The greatest fighters across combat sports all have the uncanny ability to ‘spider-sense’ danger and initiate Matrix level head movement to avoid attacks while keeping perfect balance.
Fighters such as James Toney, Canelo Alvarez, Anderson Silva, Dominic Cruz, Samart Payakaroon and Somruk Khamsing displayed impeccable head movement which not only made their opponents frustrated but also set up effective counter strikes.
Below are 11 head movement drills that will allow you Enter the Matrix at will and avoid strikes to the head to not only protect your brain cells but set up devastating counter attacks.
So if you are ready to Enter the Matrix and develop champion level head movement for any combat sport, read on!
The 11 head movement drills described in below with video instructional are:
- 4 Way Ducking Drill
- Alphabet Drill
- “U” Slip Drill
- Tyson Slip – Line Drill
- Lean Back & Counter
- Pull Counter Drill
- Shoulder Roll
- Step Slide Drill
- Slip on the Punch
- Tyson Side Bend
- Dempsey Roll
Head Movement in Fighting
The importance of protecting your head in a fight is of supreme importance.
Your brain is your body’s Central Processing Centre and if your CPU shuts down, your body is essentially out of commission.
Essentially, head movement refers to the deliberate and strategic motion of a fighter’s head to evade incoming strikes from an opponent.
It’s a fundamental aspect of defensive prowess, offering fighters a means to slip, duck, and weave their way out of harm’s way.
Whether it’s a boxer moving his head off line to slip, duck and weave to avoid a barrage of punches with what seems effortless movement, or a muay thai fighter leaning his head back just in time to avoid a powerful head kick, head movement is fighting is truly beautiful to watch.
Why Good Head Movement is Crucial in Fighting
Avoid Damage in the Fight
Obviously protecting your head and brain to avoid damage and being knocked out is the main benefit of developing good head movement.
Preserve Your Brain Cells Over the Long Term
If you are regularly engaging in sparring and competition in striking martial arts then head movement will not only protect your brain cells in the long run.
Frustrate your Opponents
With good head movement you will also develop the ability to frustrate your opponents and tire them out by making them miss.
Set Up Counter Strikes
Supreme head movement can also set up incredible counter striking opportunities which can potentially end a fight.
Unpredictability
By being hard to target and land punches on, you will be more unpredictable which will allow you to utilise feints and fakes to and get reactions from your opponents to set up your strikes.
Head Movement Drills
We have discussed what head movement is and why it is crucial for fighters to have good head movement.
Below we describe the drills you need to practice in order to develop Matrix level head movement.
These drills were designed to be done solo with little to no equipment i.e just hand wraps and gloves or commonly found heavy bag.
But really all of these head movement drills can be done with no equipment at all.
So they are perfect for working outside of the gym and in your ow solo training.
Done consistently and correctly as described in this article below you will develop head movement that puts you in the Matrix and will confuse and confound you sparring partners and opponents to allow you to land your strikes at the most opportune times.
1. 4 Way Ducking Drill
In this drill you will be working mainly on the duck in 4 directions.
- To your right
- To your left
- To the back
- To the front
The duck is mostly used in boxing but also can be used in any other striking martial art to no only avoid punches but head kicks as well.
The 4 way ducking drill is taken from the Precision Striking YouTube channel and you can see the video below where this drill is the first performed and shown.
While you don’t necessarily need to set up a criss cross of slip lines like in the video, it is still a fairly easy set up with a couple of pairs of hand wraps.
Basically you have 4 quadrants and you will duck and slide form one quadrant to the next.
2. Alphabet Drill
This drill is for developing the ability to move your head in just about any direction white maintaining balance.
This drill comes from Martial Artist and action movie star Michael Jai white.
Basically you spell out the alphabet from A-Z with your head while you stay in good posture and balance.
A more free flowing style of this drill can be seen in the video below with Canelo using one pool noodle to work his head movement around.
But you get the idea – where you can use the type of movement Canelo is using below in order to spell out the entire Alphabet
3. “U” Slip Drill
Another solo drill requiring no equipment, the “U” drill develops the ability to keep your head off the centreline and moving back and forward in good posture and balance.
Also known as ‘weaving’ or ‘rolling’, the movement is essentially making the letter ‘U’ with your head and body movement while moving forward.
The drill can also be done moving backward.
Pay attention to your foot work and balance and kepping posture and your hands up protecting your face.
4. Tyson Slip – Line Drill
This drill is very useful for developing the ability to slip and move forward.
As Tyson was a shorter inside fighter often fighting taller opponents with much longer arms, the ability to enter in close was crucial for Tyson.
The Tyson line drill is performed as follows:
- From your fighting stance – every step you take is the direction you will slip your head.
- Step forward with your lead foot and slip to your lead side (Left for Orthodox and Right for Southpaw fighters) – make sure you keep your hands up protecting your face
- The lead step will create distance between your feet that is slightly more than your normal fighting stance so when you step forward with your rear foot the distance will be back to normal again as your rear foot ‘catches up’
- As you step forward with your rear foot you will to the rear side (Right for Orthodox and Left for Southpaw fighters).
- Repeat
Perform this drill slowly at first to get the movement down correctly.
Remember to maintain good posture and not let your hands leave your face at any time. Also do not len too far out on the slip.
5. Lean Back & Counter
The lean back and counter drill is a drill that can be performed solo as with all of the drills included in this post.
But it can also be used with a heavy bag that swings.
The drill is basically done in order to practice the action of leaning back to avoid a high kick and then countering with a kick of your own.
Important details:
- Lead hand swings down for counter balance
- Rear hand stays up
- Rear foot steps back with the head ‘leaning back’ out of range of the incoming attack
- Chin tucked
- Push lead knee forward as the rear foot steps back and you lean back
6. Pull Counter Drill
The ‘pull’ in boxing is similar in principle to the lean back used in muay thai and kickboxing/MMA in that your move your head and upper body directly to the rear to avoid an incoming attack.
And similar to the lean back to avoid kicks, the pull in boxing can set you up nicely for a counter attack, usually your power hand straight.
The ‘pull’ is also called a ‘lean back’ in boxing but the main principle is that you pull your head back to avoid an attack while maintaining balance and posture to be able to counter back with your own punch.
With the pull it is important to keep good balance for the counter and this is done by not leaning back too much with at the waist but more taking your weight back and diagonally down onto your rear leg.
This loads the rear leg to allow you to spring back of th e rear foot with a counter attack.
If you lean too much at the waist it is much more difficult to counter attack and you lose balance and position.
7. Shoulder Roll
Probably made famous by Floyd Mayweather, the shoulder roll is a simple yet incredibly effective way to utilise head movement with a very strong extra layer of protection for your head in the form of the shoulder itself.
With the shoulder roll, your chin is tucked behind your shoulder, even to the extent that your shoulder is touching your cheek.
Timing is also very important as the shoulder need to deflect the incoming punch when thrown.
The body will also rotate taking your head off line of the punch and putting up your shoulder while sinking you chin behind the shoulder and rolling to deflect the punch.
This takes many many hours of drilling to perfect.
8. Step Slide Drill
The step slide is a head movement drill that can be used moving either forward or backward.
With the step slide the main movement of the head is to roll under
The basic movements are as follows:
- From fighting stance step to the lead side.
- As you roll your head under a punch you rear foot will slide and catch up.
9. Slip On the Punch
A very simple technique that can be effectively solo drilled in shadow boxing or on the heavy bag is to slip while you are punching.
At the same time!
So simple but so effective.
This technique takes your head off the centreline to avoid being countered while also shifting your weight to load your next punch.
BJ Penn was masterful at the ‘dipping jab’ which is essentially slipping his opponents Jab and landing his own Jab.
This will often stun an opponent as they are expecting to land a Jab and getting in the face at the same time.
10. Tyson Side Bends
Another excellent way to move your head to avoid punches and while also making your movements unpredictable, the side bend is a staple movement in the Peek-a-boo style that Mike Tyson utilised to perfection.
This head movement technique is probably the most extreme in terms of how much your head moves in comparison to other techniques and drills.
But the main principles are:
- hands stay up protecting your face the entire time
- Your hips will shit to the opposite side that your head is beding toward in order to counter balance and keep good balance
- The same side hip as the head movement direction will be slightly pushed to the rear in relation to the opposite hip – this will allow for the side bend slightly backward and not just to the side
- Bend at the waist to the side and rear in a slight diagonal direction and move your head and upper body by bending at the waist
Watch Tyson perform the side bend to perfection in sparring, drilling and fighting in the video below.
11. Dempsey Roll
The Dempsey roll allowed Jack Dempsey to knock out larger heavier and taller opponents by shifting his weight and moving his head which gathered momentum into very powerful punches.
The movement also made him unpredictable and hard to accurately hit due to the continuous motion of his head.
The movement basically involves drawing a sideways figure 8 with your head while closing down your opponent.
