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The Hidden Hazards of Shadowboxing & Shadowkicking by Mark Hatmaker

 


To the early Pugilists there was a deep suspicion of shadow work and this attitude transported in time to the early 20th century with some old school trainers advising against mirrorwork.

[For the likely rise of shadowboxing and mirror work and it becoming so dominant in the training hierarchy see our other historical offerings on boxing in this blog—part of the reason can be found in Trainer to Athlete Ratio, Space Dictates, and other like economic factors. It is similar to the reason that so many traditional dojos adopted the regimented linear sparring and practice of moving forward and back which in no shape form or fashion resembles the tangent angularities of actual unarmed combat upright or horizontal.]

Here is an early knowledgeable one on the topic. I could have easily chosen from many another.

“I remember once asking Jim Driscoll what he considered the secret of his success, and he replied: “A complete and thorough knowledge of the game, coming from a long apprenticeship at the best of schools the boxing booth. Like Jem Mace, Pedlar Palmer, Joe Bowker and Digger Stanley, Driscoll spent many years in the traveling booths, and this was the finest possible school, for men were always getting no end to practice against opponents of all styles and weights. They spent all their energy on actual boxing; instead of merely wasting themselves on road work and shadow boxing, like many of the men nowadays, they were always acquiring boxing skills, hitting power, and everything else that makes the accomplished boxer, quite additional to merely improving their physique.”—Norman Clark, How to Box [1922]

Many an Old Schooler saw shadowboxing as injurious.

When I first encountered such an opinion, it seems an outdated head-scratcher.

Afterall, how could something as benign as what is essentially zero-impact high-speed tai chi be problematic?

Well, like most things Old School, there is much truth hidden here.

Heavy Bags, Shadowboxing & Sports Transfer

Punch training, to be effective, must be a sports-specific transfer.

That is if one intends to hit hard, one must train to hit hard. [See our Street Dentist KO Combos for the root of the Old School Method.]

With that in mind, heavy bags, wall-bags, pads and are all ideal for the purpose of gaining power, speed, effective charging, efficient transfer and the sundry other aspects that comprise good punching.

Fortunately, bags are remarkably cheap training tools.

Lack the funds for a bag?

Hell, my grandfather taught me and my cousins to throw on a sand and straw filled duffle bag hung in a barn.

Cheap gear works just as well as high-end gear in this instance.

Lacking a bag many opt for shadowboxing or shadow kicking—I get the impulse.

Make do, right?

This choice is less wise when bags are available. Why would one step away from an efficient use of time to a training mode that falls far down the sports-specificity transfer hierarchy?

One that very likely leads to injury or perpetuates an injury.

“Injury? From punching or kicking air? How’s that true Old Man?”

Do you have tight shoulders?

Nagging hips?

An outright rotator cuff problem?

Pay attention, let us look to 21st-century science for just one aspect that made many an early wise Pugilist and Rough n Tumble kicker swear off of shadow work altogether.

The Rotator Cuff & Shadowboxing

When one shadowboxes to efficient tempo there is no target to receive the intended sports motion.

Instead, the inertial stresses are transferred to the rotator cuff to decelerate and stabilize the limb during follow-thru.

In an experiment, boxers who were experiencing rotator cuff pain [not necessarily during the shadowboxing itself] were tested for injury via palpation for tenderness of the infraspinatus and teres minor.

Those experiencing tenderness were then advised not to skip boxing training but instructed to put all of their training versus gear that would receive the impact.

The pain dissipated and/or disappeared in all athletes where an actual tear was not yet present.

The tenderness during the palpation test was considered positive for overuse.

So…a combat sport that asks us to hit hard, does not ask us to hit “not hard” and injure ourselves in the process.

In like studies, hip pain in kickers was abated in the majority by removing shadow kicking from the training regimen.

One can only imagine that if a lighter limb [the arm] can wreck the body during deceleration and stabilization how much more so the greater inertial forces of the largest limb of the human body with greater force generation to be managed and all while standing on one leg no less placing the pelvis and lumbar spine in less than ideal stability and deceleration position.

Again, when one wants to gain in efficiency, gain in power, gain in strength gain in maximizing in training time, let us look to the past.

For information on our latest program in Old School Power Punching see Street Dentist KO Combos.]

Resources for Livin’ the Warrior Life

The Black Box Store

https://www.extremeselfprotection.com/

The Indigenous Ability Blog

https://indigenousability.blogspot.com/

The Rough ‘n’ Tumble Raconteur Podcast

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