Transcription
Pretty much everybody wants to improve their head movement. They want to get better at slipping and evading punches or even kicks as they're thrown at them. But many people, aside from just going, "Okay, I'm going to practice slipping and slipping and rolling," outside of that, they don't know how to execute in sparring. They don't know what tips are going to take them from this level to this level. And that is what I'm here for today to help you execute better slipping in actual sparring rounds or in your fights.
Moving into 2026, which is just around the corner, you are going to be wanting to take those striking skills to that next level. And one of the big ways you're going to do that is with extra training, particularly at home. If you just go to the gym two or three times a week, your growth will kind of be like this. Just steady, slow and steady. When you start adding in those extra training sessions at home, it's like...
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Now, we're talking about how to get this head and move it around and make slipping a reality. Not just something that you can do in the mirror, but something you can actually do when somebody's throwing shots at you. And the very first tip I have is to start incorporating in your shadow boxing, but specifically at the end of combinations. Most people, they're standing out here and they're, "Okay, I'm going to slip and then now I'm going to throw. And now I'm going to slip." But the times when slipping works best is when you just happen to do it. You go, "Okay, I'm stepping in from my combo and I just roll." If the person doesn't throw, that's fine. If they do throw, that's even more fine because they're just going to miss. So, you start going, "Okay, I step in for my combination. Sometimes a quick exit, sometimes a slip, and then pushing out." The more and more you make these slips a part of the end of every combo, the more you're going to start having people just miss. They're going to take some shots. They're wildly going to swing back. And your head was down and out. So when you do your shadow boxing, we're thinking, "And then I exit." Boom. Boom. And then I exit. Always with that little head movement. This is going to help you so much.
The second tip which I have for you is making sure your head is not in one place. It's very hard to create movement when you have none. If I'm just here and I go, "Oh my gosh, this person's going to punch me and I have to move my head." Oh, it's tricky. I've tried it. It's much easier when your head's already in motion. And very often you're going, "Okay, the person's throwing and you've already moved your head." And then you just add some more to it. So, if you're somebody who wants to have your defense style be primarily evading shots, you need to stop having your head in place and start shifting it around. Could be forwards and backs, it could be sideways, it could even be with little knee bends. But the more your head is already in motion, the easier slipping becomes.
The next tip for slipping is not to worry about overdoing the motion. Now, granted, when we slip, we don't like feeling the glove hit us. It's not a nice feeling, but the main goal is to make sure we're not taking massive damage. And sometimes me going, "Okay, I'm going to slip this straight shot and I drop way over here." I feel too slow. I'm not able to get back into position quickly enough for my counters. So, sometimes just going small on your slips and the shots still brush you. Still, that's okay. Change the mindset that when you slip, you have to completely evade. As opposed to if I slip and it brushes, that's fine. That's okay. When you embrace that mindset, slipping becomes so much more successful.
Now, pulling on shots is something that's very important, but not enough people are training. We see people like Mayweather and McGregor do it all the time. A good pull is when you're here and you just move your head out of range. And when people do this very well, they're not already elongated, right? You don't want to be in this position and be going, "Okay, I'm going to start slipping now. This is a terrible position." You want to execute your slipping from more in this zone because this allows you to quickly move your head back. Once I'm here, I'm pretty much maxed out on space. This is very dangerous. This is when you guard up. So, start thinking when you're going to execute your slips, you actually almost invite them to throw at your head. You tip your head forward a little bit. And now from here, yes, you can drop to the side. Yes, you can roll under. And yes, you can pull back. All of which give you so much variety, so much room to execute that evasion and great ability to counter back. When I slip from here, I'm going to pull myself in. I feel very sluggish. Does not work well through the core. So just giving yourself almost your head is a bit of a gift to them and making them think, "Oh, I can land a shot," but then you're like, "Nope." Boom. And then the counter. This is how we make slipping that much more successful.
And the last tip I have for you in regards to slipping is start building some pre-established patterns. Now, I already had Jeff Chen on here and he was explaining his slipping method and I went, "Wow, it's not like he's reacting to what I throw. He just does the same pattern over and over and over and he just knows that on the off chance somebody manages to get to them, then he makes the adjustment." But overall, what he was doing was a pullback like we just talked about. He's going, "One." When he does that with a step back, boom, he knows there's lots of space. Then he's dropping his head from this side to the other side with another step back. And then from there, he's getting his head out of range by pulling his feet together before resetting. So again, it was step with the back foot. Now step with the lead foot. Head drops to the other side. Slide the feet closer together. Step away and slip back. The reason this one works so well is the person is constantly chasing you, right? They're constantly trying to get to you, but you are moving and angling with both your feet and your head. And he was showing me it doesn't matter if they throw jab, cross, hook or jab, cross, uppercut or hook, cross, hook or whatever. He's like, "It works for everything." And they go to throw a shot. Boom. But distance is very important, right? You have to have that distance where you know they can land here, but they can't land here. And now they can't land here, and now they can't land here. You're always making them just a little bit out of range. And if they do happen to run you down, then from there, what I'm doing is just making sure, "Okay, I did my first move, now I go for my second move. Now they come, they've jammed me, I'm not going to be able to get this third move. So now I drop and change directions." So having these patterns where I go like, "Okay, one and two and three," or "one and two and three," and you just have these locked in. These will help you so much and they take away a lot of the guesswork of slipping where you're going, "Oh, I don't know what I'm going to do right now. What are they going to do? What am I going to do in response?" You just go, "Okay, they move. Boom." If they don't follow up, that's fine. If they do follow up, boom, boom. And then from there you can do the third move. Great way to pre-establish your slipping movements so that it's almost muscle memory.
And that's it, guys. Back home to Victoria. Enjoyed my trip to Bali, but excited to be back here with everybody and hopefully get you into 2026, just feeling like, man, my striking skills are just going to skyrocket.