that you're not thinking about every individual movement anymore-- You're reacting and flowing. That repetition serves two purposes at the same time: You're developing skill while developing conditioning. As your technique, confidence, and conditioning improve from class to class, you decide how hard you want to push. A beginner can slow things down and concentrate on learning proper technique. An experienced student can take those same movements and combinations and perform them with considerably greater speed and intensity. In higher-intensity sessions, we've seen participants finish class with their fitness watches estimating 500–800 calories burned, although individual calorie expenditure will vary considerably. But the number on the watch isn't really the point. The goal is to become so engaged in learning, moving, striking, defending, and repeating that you almost forget you're doing a serious workout. Learn it. Rep it. Intensify it. Make it instinct.  How Each Class Builds Your Skills Every class follows a progression designed to turn information into instinct. 1. Warm Up the Movement Prepare the body while reinforcing stance, guard, balance, mobility, and proper mechanics. 2. Target Practice Practice individual punches, kicks, defensive movements, footwork, and angles with accuracy. 3. Build the Combinations Connect those individual movements into the course's four core combinations. 4. Develop Timing Use the heavy bag and partner-based drills to recognize movement and respond at the right moment. 5. Skill & Conditioning Drills Develop the speed, coordination, endurance, balance, and movement required to execute technique under pressure. 6. Rep It Again Repetition develops muscle memory. Muscle memory develops confidence. Confidence allows you to move without hesitation.  What We're Really Training Master Your Movement isn't about collecting dozens of techniques. It's about becoming exceptionally good at a smaller number of movements and understanding. When and why to use them. A bigger opponent may have more strength. A powerful opponent may hit harder. An aggressive opponent may come forward faster. Your advantage is skill.
And most importantly—the ability to put them together without having to stop and think about every individual technique. That's what we'll work toward throughout this course. Don't fight their fight. Master the movement. Master the moment.  Click on pic
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In this video, we break down Offensive Combo 2 along with the most effective defensive response. This combination is designed specifically for dealing with an advancing opponent and works exceptionally well when timing and distance are executed correctly. 🔥 The Combo: Step-by-Step Combo 2: One-Two → Slide Back → Back Leg Roundhouse Kick → Power Punc This sequence blends speed, timing, and range control:
As your kicking leg returns, you’re once again out of range. From here, you fire a final power punch, catching your opponent 🧠 Strategy & Application |
Smash Hit Kickboxing BlogAuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
August 2026
CategoriesWelcome to the new Smash Hit Kickboxing blog! We're excited to kick off the year by sharing tips, stories, and inspiration to help you achieve your fitness goals.
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