RingsideReady
Glossary
What the coach meant, in plain English.
57 results · Educational support, not a replacement for a coach.
Bell
The sound that starts and ends a round. In a gym it is usually a timer.
Block
Absorbing a punch on your arm, glove or shoulder rather than avoiding it.
Body shot
A punch aimed at the torso — usually the ribs, solar plexus, or just under the ribs — rather than the head.
Break
The referee’s command to stop holding and take a step back. You stop punching on the command.
Catch
Receiving a punch on your glove or guard so it lands on padding instead of your face or body. You are not grabbing the punch — you are meeting it with a firm, compact glove.
Check hook
A lead hook thrown as you pivot away, used when someone runs straight in on you. The punch and the pivot happen together.
Clinch
Holding the other person so neither of you can punch freely. A referee will break it. It is a pause, not a wrestling match.
Coach
The qualified person running the session, whose instruction takes priority over anything you have read anywhere.
Combination
Two or more punches thrown in sequence as one movement, usually called out by number.
Combo
Short for combination: two or more punches thrown in a planned sequence, usually called by number (1-2, 1-2-3).
Corner
The assigned corner of the ring where you rest between rounds, with your coach just outside the ropes. Also used loosely for the people who look after you in a bout.
Counterpunch
A punch you throw in reply to something they started — after a catch, a slip, or as they miss.
Cover-up
A tight guard used when shots are coming in a hurry: gloves at the temples, elbows in, chin down. You are waiting, not attacking.
Cross
The straight punch from your rear hand, called the “two”. Your back foot pivots, your hips turn, and the punch travels across your body in a straight line.
Cut off the ring
Stepping to the side to take away the circle, so the other person cannot keep walking around the edge.
Double-end bag
A small bag anchored to floor and ceiling so it snaps back at you. It teaches timing and catching the bag on the rebound.
Duck
Bending the knees so a punch passes over you. You stay stacked over your feet and come back up on balance.
Feint
A fake: you start a punch, step, or look so your partner reacts, then you throw something else. It is spelled feint, not faint.
Focus mitts
The padded targets a coach wears on their hands so you can punch a moving target.
Footwork
The whole business of where your feet go: stepping, pivoting, turning, and staying in stance while you do it.
Glove ounce (oz)
The weight rating of a boxing glove, which describes how much padding it has — not how big your hand is.
Guard
Where your hands live when you are not punching: both hands up by your cheeks, elbows tucked in near your ribs, chin slightly down.
Hand wraps
Long cotton or elasticated strips wrapped around the hand and wrist under your gloves.
Head movement
Moving your head off the line so a punch misses — slips, ducks, and rolls — while your feet stay under you.
Headgear
Padded protective gear worn on the head for sparring, covering the temples, forehead and cheeks.
Heavy bag
The large hanging bag used to practice punching something solid.
Jab
The straight punch from your lead hand — the hand nearer your opponent. It travels straight out and straight back along the same line, with your palm turning down as it lands.
Lead hand
The hand nearer your opponent — the left in orthodox, the right in southpaw. It throws the jab and the lead hook.
Lead hook
A short, bent-arm punch from your lead hand that travels in a horizontal arc. The elbow stays roughly level with the fist and the whole body turns into it.
Lead uppercut
A short punch from your lead hand travelling upward, with the palm facing you. The power comes from a small dip and drive through the legs, not from the arm.
Liver shot
A body shot to the right side of the opponent’s torso (your left, if you are orthodox), aimed at the liver. It can fold a person without being a head punch.
Mouthguard
A moulded guard worn over the teeth. Required for all sparring, without exception.
Neutral corner
Either of the two unused corners of the ring. After a knockdown, the standing boxer is sent there so the referee can count without anyone being in the way.
One-two
The jab followed by the cross. The first and most-used combination in boxing.
Orthodox
The stance with your left foot and left hand forward. Most right-handed boxers stand this way.
Overhand
A rear-hand punch that loops over the top rather than travelling straight, usually with a dip of the head and shoulders.
Pad work
Punching focus mitts or Thai pads held by a partner or coach. It needs two people. You cannot do mitt work honestly by yourself.
Parry
Deflecting an incoming straight punch with a small movement of your hand, changing its line rather than stopping it.
Pivot
Turning on the ball of your lead foot to swing your back foot around, changing the direction you are facing without stepping.
Range
How far you are from your opponent, described by which punches can reach from where you stand.
Rear hand
The hand further from your opponent — the right in orthodox, the left in southpaw. It throws the cross and the rear hook.
Rear hook
A hook thrown with your back hand. It covers more distance than the lead hook and needs a bigger turn through the hips and back foot.
Rear uppercut
An uppercut from your back hand, driven by the back leg and a turn of the hips, with the elbow staying close to your body.
Referee
The official in the ring who enforces the rules, counts knockdowns, and can stop a bout for safety.
Reset
Returning to your stance and guard after a combination, so you are ready to do something else.
Rest interval
The break between rounds, usually thirty to sixty seconds.
Return to guard
Bringing the punching hand straight back to your cheek along the same line it went out.
Roadwork
Easy running or brisk walking used as boxing conditioning, usually outside, at a pace you can talk through.
Roll
Bending at the knees and turning your shoulders to travel under a hooking punch, coming up on the other side.
Round
A timed period of work, commonly two or three minutes, followed by a rest interval.
Shadowboxing
Boxing against nobody — in the air or in front of a mirror — to practice shape, movement and combinations without impact.
Slip
Moving your head just off the line of a straight punch by turning and bending slightly at the waist and knees.
Southpaw
The stance with your right foot and right hand forward, used by most left-handed boxers and by some right-handers who prefer it.
Sparring
Practising against a partner who is also boxing back, under a coach's supervision, with full protective equipment.
Speed bag
The small teardrop bag on a rebound platform. You strike it in a rhythm so it bounces back to your fists.
Stance
How you stand to box: feet roughly shoulder-width and staggered, knees soft, weight even, and your body turned slightly side-on.
Step-drag
Moving by stepping with the foot nearest your direction of travel and then dragging the other foot to restore your stance.