Chris Eubank Sr phenomenal technical tips

[coghaugen]

'For power, your legs generate more force than your elbows and your hips generate more force than your shoulders. Therefore you must bend the knees and rotate the torso; to do that you must place your weight on the balls of your back foot, to prevent your front knee from snapping, and the rest is a chain reaction - toe extension, foot extension, knee flexion, hip rotation, pectorial flexion, arm extension, forearm tension, wrist tension and knuckle connection. The trick is to not throw the right hand unless your opponent is over your right foot. If your opponent is not over your right foot, you'll generate more power with a left hook or even a jab.'

'The left hook is a punch in which you go into the same position but with the chain stopping at your hip, so that your weight is shifted to the balls of your front foot, you then start a new chain off your front foot, turning onto your toe, through foot, knee, hip, chest, arm, forearm, wrist and knuckle, and you know you're throwing it correctly if the heel of your back foot naturally lands at the precise time that your index and middle knuckles connect.

'If you can master the pivot, you then need to master angle of the arm in order to actually land it with that force you've generated, that force you've generated like an Olympic weightlifter would generate for instance.'

'Those are the two basic power punches. There are 12 punches to master and a number of variations on each. And that's only offense, then there's defense. And that's only initiating punishment, then there's absorbing it yourself.'

'People talk about range and height and reach, and that's all well and good. But it counts for nothing. If you stay below the opponents eye level and stay out of the opponents reach, you're as safe as houses - shall I tell you for why, for why is because;
'For #1 - if you're below your opponents eye level, regardless of any height differential, you have more leverage than your opponent, offensively and defensively and more to see and land at, and,
'For #2 - if you're out of range, your opponent has to step in first and you have the advantage of leverage and aim if you decide to stay put, or you have to step in and again you have the advantage of leverage and aim if he decides to stay put, and,
'For #3 is this - a jab to the body or right hand to the body can be executed from halfway across the ring through a mere step with the front foot, and provided you release straight without moving your gloves or turning your shoulders - making it harder to read - and provided your front foot lands at the precise time your glove lands, it is in actual fact a safe move from a safe position.

'To improve and increase your range and reach even further, I would recommend learning to perform splits and back bends proficiently in your training, allowing you also to flex in the opposing direction too if you did get caught out from a particular distance, preventing you getting caught.'

[dchampishere]

a very smart man, i enjoy reading what "simply the best" has to say. i wonder if he has the patience to be a trainer because he has everything else in abundance. he is also smart enough to know not to train his son, those pairings seldom work for very long

[underoath777]

That is some really solid technical advice.

[coghaugen]

Extracts from Eubank's autobiography below...


The first trainer I had was an older man called Andy Martinez, a Puerto Rican. He was only about 5' tall. He got me exceptionally fit. He taught me only two punches, which were the straight left and the straight right, no hooks to the body, no body shots. He only worked with amateurs, mainly getting them in shape - which he did superbly. After about two years, I wanted to work with Maximo Pierret, the main trainer at the Jerome boxing gym.
--

People sometimes say to me why do you have to repeat one punch so many times to perfect it? Well, these are not simple skills. It took me two years to learn how to throw the right hand. Then there's the left hook, the right hand to the body, the left upper cut to the body, the right upper cut to the body, the right hook to the body - these punches take years and years to learn. You don't climb through the ropes and just do it.
--

Doctor (Walter Jonson) had an expansive knowledge of internal and external martial art forms such as aikido, jiu-jitsu, karate, tai chi, and Chinese boxing, and at first it was very frustrating. For example, martial arts like pa-qua are open handed, but obviously boxing uses a closed fist. Doctor's martial arts were about holding, striking with your palm and fingers, whereas boxing was about striking only with your knuckles. He was trying to teach me these forms, but because I liked him so much I couldn't tell him that I was struggling to incoporate them into boxing. This went on for perhaps three years.

What I did extract from everything I observed about martial arts was the foot movement, which was all about positioning and escape. The stance and poise in martial arts is 98% on your back foot and 2% on your front. Boxing is 50/50, unless you go into a position to strike, at which point you vary the weight distribution. I took that and spliced it into my boxing style. People often ask me how the martial arts and boxing mix. The point is this: boxing is actually the highest form of martial arts, because you have to learn how to absorb punishment before you can initiate it.

Another aspect Doctor brought to my game was stretching. Obviously, as a boxer, flexibilty is vital, but many fighters only have flexibility in one dimension, namely that of the direction of the punch. So another aspect I took from the martial arts was to develop all-encompassing flexibility, or amplitude, and by that I mean agility in every direction. For example I learned how to do the Japanese splits, which is where your legs are completely flat, then you roll your abdomen and chest to the floor. This is an excruciating skill to develop and can only be achieved by constant repetition. A fight is not just about strength, it is about flexibility. These extraordinery skills, when taken into the ring proved to be very powerful tools.
--

I never did much weight-training - lifting weights and boxing never go together, it tightens you up. Boxing is about being loose and relaxed.

[outsidethebox]

Just curious, is your first post on the thread also excerpts from his autobiography, or from elsewhere?

[coghaugen]

Just curious, is your first post on the thread also excerpts from his autobiography, or from elsewhere?

From elsewhere, the info was for amateurs in Newcastle, ENG.

[coghaugen]

[fvanesbeck]

what does he mean when he says in the first paragraph of the first post, "when your opponent is over your right foot"?

[coghaugen]

what does he mean when he says in the first paragraph of the first post, "when your opponent is over your right foot"?

I assume it means if your opponent's front foot and/or torso is outside of your back foot