Work Up to Complex Combos One Piece at a Time
The app calls out “1 - 2 - Step Back - 2 - 3 - Roll Right - 1 - Step Back”. The jab and cross go out fine, you step back, and somewhere around the roll you lose the thread. By the time you remember how it ended, the next combo is already on its way.
Long combos are fun to throw once you know them. Learning one from a single callout is a different story. Combo Progression, a new exercise in the Shadow Boxing App, gives you a whole round to get there.
A full round on one combo
The app already had Simple Combo Progression for beginners, which builds up to short combos like 1-2-3-4. Combo Progression takes the same idea and goes further, with longer combos that mix punches, defenses and footwork.
Here’s how a round goes:
- At the start, the app tells you which combo you’re building up to, so you know where you’re heading.
- You begin with a small piece of it and shadow box throwing only that.
- Every so often, the app adds the next part.
- By the end of the round, you’re throwing the whole thing.
You shadow box freely the entire time and throw the combo whenever you want, with the app reminding you now and then to keep moving instead of standing there reciting it.
A couple of examples
There are close to a hundred different combos in there, and you get a new one every round. Here’s one that starts simple:
- 1 - 2
- 1 - 2 - Roll Right
- 1 - 2 - Roll Right - Roll Left
- 1 - 2 - Roll Right - Roll Left - 3
By the time the hook shows up at the end, you’ve been rolling for a couple of minutes and it comes out on its own. Throwing that last version and having it flow is a great feeling, and it’s the kind of combo that would trip you up if it came at you out of nowhere.
And one that feels more like an exchange:
- 1 - Slip Left
- 1 - Slip Left - 1
- 1 - Slip Left - 1 - 2
- 1 - Slip Left - 1 - 2 - 3
Jab, slip the counter, then come right back with a full 1-2-3. It’s a lot more fun to learn this way than to try to remember all five pieces at once, and by the end of the round the slip feels like part of the combo.
Other rounds bring in blocks, parries, shots to the body or a step back to get out at the end. If you want to see what a round looks like, we filmed one on 1-2-Step Back-2.
Made for people who know the numbers
The beginner version writes out the punch names and shows a coach throwing the combo on screen. Combo Progression keeps it to the numbers and the voice, and assumes you already know what a 3 or a Roll Left looks like. If you’re still translating numbers in your head, start with Simple Combo Progression or the new Simple Repetitions workout and come back to this one later.
Where to find it
Two new workouts are built around it. Step by Step Combos mixes the combo rounds with short, intense cardio exercises, and Step by Step Combos (focus) sticks to the combos for the whole session.
You can also turn Combo Progression on in any custom workout, or add it to an existing workout through the workout editor. Longer rounds work best, so you have time to get comfortable with each piece before the next one arrives.
