Most people who walk into a boxing class want to hit something hard, immediately. That is understandable, and it is also the fastest route to bad habits that take months to undo. Everyone who starts boxing at Raees Fitness spends their first few weeks on the same five drills — and the members who take them seriously progress roughly twice as fast as the ones who rush to the heavy bag.

1. Stance and guard holds

Stand in your fighting stance with your guard up for a full three-minute round. No punches. It sounds trivial until minute two, when your shoulders start burning and your elbows drift away from your ribs. That drift is exactly what gets you hit in sparring, so we build the endurance to hold a proper guard before we add anything to it.

What to watch: feet roughly shoulder-width apart, lead foot at about 45 degrees, knees soft, chin tucked, hands at cheekbone height.

2. Shadow footwork on a line

Pick a straight line on the floor. Move forward, backward, then side to side along it without ever crossing your feet or bouncing on your toes. Boxing footwork is a push-and-slide, not a hop — if both feet leave the ground at the same time, you cannot punch and you cannot defend.

Three rounds of this at the start of every session will do more for your boxing in a month than an extra bag round ever will.

3. The jab, thrown properly

The jab is the most used and most badly executed punch in boxing. Thrown correctly it comes straight out from your guard, rotates at the last moment, and returns along the same path. Thrown badly it loops, drops your shoulder, and leaves your chin exposed for the counter.

Practise it slowly in front of a mirror before you practise it fast. Speed built on a bad path just makes the bad path permanent.

4. Slip and roll against a rope or coach's hand

Defence is not optional, and it is easier to learn when nothing is coming at your face. We start with slips under a rope strung across the corner: bend at the knees, move your head off the centre line, keep your eyes forward. Once the movement is automatic, a coach adds a slow pad and gradually speeds it up.

5. One-two return to guard

Only now does the combination work start. Jab, cross, and — this is the part people skip — hands immediately back to your cheekbones. A hundred slow, correct one-twos a session beats a thousand sloppy ones.

Putting it together

If you are starting from scratch, structure your first month like this:

  • Weeks 1–2: stance holds, footwork, jab technique. No bag.
  • Weeks 3–4: add slips and the one-two, light bag work at the end.
  • Month 2 onwards: pad rounds with a coach, conditioning added.

Come in for a free consultation and we will put you through these five drills on your first visit, so you can feel exactly how much work a "simple" jab actually is.