When I used to fence, we constantly practiced and talked about distance. Distance had to due with feeling the space from your shoulder to hand which held the blade, the length of the sword, and the space between the end of the sword to the target area of the other person. We practiced footwork more than hitting, as your feet are the vehicle to master the right distance to hit the other person before they hit you and also generate the necessary power to execute a touch. In boxing distance is just as important. When I work with new boxers a common complaint is that they cannot figure out how to land a punch. Not meaning that I am so slick they cannot hit me, but rather that I am not letting them close enough to do so. They constantly miss and hit air, get frustrated, therefore resort to not throwing punches at all. My response is usually that they need to get close enough to hit me, which they in turn respond with the question how do they get close enough, and I cheekily respond to move closer.
Distance is tricky to teach. It’s your body’s ability to feel how far away you are, determine how to move your feet to get close enough, and extend the arm at the same time so the step does not bring you too close to smother your punches. The tricky part to tell beginners is that your body has to learn it, feel it, and respond appropriately. This is sometimes a trial and error process, but one that is natural. When you reach for a glass of water, you do not consciously think of how far your arm needs to move to pick up the glass, your mind and body understand depth and space enough to make this an automatic process. Granted that is with a object standing still. Boxing is more complicated, coordinating the motion of feet and arms together, as well as working with an unpredictable target. The unpredictable target requires a boxer to pull in other areas of natural instinct, needing to tap into reading body language and observe a moving object. This is where the simple instruction becomes more complicated. The new boxer finally moves close and lands punches! Wow, how simple! But then next thing they know, the same movement of the feet in a certain distance no longer gets them to the place they need to be. They don’t understand what happened.
Responding simple (or cheeky) again, I say, I changed how I moved! I want to be in control of the distance, so if you break my comfortable distance zone, I will readjust to get it back to where I want to be! What does that mean for my boxer? They need to change as well.
While working with a shorter fighter today, distance was the main topic of reflection. Myself, and probably many other opponents, will have longer range. We will keep the shorter fighter at the end of that range, giving us the ability to constantly punch and not get hit. My fighter understands this topic, but at the same time, continues to constantly go right back into my range. They would get the moment to close and let go of a great flurry, and then back right out into my comfortable punching distance. Stay close, I would tell them. Stay on the inside! Do not let me get away! But the fighter constantly responded that they needed that break, and would back up to do so. What to do? Rest at a different distance! One popular solution is to go very far out of range, and then rush as quickly as possible back in without letting me hit while getting there. But they are still playing the game of trying to comfortably get past my range. Or, rest by getting even closer, smothering both of our punches without getting into a hold or even touching. By coming close enough to take away even my short punches, my natural instinct will be to step back to get to my range. The second I step back there will be a moment I will be in their ideal range. Now the same game plan I was employing has been turned around: instead of stepping into my range, I step back into their range.
A popular solution I tell my fighters to fix or adjust strategy: change the distance! Play with distance, disrupt someone else’s distance. Imagine how different distances will change how an opponent moves or acts. How many times have we heard “to get some distance” from a problem or situation? Or “too look closer” to understand a solution? Distance is key!
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