I previously made a post on punching mechanics and sent it to a lot of boxers I know and the response was better than expected. So I figured I would continue the trend and make a post about the lost art of baiting head-movement. This will be another theory thread - not here to show someone how to box but rather understand the lost skill of this art and maybe add it to their own arsenal. Or simply to help someone understand what they are watching on film. Why such a slow appearing fighter can make someone miss so often for example.
A lot of this information, like the other thread on punching mechanics - is from a whole assortment of clips, videos and books. I hope to explain it well enough that it will not need any sourcing.
Before we get started I will go over where I believe the concept of this type of head - movement even began. As long as filmed boxing has existed it has been employed by many fighters. One of the first fighters that springs to mind (on film) that used it is Jack Dempsey. I know he is not the first however, Many others were as well - even unfilmed boxers like Greb and the Gibbons brothers (in their primes).
The idea comes from how a Mongoose charms and kills a Cobra. One must look closely at this conflict to see how the mongoose actually does it. A Cobra coils its muscles (contracts them) and then releases them in a series of detractions (kinetic chain) resulting in a fast explosive strike. There is one caveat to this attack however, and that is the split second delay from the stored contraction rippling through the snake and reaching its terminal velocity. To the human eye it's perhaps so fast you can't really see it. Now the snakes main goal is to track it's target and release a timed strike. It hopes it's target will move slow enough for it to find it's mark or even stop for a split second. If a snake were to try striking a fly for example, it would miss every single time. The fly being in flight does not ever stop moving. It's not particularly fast - but due to the fact that the snake has a split second release delay, the fly is always going to be off target due to it's perpetual movement. Another example would be a snake trying to strike a ball swinging from a string. It will miss most of the of the time for the same reason unless it times when the ball reaches the end of it swing and changes directions, there is a split second delay before it's strike is released - and the perpetual movement of the ball means it's never going to be in the same spot at the same time. Hopefully this makes sense. So long story short, the Cobra misses 99 percent of the time because the Mongoose knows if he doesn't stop moving, no matter how quickly the snake will strike it will strike at the wrong time regardless. It just takes a bit of confidence and confidence the Mongoose has from generations of doing it effectively.
What the Cobra really wants, is the victim to sit still just long enough for a strike to be released and strike it's target. If the target is scurrying around at a high speed like a Mongoose, it may never even attempt a strike with any confidence at all.
Punches come off the same exact way. They are chains of contractions and detractions done in sequence to release a fast powerful strike. The boxers biggest hurdle is hiding his intentions through a myriad of means and catch his opponent off guard. Short punches, feinting, limber shoulders and perpetual movement (where one movement starts another movement).
The art of baiting head-movement uses this same exact concept. It's not there to dodge punches, it's there to make an opponent miss on purpose and open them up to vulnerability. Like the Cobra - the boxer who is missing will lose confidence and may stop throwing altogether (or even worse get reckless).
How to perform a baiting headmovement:
Baiting head-movement can manifest itself in many different styles - but it is the same concept around the board. Dempsey, Charles, Armstrong and Toney all use the same skill with a different style. All these guys would make opponents miss constantly and seemingly with ease. It has nothing to do with reflexes (for the most part).
The first step is to adopt a micro rhythm in either a circular, oval or figure 8 (any unbroken movement with no stops) motion. It can only be a few inches and does not even have to be enough to slip anything. This does 2 things. First it gives off the indication of a reactive state to the opponent. The muscles are contracting and detracting at all times meaning the boxer is ready to react. This forces the opponent to have to track you because you aren't giving off the appearance of sitting still. Just like the Cobra this is step one of information overload. Now timing is required. This alone will make the boxer in front of you work harder at hiding their intentions thus making it easier to see punches coming. It takes very little energy to do. Keep in mind, this doesn't mean 99 percent of the fight a fighter may do this (in some causes they might, like Armstrong, who used a chugging figure 8 motion).
The second step is to add large slower sweeping motions or movements. It can been a large sweeping U shape like Marciano does, a bobbing up and down like Toney or Charles or simply a bigger version of the figure 8 like Armstrong does. You can actually be creative here. This is step 2 of information overload. So in reality it's 2 head-movements in 1, a micro rhythm and 2 a more obvious distinct action based movement both operating at the same time. It must be practiced in the mirror. You must be limber like a dancer to perform these 2 movements in 1. What the Sweeping movement does is draw punches in and forces the opponent to throw. The micro movement may shut them up, the sweeping movement will force them to talk. And being forced to talk, only gibberish will come out (aka missed punches with no thought or intention behind them besides muscle memory). Thus you have effectively destroyed the Cobras timing making it unable to time or hit it's target without pure luck.
Old footage will hide the micro movement and it can only be observed in certain films. Louis often looks completely stationary but he is not. His sweeping movement is often a lunge. Believe it or not, even purposely slow and sloppy sweeping movements work just as good - since it is a bait after all.
Now put into effect, the fighter trained well in this art will constantly be making an aggressive opponent miss. Duran and Toney made Barkley miss constantly. Canelo was completely unable to hit Floyd with anything due to his tight muscles. Armstrong made opponent's miss every 2 seconds by forcing them to throw. Dempsey's come foreword style alone made opponents miss. Some fighters adopted a more subtle version, but it is the same concept. Take Ali for example (especially in his younger years). Some of course are better at it than others and more willing to take risks (Marciano).
Additional information:
Now add to this throwing punches, parrying, countering after one misses and all that - you have yourself a very dangerous opponent to even begin to try attacking. Attacking is just as dangerous as defending from blows. A fighter who is not prepared for this may stop throwing punches all together and start taking deep breaths in frustration. Under the lights they may resort to their fate and just begin recklessly attacking often resulting in them getting stopped cold.
Lastly, considering the information overload presented to the attacking boxer - there will be opportunities to present openings on purpose to sucker the opponent in. Deliberately dropping the jabbing hand after throwing it under the guise of making a mistake for example, or throwing a sloppier telegraphed right that is supposed to miss only to load up with a sharp hard left after the fact. At this point the opportunities are endless.
This baiting head-movement works seamlessly with the art of riding punches, but this will be another thread to make. The combined effect of the 2 makes a fighter that is very hard to not only hit flush but to knockout.
Let me know if I explained everything clearly, I may look to add videos to these posts.
A lot of this information, like the other thread on punching mechanics - is from a whole assortment of clips, videos and books. I hope to explain it well enough that it will not need any sourcing.
Before we get started I will go over where I believe the concept of this type of head - movement even began. As long as filmed boxing has existed it has been employed by many fighters. One of the first fighters that springs to mind (on film) that used it is Jack Dempsey. I know he is not the first however, Many others were as well - even unfilmed boxers like Greb and the Gibbons brothers (in their primes).
The idea comes from how a Mongoose charms and kills a Cobra. One must look closely at this conflict to see how the mongoose actually does it. A Cobra coils its muscles (contracts them) and then releases them in a series of detractions (kinetic chain) resulting in a fast explosive strike. There is one caveat to this attack however, and that is the split second delay from the stored contraction rippling through the snake and reaching its terminal velocity. To the human eye it's perhaps so fast you can't really see it. Now the snakes main goal is to track it's target and release a timed strike. It hopes it's target will move slow enough for it to find it's mark or even stop for a split second. If a snake were to try striking a fly for example, it would miss every single time. The fly being in flight does not ever stop moving. It's not particularly fast - but due to the fact that the snake has a split second release delay, the fly is always going to be off target due to it's perpetual movement. Another example would be a snake trying to strike a ball swinging from a string. It will miss most of the of the time for the same reason unless it times when the ball reaches the end of it swing and changes directions, there is a split second delay before it's strike is released - and the perpetual movement of the ball means it's never going to be in the same spot at the same time. Hopefully this makes sense. So long story short, the Cobra misses 99 percent of the time because the Mongoose knows if he doesn't stop moving, no matter how quickly the snake will strike it will strike at the wrong time regardless. It just takes a bit of confidence and confidence the Mongoose has from generations of doing it effectively.
What the Cobra really wants, is the victim to sit still just long enough for a strike to be released and strike it's target. If the target is scurrying around at a high speed like a Mongoose, it may never even attempt a strike with any confidence at all.
Punches come off the same exact way. They are chains of contractions and detractions done in sequence to release a fast powerful strike. The boxers biggest hurdle is hiding his intentions through a myriad of means and catch his opponent off guard. Short punches, feinting, limber shoulders and perpetual movement (where one movement starts another movement).
The art of baiting head-movement uses this same exact concept. It's not there to dodge punches, it's there to make an opponent miss on purpose and open them up to vulnerability. Like the Cobra - the boxer who is missing will lose confidence and may stop throwing altogether (or even worse get reckless).
How to perform a baiting headmovement:
Baiting head-movement can manifest itself in many different styles - but it is the same concept around the board. Dempsey, Charles, Armstrong and Toney all use the same skill with a different style. All these guys would make opponents miss constantly and seemingly with ease. It has nothing to do with reflexes (for the most part).
The first step is to adopt a micro rhythm in either a circular, oval or figure 8 (any unbroken movement with no stops) motion. It can only be a few inches and does not even have to be enough to slip anything. This does 2 things. First it gives off the indication of a reactive state to the opponent. The muscles are contracting and detracting at all times meaning the boxer is ready to react. This forces the opponent to have to track you because you aren't giving off the appearance of sitting still. Just like the Cobra this is step one of information overload. Now timing is required. This alone will make the boxer in front of you work harder at hiding their intentions thus making it easier to see punches coming. It takes very little energy to do. Keep in mind, this doesn't mean 99 percent of the fight a fighter may do this (in some causes they might, like Armstrong, who used a chugging figure 8 motion).
The second step is to add large slower sweeping motions or movements. It can been a large sweeping U shape like Marciano does, a bobbing up and down like Toney or Charles or simply a bigger version of the figure 8 like Armstrong does. You can actually be creative here. This is step 2 of information overload. So in reality it's 2 head-movements in 1, a micro rhythm and 2 a more obvious distinct action based movement both operating at the same time. It must be practiced in the mirror. You must be limber like a dancer to perform these 2 movements in 1. What the Sweeping movement does is draw punches in and forces the opponent to throw. The micro movement may shut them up, the sweeping movement will force them to talk. And being forced to talk, only gibberish will come out (aka missed punches with no thought or intention behind them besides muscle memory). Thus you have effectively destroyed the Cobras timing making it unable to time or hit it's target without pure luck.
Old footage will hide the micro movement and it can only be observed in certain films. Louis often looks completely stationary but he is not. His sweeping movement is often a lunge. Believe it or not, even purposely slow and sloppy sweeping movements work just as good - since it is a bait after all.
Now put into effect, the fighter trained well in this art will constantly be making an aggressive opponent miss. Duran and Toney made Barkley miss constantly. Canelo was completely unable to hit Floyd with anything due to his tight muscles. Armstrong made opponent's miss every 2 seconds by forcing them to throw. Dempsey's come foreword style alone made opponents miss. Some fighters adopted a more subtle version, but it is the same concept. Take Ali for example (especially in his younger years). Some of course are better at it than others and more willing to take risks (Marciano).
Additional information:
Now add to this throwing punches, parrying, countering after one misses and all that - you have yourself a very dangerous opponent to even begin to try attacking. Attacking is just as dangerous as defending from blows. A fighter who is not prepared for this may stop throwing punches all together and start taking deep breaths in frustration. Under the lights they may resort to their fate and just begin recklessly attacking often resulting in them getting stopped cold.
Lastly, considering the information overload presented to the attacking boxer - there will be opportunities to present openings on purpose to sucker the opponent in. Deliberately dropping the jabbing hand after throwing it under the guise of making a mistake for example, or throwing a sloppier telegraphed right that is supposed to miss only to load up with a sharp hard left after the fact. At this point the opportunities are endless.
This baiting head-movement works seamlessly with the art of riding punches, but this will be another thread to make. The combined effect of the 2 makes a fighter that is very hard to not only hit flush but to knockout.
Let me know if I explained everything clearly, I may look to add videos to these posts.
The D3vil
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