I spend a lot of time searching YouTube for pro boxers and their shadow boxing routines. Something to do with my trainer always telling me to keep loose and keep flowing so I’m always looking for examples.
I started learning to shadow box by reading a guide by Johnny N then watching YouTube videos of Paul Williams, Manny Pacquiao, then Amir Khan, even an Instagram clip of Ivan Delgado. Yesterday I came across Chris Eubank Junior’s 10-minute warm up.
His warm up was really impressive. He’s stretching all his limbs and in between he’s shadowboxing – really small arm and shoulder movements at times but what I found impressive was watching him practice shifting his body weight: A small step back, a little shuffle right, a subtle tilt of his body left. Really deliberate. It was like watching a sleek panther limbering up and moving. Just watching him made me want to start throwing and that was around midnight.
Like watching performance art.
You’re always lucky if you find something that makes you feel free. Exercise can be a horrible thing (I personally hate interval training!) but I don’t think of boxing as exercise (or football/soccer) – more about expression. Hope everyone reading this has an activity that makes them feel the same. It’s good to unburden the soul.
A Southpaw Swan 