Distance decides almost everything in a fight. If you are in the right place, your shots land and theirs miss. If you are in the wrong place, the reverse happens. This video lesson is about using your feet to find your distance, and once you understand the concept you can apply it in all situations.

It is for boxers, kickboxers and self-defence students who feel they are always slightly too close or slightly too far away.

Your Distance, Not Somebody Else's

Every person's distance is different. It depends on your height, your reach, how you stand and how you move. Copying someone else's range is a mistake. You need to know where your shots land properly, and where your opponent's do not.

The feet are how you get there. Your hands can only reach so far. The feet put you in range, take you out of range, and change the angle. If your feet are wrong, your hands are working from a bad position before they even start.

Attack And Defence

The same idea works both ways:

  • In attack, small adjustments with the feet bring you into range at the moment you strike, not before
  • In defence, a small step takes you just out of range, so the punch falls short and you are ready to answer
  • On the angle, stepping off line changes the distance without giving ground

The only limit is your ability and imagination. Once you see distance this way, you start to notice how often fights are won and lost by a few centimetres.

Common Mistakes

People step too big. A large step takes longer, commits your weight and is easy to read. Small steps keep you balanced and ready. The other common mistake is standing still at the edge of range, which is the most dangerous place to be. Either be in range and working, or be out of it.

How To Practise It

Start with a partner holding a hand up as a target. Find the exact spot where your jab lands properly. Then have them move and keep finding that spot with your feet. Later, swap to defence and work on stepping just out of range of a slow, light punch. Keep it light and keep it honest.

Take It Further

The Learn To Box Online Course builds footwork and distance from the start. If you want to try my teaching first, the FREE Pressure Point Fighting Mini-Course is a good place to begin.