When your punches are not getting through, feints are your ultimate weapon. In this video lesson I look at how to use feints to outsmart your opponent and create openings for fight-ending strikes, both offensively and defensively.

It is for boxers and martial artists who already have the basics and want to start landing clean shots against people who defend well.

Why Feints Create Knockouts

The punches that end fights are usually the ones the other person did not see coming. A good guard stops what it can see. Feints are how you make the guard look in the wrong place.

Show a jab and their hands come forward. Show a body shot and their elbows drop. That moment is your opening. A feint can bypass an opponent's guard and set up a devastating punch like the right cross.

Change Your Cadence

One of the most powerful ideas here is varying your cadence. If you always punch at the same speed and rhythm, your opponent tunes in to it and starts timing you. Break the rhythm, with a pause, a half beat or a sudden burst, and their timing falls apart.

Cadence is a feint in itself. The best fighters are never predictable.

Offensive And Defensive Feints

Feints work in both directions:

  • Offensive feints: to draw a reaction and open up a target for your real attack
  • Defensive feints: to make your opponent hesitate, and to find out where they are weak

Both make your opponent think, and a thinking opponent is a slower opponent.

Imagination Is The Limit

As I say, the only limit to feints is your imagination, your ability and the situation. Duran was a master of them. There is no single right way to feint. Experiment with your feet, shoulders, head, hands and hips, and see what makes your opponent react.

One rule: do not pass up a chance to land a clean shot. Feints are for when your punches are not getting through, not a replacement for punching when the opening is already there.

How To Train Feints

Build them into your shadowboxing first. Then the pads, where your coach can react to them. Then light, controlled sparring with proper gear. Knockout punches are dangerous, so drill them with a partner who is working with you, not against you, and keep the power on the bag.

Take It Further

My Learn To Box Online Course gives you the basics that every good feint relies on. For more on making those punches count, take a look at Power Black.