Slipping on ice, bad. Slipping on the jab, good.

The good news is I feel confident that I’m getting the basics of punching. My punches are getting stronger and I’m starting to grasp all of the body mechanics involved. The bad news is that I’m also getting the basics of being punched. It seems that I lack the necessary skills to avoid getting tagged. If I keep at it this way, my strategy will be to wear my opponent down by letting him repeatedly hit me in the face, and then, when he’s out of breath and he’s arms are burning, I’ll move in for the liver shot.

Fighter B is slipping the jab by
 moving to the outside of the punch
while also delivering a counterpunch to the body.

We worked on slipping jabs in last night’s boxing class. A slip is a defensive move and is done by bending your knees, tilting at the waist and turning your torso so the punch slips harmlessly past your head. This is how Wikipedia defines it: Slip – Slipping rotates the body slightly so that an incoming punch passes harmlessly next to the head. As the opponent's punch arrives, the boxer sharply rotates the hips and shoulders. This turns the chin sideways and allows the punch to "slip" past. Muhammad Ali was famous for extremely fast and close slips, as was an early Mike Tyson.

The slip is a great move because it allows you get close to your opponent and deliver powerful counterpunches.

We drilled the slip by throwing jabs at half speed. My partner would throw three jabs and I was supposed to dodge them by slipping to the right, the left and then right again. Supposed is the key word here. What I tended to do was some spastic motion with my torso and then watch as his glove got bigger, and bigger and bigger until it hit me on the nose. Fortunately, pain is a great motivator so I plan on learning this move pronto.

Worse than the pain of getting tagged on the nose is the pain my ego suffered from executing a move so poorly.  Expertboxing.com explains the slip in great detail and it helped clarify some aspects. It also says how hard mastering the slip is, which did wonders for soothing my bruised self-confidence.