5 Shadowboxing Drills to Improve Your MMA Game
7 mins read

5 Shadowboxing Drills to Improve Your MMA Game


In any martial art, such as mixed martial arts, Muay Thai or boxing. Shadowboxing is an underutilized tool that can benefit any fighter, regardless of age, gender, or skill level!

Anyone can shadowbox; all you need is an area at least as large as your wingspan. Shadowboxing is free, effective, and helps develop and improve core skills. Today, Evolve Daily is happy to share a guide on seven shadowboxing exercises to improve your MMA game.

Benefits of Shadowboxing

While punching the air may not seem like a very effective training method, shadowboxing has many benefits!

One benefit is learning how to land a punch “correctly.” Often, missing a punch will throw the fighter off balance and cause them to stumble forward, leaving them open to a counterattack. Shadowboxing, by its nature, forces you to maintain flow and balance, whether or not you make contact with your opponent.

Shadowboxing also brings out your natural speed potential. Just look at boxing legend Manny Pacquiao; he has some of the fastest hands in the sport and focuses heavily on shadowboxing!

Work with individual techniques

Shadowboxing is a perfect opportunity to get quality reps for various techniques. For example, spend a full round throwing only the standard jab. Then spend a full revolution turning outward as you strike. Spend a third round adding feints and body shots, continuing to circle your imaginary opponent’s powerful side. Structuring your rounds this way will lead to big improvements in short periods of time.

It is common practice in Muay Thai to begin each training session with a high number of repetitions of teeps and roundhouse kicks. Golden Age fighters are known to perform thousands of kicks of all types as a warm-up!

Focus on boxing

Spend a series of rounds focusing on your boxing. Even in MMA, having the threat of skilled boxing in your pocket is a huge advantage.

Occasionally throw a teep or low kick after a combination, but focus on landing the jab. Once you visualize your jab, you can start setting up different combinations on your imaginary opponent. As you throw punches, be sure to imagine and respond to your opponent’s responses. The video above is a shadowboxing workout focused on boxing!

Focus on Kickboxing and Muay Thai

Incorporating kicks into your shadowboxing practice will increase the fluidity of your standup game. Practicing the retraction of the football, without having made contact, is one of the hallmarks of a truly skilled footballer. The heavy bag, while a useful tool for developing power, can instill bad habits in a fighter. These habits combine with kicks, as they are by nature more complex than punches. Shadowboxing helps correct these bad habits. If you can’t keep your balance after a kick, you’ll know it very quickly in shadowboxing.

The first kick to practice in your shadowboxing is your teep. Having a good teep is like having a good jab: you’ll find that other shots are easier to set up. For beginners, it is recommended to start lightly. Building the habit is the most important part and you can build the volume and intensity from there!

Start your shadowboxing routine with 50 teeps in the lead, followed by 50 teeps in the tail. Once you feel comfortable with that volume of kicks, proceed to alternate front and rear teeps. You can choose to train for one continuous round, instead of counting kick repetitions.

This same concept can be applied to the rest of your amazing arsenal! Above is a short Muay Thai shadowboxing video for those who prefer a guide.

Focus on wrestling

Shadow wrestling is less common, but no less useful. It has similar benefits to shadowboxing; Shadow wrestling helps build memory and muscle fluidity while still being able to train on your own.

A key exercise for working in the shadows is the penetration phase. It is used in a large number of eliminations, making it an efficient use of time.

Start by practicing a solid wrestling stance: knees bent, elbows in and low to the ground. From here, take one of your feet and place it directly behind your other foot. This position allows you to push off your back foot for an explosive stride. Once inside, gently transition to the knee of the front leg, using the momentum to bring the back leg through. As you advance, lock your hands in a kettlebell or s-shaped grip, visualizing your opponent’s legs. Watch Coach Brian of Peterson Grapplers delve into the execution of the shadow penetration shot above.

Your wrestling shadow work should also include common defensive techniques such as downward blocks, sprawls, snap downs and feints.

Downblocks are used to stop a single leg takedown attempt by your opponent. To block down, swing one leg back while reaching the same side arm to the floor.

Expansion is a critical defense against a takedown and should be practiced repeatedly. Practice bringing your hips to the ground, then rotating and returning to the standing position.

Snap-downs help you counter overly aggressive fighters who constantly go for the shot. Make sure you keep your arms bent, so you don’t overextend them, during the snapdown.

The feint can be a simple change of level. Practice using as little energy as possible for each feint; the more efficient the technique, the more fluidly you will be able to use it effectively in real combat.

The video shows blocks, sprawls, snap downs and feints. Watch for visual inspiration!

Extended cardio ride

Shadowboxing can be a powerful way to increase your cardio for MMA. Instead of the usual round structure, consider adding a very long round to your training routine.

When done correctly, this style of shadowboxing can replace running. For this to be effective, you need to shadowbox at combat speed and intensity.

You can still structure your long round, but always stay moving and keep throwing shots. Make sure you visualize an opponent about to take a takedown and stretch appropriately.

Fight Tips’ Shane Fazen demonstrates and explains the benefits of an extended shadow in the video above.

Conclusion

Shadowboxing could be the training tool you need to elevate your MMA game to the next level. Over time, you will develop your own shadow flow. Happy training!

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