It is imperative that you train to get off angle. When you do, you are in the best place to attack and you stay safe at the same time. We call this principle Taking the 45, and it is the subject of this video lesson.

It works for boxers, martial artists and self-defence students alike, because it is not a technique tied to one style. It is a principle about where you stand in relation to your opponent.

Why Straight Lines Get You Hit

When two people face each other square on, both of them have every weapon pointing at the other. If you move straight back, you are still in line, and they just keep coming. If you move straight forward, you walk onto their punches.

Stepping off at roughly 45 degrees changes all of that. The line of their attack goes past you. Meanwhile, you now have an angle on them where their weapons are not lined up but yours are. That is defence and attack in one movement.

How Taking The 45 Works

The idea is simple, even if it takes practice to make it instinctive:

  • Move your body off the line of the attack, not just your head
  • Step at an angle, roughly 45 degrees, rather than straight back or straight sideways
  • Keep your balance and your guard as you move
  • Arrive in a position where you can hit straight away

The step and the counter should feel like one action. If you step off and then stop to think, you have lost the advantage.

Common Mistakes

  • Stepping too wide: you end up too far away to do anything
  • Crossing the feet: you lose your balance and your base
  • Moving only the head: the body stays in line, so the next shot finds you
  • Forgetting to attack: getting off line is only half of it

How To Drill It

Start slowly with a partner throwing a single straight punch. Take the 45 and just check your position. Is their punch going past you? Can you reach them? Then add a counter. Then let your partner vary the attack and the timing. Practise it on both sides until both feel natural.

Learn it, train it, drill it, and you will be amazed at the results. Once you understand angles, you start to see them everywhere in fighting.

Take It Further

Angles run through everything I teach. My Learn To Box Online Course builds them into your footwork from the start, and you can read how angles fit into my wider system in Pressure Point Fighting: The Complete Guide.