What should I keep in mind when shadow boxing?

I%26#039;ve been in a traditional noncompetitive art for years. We do forms, ground work and locks.





I%26#039;ve decided that I want to learn muay thai. For like 5 minutes they had us shadow boxing. I%26#039;ve never done anything like that before. I%26#039;m used to kata, but not this.





What should I try and focus on? How useful do you think shadow boxing is? What are the pros and cons?|||Shadow boxing is very useful in a number of ways. Gentle type shadow boxing is a way to warm up and elevate your body temperature so you can more effectively stretch. It also can help to make your combinations smoother and faster; especially some of the more complicated ones where your body or muscles seem to lock up or freeze when doing them at full speed. It can also help show you small mistakes since the combinations and techniques are being executed more slowly and you can more closely pay attention to them rather than worry about an actual opponent. It is also effective in helping people develop their foot work, balance, and coordination and teach them how to better move laterally, backwards, and at angles-not just forwards when throwing combinations and techniques. It is much easier to start to develop all these things first rather than in an actual sparring session if you are not particularly coordinated or light on your feet. Besides the above reasons it is also a good way to cool down so that your body is not as stiff and sore after a particularly hard workout.|||you must think that you are punching your worst enemy|||Combos, footwork, punching through the target,





and.... ADRIAN!!!!!|||Don%26#039;t just throw one punch at a time, throw combo%26#039;s. Try to make your punches as crisp as you could get them, and don%26#039;t try to just go crazy and throw crappy punches very fast. And lastly always keep your hands up, since in most boxing gyms you shadow box every day it%26#039;s the perfect time to make holding your hands up feel natural


Thats all I got|||Shadow boxing is one of the toughest things to learn as a student and teach as an instructor. It will only be as good as your imagination. Just like a kata, during shadow boxing you need to imagine an opponent. Unlike a kata it is not made up of predetermined moves, which makes it a hard concept to grasp for a martial artist.





You need to imagine yourself fighting someone. Do lots of combos and defenses. Move around a lot, but not in linear motion. Let your mind run free, no matter how crazy the attacks you can imagine. And most importantly have fun with it.|||Try not to hurt your shadow too much as you are boxing it. It will never forgive you and may even leave home.