Cuban Boxing Fundamentals

@Dexter thank you so much for bringing these knowledge bombs and dropping 'em on the table.

...also, I really appreciate your name and I hope it was chosen in opposition to Sinister.

It's my pleasure, buddy :). I believe that athletes from different nations should work in contact and exchange knowledge regardless of relations between countries, since normal people will always find a common language.

... and "yes", this nickname of mine was a little joke towards comrade Sinister :).

P.S. And we, boxers, must unite the very first - because we are surrounded by these harmful and wicked mma-guys, kick/thai's and now, bare-knuckle sh*t! ;-), who want to steal our fame, our fans and ultimately, our future! For the preservation of boxing! Charge against the powers of darkness!!!! *OK, doc, ок, I've calmed down already, don't stick this shiny needles in my...*

Seriously, I was like wtf why did he ask to tuck it? Is there a purpose for that?

'Cause Frolov is old-school. In order not to strike below THE BELT you must see said belt. My old man also swore at us for untucked T-shirts :).
 
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[yt]

Some great action from some of the top Cubans. I love WSB but it has been kind of forgotten or at least I haven’t heard anybody talking about it really.
 
Thank you for contributing. In the U.S. it is difficult to find anyone who loves the Sport more than themselves, and it's tough to find many with a distinct lineage and the ability to communicate tested and reliable means of boxing well. While I do think competitively towards other people and places, it's still good to be able to openly communicate these notions, and it goes a long way to keep the Sport alive.

I did notice a distinct difference in just sheer aggression between Countries. Uzbek and Kazak seem quite aggressive in nature normally. Or at the very least, always seeking a big punch. Not much in the ways of going back. Whereas Ukrainian and Russian seem much better at boxing defensively. But when we say "Eastern Bloc" as a whole, we're mainly just referring to the development that was done just before and during the Cold War...when U.S.S.R. and Cuba really began to hunt for medals against the U.S., who dominated at the time. We are aware that since then, things have become much more individualized and nuanced by the region. But you can almost always spot a fighter trained by that system in the most basic sense. How they step, how they throw punches. And a good eye can even spot when someone has been trained BY someone who had learned in that system.

BTW - you're correct in that inside fighting is a weakness. And also response to opponents closing distance. A while back one of my former students sparred Murodjon Akhmadaliev, who was #3 in the World at the time. My guy was knocked down early, but wanted to continue. He kept moving away from Ka-ka's (seriously, that's his nickname lol) power. This was a mistake and kept him in perpetual danger. Between rounds I told him to lure Ka-ka into moving forward, then right when he wants to attack, step in quickly. It gave him complete control:


Great action. It’s a cool vid because it also touches on something you’ve mentioned plenty of times on here.

That’s the old adage of which direction to move against southpaws. Pretty interesting seeing a powerful southie get his cannon taken away and then start getting beat up towards the end. Macedo is a warrior
 
Great action. It’s a cool vid because it also touches on something you’ve mentioned plenty of times on here.

That’s the old adage of which direction to move against southpaws. Pretty interesting seeing a powerful southie get his cannon taken away and then start getting beat up towards the end. Macedo is a warrior

Was a warrior
 
One of our top coaches, Isaev N.P. (trained Dmitriy Bivol in amateurs):













101:





This is a school-drill for staging a hook from Isaev. Preload of the shoulder by moving the chest forward and a classic flip of the shoulders with a swing. Note that the punching bag does not swing. The mass discharge is minimal. Of course, it’s not necessary to beat so sweepingly in a fight. It's only the principle.



*Note: white shirts=newbies, blue=3rd\2nd grade, red=1st grade\master of sport candidate :).

Amateur boxing trainers seminar (it's a popular form of advanced education for high-level coaches in Russia).
Video is self-explanatory, speaker talks about heavy straight right (cross in your terminology?).
He starts by criticizing the old soviet boxing textbooks of 50-60s, in which the technique of punching, more reminiscent of a push, was given and than gives modern technic, based on physical and biomechanical principles.
I, personally, do not like his variant, especially because it leaves the elbow below and does not twist your fist at the time of arrival on the target. This technique reminds me a lot of karate punch "tsuki". He also talks about the full extension of the arm in the elbow and legs in the knee joints to create a rigid structure. The advancing movement of the pelvis in relation to the chest and shoulder girdle is especially emphasized - from translational motion to rotational. Rotation on a fictitious axis passing through the crown to the floor. Straight, vertical torso, without leaning forward. The arm begins to move forward ONLY after the torso assumes a frontal position at the end of the leg-pelvis-chest chain.



Junior national team training camp

 
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One of our top coaches, Isaev N.P. (trained Dmitriy Bivol in amateurs):













101:





This is a school-drill for staging a hook from Isaev. Preload of the shoulder by moving the chest forward and a classic flip of the shoulders with a swing. Note that the punching bag does not swing. The mass discharge is minimal. Of course, it’s not necessary to beat so sweepingly in a fight. It's only the principle.



*Note: white shirts=newbies, blue=3rd\2nd grade, red=1st grade\master of sport candidate :).

Amateur boxing trainers seminar (it's a popular form of advanced education for high-level coaches in Russia).
Video is self-explanatory, speaker talks about heavy straight right (cross in your terminology?).
He starts by criticizing the old soviet boxing textbooks of 50-60s, in which the technique of punching, more reminiscent of a push, was given and than gives modern technic, based on physical and biomechanical principles.
I, personally, do not like his variant, especially because it leaves the elbow below and does not twist your fist at the time of arrival on the target. This technique reminds me a lot of karate punch "tsuki". He also talks about the full extension of the arm in the elbow and legs in the knee joints to create a rigid structure. The advancing movement of the pelvis in relation to the chest and shoulder girdle is especially emphasized - from translational motion to rotational. Rotation on a fictitious axis passing through the crown to the floor. Straight, vertical torso, without leaning forward. The arm begins to move forward ONLY after the torso assumes a frontal position at the end of the leg-pelvis-chest chain.



Junior national team training camp




All fantastic stuff. This has been very helpful!
 

In my world yeah.

Nah he just switched gyms and trainers and hasn't looked anywhere near World level since then. Funny shit is when people ask him about me he says I'm good for beginners, but not high level fighters. Mufucka forgot how he got high level
 
In my world yeah.

Nah he just switched gyms and trainers and hasn't looked anywhere near World level since then. Funny shit is when people ask him about me he says I'm good for beginners, but not high level fighters. Mufucka forgot how he got high level
Don't worry about this guy eventually this will hit him
 
In my world yeah.

Nah he just switched gyms and trainers and hasn't looked anywhere near World level since then. Funny shit is when people ask him about me he says I'm good for beginners, but not high level fighters. Mufucka forgot how he got high level
That sucks but that’s the perils of being a teacher/coach. You always have to be hustling to find more students because life and little problems always seem to pop up. I deal with this here in SH being an English teacher. It’s not just about teaching there’s always another gimmick, or somebody’s insecurities that make them never feel satisfied with teaching or their own performance.

It does make me curious though why he convinced himself you were not up to his level? Just from that video he got work in with an Olympian and talked about being in gamboas camp while only having 20-11 record...
whatevs no need to speak Ill of the dead.
 
That sucks but that’s the perils of being a teacher/coach. You always have to be hustling to find more students because life and little problems always seem to pop up. I deal with this here in SH being an English teacher. It’s not just about teaching there’s always another gimmick, or somebody’s insecurities that make them never feel satisfied with teaching or their own performance.

It does make me curious though why he convinced himself you were not up to his level? Just from that video he got work in with an Olympian and talked about being in gamboas camp while only having 20-11 record...
whatevs no need to speak Ill of the dead.

Yeah, it's a long story that wont make any sense unless you just go straight to the point. Some people just never want to grow up
 
Yeah, it's a long story that wont make any sense unless you just go straight to the point. Some people just never want to grow up
What about daijon I haven’t seen a vid of him from you in a while it seems like.
 
This guy is very similar to @Sinister :) as a boxing researcher and innovator. He was a karate "pro"-fighter in 70-80s in USSR, and in boxing his level was a master of sport candidate. Travelled a lot around the globe: US, Germany, Spain, Thai, etc. IIRC, trained in Gleason's in NY. Now runs a small boxing gym in Moscow.

His useful videos on soviet/international boxing) :

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/samtren.russia/
Youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmJk2JDqnOK66izYUStXARg

Examples:















 
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This guy is very similar to @Sinister :) as a boxing researcher and innovator. He was a karate "pro"-fighter in 70-80s in USSR, and in boxing his level was a master of sport candidate. Travelled a lot around the globe: US, Germany, Spain, Thai, etc. IIRC, trained in Gleason's in NY. Now runs a small boxing gym in Moscow.

His useful videos on soviet/international boxing) :

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/samtren.russia/
Youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmJk2JDqnOK66izYUStXARg

Examples:

















Very good stuff. You know it's funny, but average American trainers who dont study this stuff or have no lineage themselves think what I do is retarded. And yet everyone who thinks that, I watch their students hit glass ceilings again and again. Right now some of the guys making the most progress with me are two who have been with me for over 4 years. And yet I hear trainers telling guys to just rattle off 20-30 amateur fights and turn Pro. They dont even hit the international level as Amatuers and thus, they lack experience needed to deal with style diversity. Day to day I try not to seem snobby, and I never brag when talking to a new client. But every now and again, watching this shit every day, I feel like this:

 
I understand your pain, brother :). Now we also have many trainers (lack of specialized education and extremely low sports level in the past)
in the so-called "boxing-fitness" groups who completely neglect the boxing school. And then ugly cadavers crawl out from such gyms, with blows from under their asses and no movement at all, just push against each other and punch until one falls down. Students get injured, leave, complain. And then we hear from ordinary people that this boxing of yours is an ordinary street brawl, and in general it’s time to ban it.
 
I understand your pain, brother :). Now we also have many trainers (lack of specialized education and extremely low sports level in the past)
in the so-called "boxing-fitness" groups who completely neglect the boxing school. And then ugly cadavers crawl out from such gyms, with blows from under their asses and no movement at all, just push against each other and punch until one falls down. Students get injured, leave, complain. And then we hear from ordinary people that this boxing of yours is an ordinary street brawl, and in general it’s time to ban it.

I've encountered some of those who have come here to the States. Then everyone gets on their dicks because they're the right kind of foreign, but they cant fight for shit. So the shithead American trainers here with no education use them as examples to their uneducated students. "See, the Russians aren't all Lomanchenkos" but they're only saying such things to perpetuate their own nonsense.
 
Well, Lomachenkos aren't russians - they are ukranians :). And their distinctive style is a HUGE DEVELOPMENT over soviet boxing school, nice blend of old and modern. 'Cause, to be honest one hundred percent, Soviet boxing was perfect for amateur fights 3*3, not pro-bouts 8-10-12*3.

For entertainment purposes only ;-) - one of the first meetings of Soviet karateka with Soviet boxers:

 
Well, I think body mechanics were known even in 1950 ies Russia, England cos attention how to increase power with legs/ spine for upwards striking, hips/ shoulders for other stiking work together with footwork/ stance change.

Interesting was one american guy, who assumed, that all techiques for beating taught in Karate can be used in KB ....

Btw, what Karate tutelage on 70 ies this boxing trainer had?
So called Касянов or under Щтурмин or some internal groups?
One from these were boxer before started with this soviet karate.
 
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