To Box Is To Dance

Slip right-Slip left… Jab-Cross

Slow-Slow… Quick-Quick (Foxtrot)

Can you sense it?

Duck right… Cross-Jab

Duck left… Jab-Cross

Slow, Quick-Quick

Slow, Quick-Quick (Waltz)

Do you feel it, the rhythm, the flow, the choreography?

Yes, it’s there, the melding of two precision athletic disciplines, boxing and dancing.

Jackie Chan, martial arts actor, cites iconic dancers, Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, in an interview for Kung Fu Magazine, as two of the primary influences on his fight choreography. * Now, Chan was not a boxer but the correlation is the same. (* mentalfloss.com, Anna Green, 5/10/2017)

World heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali once quipped that he “floats like a butterfly..,”. The same can be said for dance, good dancers glide on their feet, on their toes, flowing through moves, ‘like a butterfly’.

A boxing match might look like a wild affair with fast flying fists, but, like dancers, boxers use all their upper and lower body, arms and legs, in well disciplined moves, changing positions, moving their opponent (partner) while repositioning themself, back and forth, left and right, preparing for the next move, a punch combination, or for a dancer, a twinkle or turn.

Like a dancer’s steps that move to a count, the boxer’s punches have numbers, one thru six, and names to match. Watching a match with an understanding of the names, one can easily see the choreography of the punches, the combinations, the head fakes, the ‘dance’, regardless the speed.

Boxing has its ring, dancing, a floor, the arenas where boxers and dancers ply their craft with music to stimulate the action and accompany the performer.

I’ve danced socially for enough years to appreciate the athleticism of the art of dancing. an activity that is cognitively and physically challenging. The same for boxing. Both keep you thinking and moving continuously with varying changes in tempos.

My dancing was undertaken for fun and exercise, the boxing I do now is to stay fit, strong, alert, have fun, a prescription for better health.

The medical community looks approvingly on boxing as one component in a toolbox of physical activities to fend off the travails of certain ailments.

“Boxing’s varied and high-intensity workouts offer a blend of strength and cardiovascular conditioning that improves agility, coordination and balance, and which may be especially beneficial for people with neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.” (NY Times, 5/23/22, Rachel Fairbank)

My punching is improving as I learn new combinations, but my footwork is sloppy. I’m not at the butterfly stage…yet.

Steve (050124)

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srbottch

Retired in 2013 after 5 years as an elementary school teacher and 40 years as a sales representative to begin anew as a school crossing guard. SMy essays/stories are a way to communicate through the telling of personal experiences. One reader said about my blog stories, "...these are like a cold sip during a marathon run, simple, real life events". Another offered about my blog, “it brings some sense of normalcy not easily found in the modern world.”

26 thoughts on “To Box Is To Dance”

  1. Someone I know has Parkinson’s Disease. While there is no known cure, their are things that seem to slow its progression down. He works with a trainer and does boxing drills, including working with the speed bag and the heavy bag. He invited me to one of his classes. His trainer would call out number commands like 1-1-2-3-4 which meant jab, jab, cross, hook, uppercut. The theory is it is good physically and cognitively.

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  3. Hi Steve,

    As usual, a very interesting article.

    Glad you can enjoy both dancing and boxing. Not as contradictory as I thought.

    Thanks.

    Jim Murdock

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  5. You have matched the best of both worlds. It makes perfect sense that boxers need to be dancers with footwork. My favorite footwork moment is from the movie Dirty Dancing when she is crossing the bridge, over and over again. Keep boxing, and work on those quick, cool dance moves. Wonderful post, Steve!

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      4. Now, Jennie, for some really feel good movements, take your boxing stance (I know you know what it is, right leg behind the left, unless you’re a southpaw), hands up, and throw some punches to the beat. Even just one song of punching gets the adrenaline moving, the heart beating a bit faster and some nice stretching of those arm muscles. Let me know how you did…🥊💪😉

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      5. This was easy, fun, felt good, and felt empowering. I did this to “Do You Love Me” by the Contours. It was my favorite song in 7th grade, and has remained a favorite, thanks to Spot and Atlas.

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      6. I just bought it and added it to my Boxing and Walking playlists. Great song. Full of energy. I’ll have to give you some more boxing moves. Did you really box to the song? Don’t forget to keep your hands up so you don’t take one on the chin🥊💪👍

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      8. If you threw straight lefts and rights, then you threw the 1-2, or jab-cross (the cross is still thrown straight, in spite of the name, and is considered the power punch). Now, you’re ready for the 3-4, or left hook-right hook, which are thrown kinda of parallel to the ground and the power comes from the torso. Go another round and have some fun and exercise. Try a combo, for example, 1-2-3-2. The 5-6 is left uppercut, right uppercut. There, now your ‘ready to rumble’. 20 minutes a day is a nice exercise. Okay, then, give me 10 minutes a day. 🥊

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    1. Thanks, Robbie. Yes, I’m getting hooked on it. I’m getting better at shadow boxing and the exercise is helping me lose a little bit of softness around my waste. Today, my neurologist confirmed that the exercise is one of the best things I can do for Parkinson’s. I even bought a pair of gloves😂🥊

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