Block and Cover
The defence that works when you are tired, hurt, or out of ideas.
Block and Cover
Video · 7:00 · coming soon
In this lesson
- Hold a high guard that actually covers
- Block body shots with the elbow and a hip turn
- Exit the cover with an angle rather than standing up in place
Coaching cue — Cover is a shape you hold, not a flinch you make.
Why you need something dumb
Slipping and rolling are better defences. They are also skills, and skills fail when you are exhausted or your legs have gone. Blocking works regardless — it takes no timing and no reading, and it is the reason every boxer has a shell to fall back into.
The trade is that blocking gives up initiative. You cannot counter from a shell, only survive in one, so it is a place you pass through rather than a place you live.
The shapes
High guard. Gloves at the temples, forearms vertical and touching in front of your face, elbows down. You are looking through the gap between your gloves. Hooks land on the arm, straights land on the gloves.
Body block. Punches to the body are stopped by the elbow, not the glove. Turn the hip on the side being hit and drop the elbow onto the ribs — one small movement, not a lift of the arm.
Long guard. Lead arm extended at their chest, rear hand home. Not a block exactly, but it occupies the space they need and buys you a step.
Exiting
The mistake that turns a cover into a beating is coming out of it in the same place you went in. Every exit needs to change something:
- Cover.
- Take one step laterally or pivot as their combination ends.
- Throw as you come out — a jab is enough.
Count their punches while you are covered. Almost everybody throws in threes and fours. The gap after the fourth punch is your exit; if you wait for a longer gap you will be waiting a long time.
Drill it
Two rounds holding the high guard while a partner throws light, continuous combinations to the head and body. Your only job is to keep the shape and keep your eyes open. Two rounds where you must exit with a step and a jab after every third punch they throw. If you are still standing in the same spot at the end of the round, you covered but you never left.