You're a huge nerd. You know this. We all know this.

You watch anime all day and eat way too much junk food.

One strange night, after a brief, passing glance at the mirror, it passes you by.

You.

You notice you've started to pick up a less than ideal body.

Maybe you're fine with how you look, but you're aware it's unhealthy to stay inactive.


So in a spur of the moment decision, you decide to pick up a VR game, called, "The Thrill of the Fight", especially after you read all of the positive reviews.

Excitedly, you strap on your headset and bust out a drink in case you get thirsty. As you jump into the new world of boxing, you find yourself having a ton of fun.

You do great on the first couple of guys, but you get pretty tired. You stop for the day and rest, vowing to play again tomorrow.

"Ouch!" You say, as you find yourself sore the next morning. "Wow, what a great and fun game! I'm tired. But hey, I won, maybe I have some sort of talent for this thing!" You say to yourself.


You say, in the most overoptimistic and naive way possible.

Look bud... that's enough.

It's making me sick. Don't lie to yourself anymore.

Let me pop your bubble. This isn't some happy fairy tale where you're magically good at boxing with little to no training.

You are weak.


The only reason you won those fights is because the first opponents in the game are complete, udder small fry.

It wouldn't be too far of an exaggeration to call them a bunch of toothpicks on legs. The Glass Joes of the game.
(Upon later reflection, you wonder how they even got into the sport in the first place.)




Eventually, your wake up call is gonna be The Reverend. The Reverend will not ♥♥♥♥ around with your foolish self-worth. Your ass will absolutely get spanked.



And then will you be reminded of how truly weak you are.



At this point, you'll still be quite a distance away from this piece of ♥♥♥♥. This tall, built-ass British bloke with a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ eight pack.

What the hell are you gonna do then? You gonna try to knock his teeth out?

Did you forget he's British?? There is no teeth to knock out!

You'll cry on the floor just thinking about this "guy".

But this is where I come in.


Just because you're a huge weeb or nerd doesn't mean you can't get good at boxing. In fact, your interests don't ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ matter.


What really matters is how much you know, and how much (smart) work you put in.


I beat The Reverend. I've beat him and the British piece of ♥♥♥♥ at the end on Endurance difficulty with 1.0x (unadjusted) punching power. And I'm not alone.


Part of my skill comes from a decent amount of experience with real-life boxing.


A few years ago, I created and led a high school boxing club. In preparation, I would train twice a week with real coaches, one of them being a Heavyweight boxer who fought in local tournaments.

That dude was so built we called him He-Man.

I've sparred with and without a helmet (if you catch my drift) and know so much about boxing I could replace one of those coaches at the nearby boxing gym any day.


So maybe you're weak, stinky, or a bit unhealthy, but I'm here to share a secret. I was pretty much there too. Now I'm a lot healthier, have a ♥♥♥♥ ton of endurance, and my arms, which used to look like otter pops at the beginning of high school, are now starting to look like rolling pins.


No matter how much of a NEET you are, no matter how wimpy, scrawny, or chubby, I'm here to say that this is the game, and guide, for you. I've been there, I've felt your pain, and I've taught people like you before.


So with all of that egotistical bull out of the way, let's get started.

This guide was made so it'd be relatively easy to jump from different topics and techniques, specifically if you know the game's mechanics and basic boxing terminology, prior. Feel free to jump from topic to topic, but if you come upon a word/reference you don't understand, try to come back to the basics.

Also, even if you do know all the basics, you might find the guide more entertaining/well written when you read it from beginning to end.

But hey, you do you.

The Thrill of the Fight is a VR boxing game constantly praised for it's good coding and exhausting, (I'd say) fairly realistic gameplay (other than getting hit of course).


There's a couple important "rules" to remember as you play.

1. The power of your punches is automatically (unless changed in settings) adjusted after every round.

The maximum adjustment is to 2x damage while the minimum is 1x. This sounds small but actually makes a huge difference with your powerful punches.

This automatic adjustment means that both a faster person and a slower (perhaps stronger) person can both find challenge.
It also, however, means that the faster your punches get, the weaker your punches will become, up to a certain point.

Ideally, this mechanic would eventually make you a really fast puncher, but if you can't increase your speed, or aren't patient enough, you can turn off automatic adjustment all together (ya coward).

While automatic adjustment goes from 1-2x, I'm pretty sure you can manually adjust under 1x or even to 5x. Basically, getting powerful punches can be as easy (or as hard) as you'd like it to be. I personally play on 1x to challenge myself to punch faster.

2. The punches you land either damage or don't damage.

This is signified by the color you see after hitting your opponent. If it's light blue, you did no damage. If it's more of a yellow, you succeeded in doing damage. And, rarely, if the color you see is more red, then the damage is enough to literally one-hit-KO your opponent (if you see red often then your power multiplier is probably too high).

What this means is that if you're eventually aiming for a knockdown (and you should, because it's satisfying as hell!), you should give almost all of your attacks with high speed and technique unless you're jabbing. Half-assed "attacks" are essentially worthless, which I find pretty realistic.

3. There's a three knockdown limit and a mandatory eight count.

Every time someone gets knocked down, both characters will get eight seconds before the match starts again, even if they stand up immediately.
Secondly, if a boxer gets knocked down three times in one round, they automatically lose, no matter their health.

4. Your opponent will only move in your set boundaries.

Your opponent will only stay within your set area, which should reduce the chance you put a hole in your wall.

Often referred to as "The Sport of the True Gentleman", modern boxing has evolved from the Victorian Era "prizefights" where dudes would fight bare-knuckle in public for money.

Obviously, we've gone a long way since then, and the boxing glove is one of the biggest improvements.
It's really easy to fracture your wrist punching barehanded. But with gloves, I can jab a brick wall and not worry about getting much damage (but real talk, avoid punching anything hard).

Compared to other martial arts, boxing is a one-on-one, strike-focused style. There is as much focus on offense and defense as there is for simply not wanting to fall on the ground, because every time you lose your footing, it can be considered a "knockdown" which can potentially cost the entire match. This is an important part of why people have such solid "stances" in boxing.

The Boxing Stance
Before even learning how to punch, one should master a good stance.
(Credit to this guy, who has probably the better of the stances you can find on Google)
Orthodox is how most people stand since most people are right handed.

Try one of the stances now.


But remember not to "square up".


What does this mean? Notice how in the picture, this boxer has one shoulder closer to the opponent and one farther back. This is intentional. Don't stay in a pose where your shoulders are of equal distance to your enemy. Stand at an angle.

Why? Well, for starters, this allows you to have a faster arm (the close one) and a stronger arm (the one farther away).
The stance also gives defensive benefits.
There's a lot of stories of people getting hit in the liver because they were in a square stance. I've also heard that it's much easier to defend your chin in an angled stance, since it's closer to your shoulder.

This stance is pretty ideal, as it gives an inherently great defense while still allowing you to deliver strong blows. If you're starting out, I highly recommend copying this classic stance.


But hey, boxing is an evolving sport. I also encourage a bit of experimentation.


To practice whatever stance you do, try it out in front of mirrors at different angles.
Many experts recommend this to observe any gaps or bad habits you may need to work on.

Just remember: you want to keep your stance as something easily defensible yet still allowing for strong or quick attacks (especially as you're starting out).

Observe any weaknesses to your defense. How would someone attack your openings? How could you counterattack that?


Only Punching is Allowed
There's no grabs, kicks, backhands, elbows, or headbutts in boxing. Only punches from the iconic, padded gloves count.

There are also clinches, where you hug your opponent until the referee tells you to get a room. It can give you a second to catch your breath.

But honestly, ♥♥♥♥ clinches. Don't rely on them. They barely give you any time to breathe, put you dangerously close, and are just plain lame in general. If you have to clinch in a fight, I think it's a good sign you need more stamina, or are perhaps putting excessive amounts of energy into some movement which is making you get gassed.

If you want to regain some stamina, step back, block, and dodge. It looks cooler and it trains skills you'll use throughout the entire fight.


KO and TKO
In boxing, there's huge importance placed on both fighters standing. After all, what gentleman would lower himself to the floor to fight their opponent?

When a fighter is hit hard enough to knock them off their feet (or fall to their knees) the referee begins counting.
If the fighter cannot stand back up before they count to 10 then it's considered a knock out (KO).

However, even if a fighter manages to stand before 10, a referee can announce technical knock out (TKO) if it seems too dangerous for the fighter to continue. This tends to happen more with visible damage on the face, like tons of swelling or bleeding. Because of that, coaches will often hire people to "pretty up" their boxers and hide these wounds during a one minute break.
It's all a bit sketchy, but pretty interesting if you ask me. A lot of boxers want to continue once-in-a-lifetime fights even if it means risking their future well-being.

But I digress. In matches that have a limit of three knockdowns, the third time a boxer is knocked down (in one round) will result in an automatic TKO.

So if you were to be knocked down two times in this kind of match in a single round, you'd better make damn sure you don't get knocked down a third time or that's an automatic loss for you.

The most basic attacks in boxing are the following moves. In ToTF, all of these moves work pretty well.

Jabs
A jab is a simple, forward movement of the "lead arm", or arm closest to the opponent. It is useful to think of it as a "poke", but with a clenched fist.


I am not exaggerating when I say that the jab is the most important punch.


I feel like a couple years ago I heard this and did not take it seriously. Yeah, jabs are important, but most important? Pshh... come on. The most important punch is the one that knocks the other guy out - obviously!


Well, yes, but no.

It's true that good jabs do almost no damage in real life (at most, the person will probably get stunned a bit).

What makes them so important however, is how useful they are.




Notice how a simple jab to the head makes this guy block the entire front side of his face.
In real life, this dumbass would not be able to see. He would then be extremely susceptible to a huge blow from me, one that he won't be able to defend against.


Although he's probably not blind, he is still susceptible to a huge blow in-game.


Even though he is blocking the front of his face, he is not blocking his chest or the sides of his head.

Also, it's likely that he won't readjust his guard for a couple seconds.

In other words, the areas I mentioned before are completely open for a second. He could easily transfer his hands to protect his ears, but he likely won't do so until after I bludgeon the side of his head.

And that's really the gist of why jabs are useful. They manipulate your opponent.


Jabs can also be used to put your opponent on the defensive while they're attacking. I've managed to save myself from getting knocked down in-game by jabbing while I recover:
Notice how I not only recover here, but gain the ability to land a hook. All just from poking this ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ for a few seconds.



In conclusion, mastering the jab will give you huge control over the entire fight.



So how do you give a good jab?



The best advice I can give is don't overextend or overexert.


Remember, jabs are tools, rarely would you use one as a weapon.

So there's really no need to swing your body or put in any power. Do not assume that jabs will do any sort of damage. Block immediately after throwing one.

Train it to be fast - a surprise to get the other guy blocking.
Other than that though, you should barely use any energy at all.


Crosses
Now if you were bummed out that you can't knock out someone with a jab, then you're gonna like crosses.


A cross is a straight punch with power. Usually, crosses refer to straight punches from the "power arm", but I know people who consider strong jabs from the "lead arm" as crosses as well.


Personally, I'm not very good at strong crosses (except "flicker crosses", which we will get to later).
On 1.0x power, I also found that my hooks did much more damage.


However, I will admit one thing.


For tougher opponents, crosses are much more reliable at shifting an opponent's guard.

Check out this clip from fighting "Spider":

After two jabs, I cross to the body. The cross not only makes Spider defend the body, but even stops his hook, which likely would have clocked me if I punched a second later.



Note: In this video I partially break a golden rule: I tilt my head downwards and lose sight of my opponent.
It's not too bad, but it's a bit sloppy.
It goes to show how inexperienced I am with regular crosses.


Hooks
Hooks are my personal favorite punch. Very powerful when combined with jabs.

To do an ideal hook, hold your arm parallel to the ground. Bend your elbow to about a 90 degree angle. Rotate your wrist so it's sideways - think of how your wrist would be if you were holding a drink in your hand.

Now, when your arm is in the correct form, smash it across the enemy.

Then, make sure to bring it back, into a block.

A weak hook followed by a strong hook to the chin.


When you hook, lift the sole of the foot corresponding to the arm.

As an example: If I'm doing a hook with my right arm, I would lift the sole of my right foot and pivot left. But if I were using my left arm, I would do the opposite.


If you want more power, rotate your shoulders and/or hips. Of course that may leave you more open - but damn if that won't be a strong ass hook.


Hooks are ideal with jabs because jabs force your opponent to block the front of their face, while hooks (with good hand-eye coordination) go completely around it.

That means if a jab works as intended, a hook will always be viable.


Uppercuts
If you want power in a harder to master move, then uppercuts are the way to go.

Uppercuts take advantage of the chin being a weak spot to create a devastating blow.
That's no exaggeration either:
Even this short, weak uppercut was enough to do orange damage (good chance to knock down) to the sparring partner.


When you hit someone good in the chin, it shakes their brain and gives them an immediate concussion.
That means they're gonna be seeing stars - y'know, if they're not passed out on the floor already.


To do an uppercut, face your palm towards you, lower your arm, then launch it upwards.
Keep your wrist straight; bending it would be an easy way to cause a fracture. As you do all this, make sure you're still keeping your other arm up, as a guard.

To increase power, bend your knees so you go much lower as your lower your arm. As you raise your arm, stand tall.
Time the coordination of your body perfect so your arm shoots up with maximum velocity, with added power from your legs.


It's easier to block your head after an uppercut, since your arm is already in front of you.

Obviously though, don't get cocky, stay deft, keep your hands up, and be ready to dodge a counterattack.

So you learned how to throw a proper punch, but after three good hits from The Reverend, he still knocks you flat on your ass.

"What went wrong? I thought I was doing everything right." you ask yourself.

But without good defense, your offence is useless.


A very common problem I see in most fights is people who don't keep their guard up.


Guard and Reguard
Yes, I know, this is a video game, but it's a very realistic one.

One so realistic that real, competing boxers use it for training. You'd be doing yourself a disservice to not treat this seriously.

"Abuse" your blocking. It's not like we're playing that stinky Smash Bros game, so there's very little penalty to keeping a good guard.
Always keep your arms up.

Here's a GIF of an ideal head guard.
Notice how there's a gap between my hands that I can look through. But also notice how the AI completely covers their eyes with their gloves.

What the AI is doing is very stupid and cowardly, don't do that. Covering your eyes won't make your enemies disappear, it'll just blind you and make it harder to predict the next attack.
Instead, if you keep a small gap like I do, you'll allow yourself to see while still blocking most straight punches.


Now that you have successfully put up your guard, keep it there.


Did you throw a jab? Don't forget to move your arm back into the guard. Throw a hook? Make sure you reguard afterwards. Cross? Reguard. Uppercut? Reguard. No matter what punch you do, make sure you get in the habit of immediately going back into a guard. It'll save you so much, I swear.

A jab and a quick reguard.



A block, a strong hook, and a reguard.



Parrying/Blocking
With just a good stance, you can block most attacks.
But with a slight arm movement, you can parry a blow.

Now, I'm not talking about how it is in Dark Souls, an exaggerated backhand, throwing the enemy off balance. I think that's far too much.

I'm talking your glove is purposely in the way. In real life, it moves maybe A TINY bit.
But mostly, it's there just to stop momentum of an attack.


I honestly don't think it's worth parrying jabs. Make your guard good so the enemy has to rely on hooks, then just block those, since they're much slower.

You can bait out attacks to parry by lowering your guard. The AI is really good at trying to attack whatever you leave open.

Just keep your arms up though. Make your opponent struggle to find weaknesses and inadvertently give clumsy attacks.

For an ideal, strong way to stop hooks, flex your arm and hold it up to cover your ear.
Just like in real life, this is a really strong block.








Weaving
You've likely seen that one street fight where the other person cannot seem to land a single hit on the other guy.

There's actually a couple of these videos on YouTube. Professionals can bet with normal people that they won't be able to land a single blow on the professional's head.

How is this possible?
It's almost always a result of good bobbing, weaving, and rolling.


What the hell are these terms? Well, let's start with bobbing and weaving.


To weave, move your head (along with your whole upper body) left, right, or backwards. When you move, make sure your head lowers a little bit as well.

Here, I purposely leave my right side open. Then, as soon as I see a hook, I weave backwards:


If you feel like you're going to fall when you weave backwards, it's a good sign you need to widen you stance a little more.
Remember that stances are not only meant to provide good offensive capabilities, but defensive capabilities, such as keeping you from falling.


If you want a great example of good-looking weaving, watch some high-level God Hand playthroughs.
The boss weaves several of the player's attacks, then he throws a projectile. The player proceeds to weave the projectile. They weave right, then backwards just to make sure.

Slipping
Very similar to weaving is "slipping". Slipping is when you move your head side to side, not going under the punch but simply allowing it to pass by you.

Here's an example of me slipping left and leaning forwards.

Obviously, this only works on straight punches.
Sometimes, when you find yourself in a tough spot, you'll start instinctually dodging. Slips are not the best things to rely on instinct. I think it's better to have weaving and rolling down first.

Slipping is fast and good, but it only dodges straights, however, I admit, it's easier to block or attack (check out the Hajime no Ippo "Jolt Counter"!). Hooks will more than likely still catch you.


Ducking
Instead of "weaving" forward, you duck. To do so: crouch and lower your head.
As you go down, bend your knees further as well. Bending your knees makes you go down much farther, but I can understand if it's hard at first.

It's a bit brutal but a good way to train your legs is to crouch down all the way, keeping your back straight, then hop around as much as you can, staying with this position. I've done this before bed and I have the most flexible duck out of everyone I know.



In this case, keep your head facing up when you duck. I know it's called ducking, but you're really just maneuvering lower, in an effort to dodge under most head attacks. Remember: try not to take your eyes too far off your opponent.

To help summarize defense so far, here are some general tips:

General Tips
In the first live spar I saw, I asked one of the guys if he had any advice to give.

Something really cool he said was to get in the habit of "moving your head after every couple of punches."


This seems pretty small, but I realized that throughout the entire spar, this guy barely got hit.

So try taking his advice. To get into the habit, try giving yourself an arbitrary number, from 2-4. Every 2-4 times you attack, weave your head in a random direction.

You'll be surprised at how much this helps.


Secondly, with every defensive move, try to keep your eyes on your opponent. Especially when you're not confident in your defense.

We almost always defend on visual cues.
I am only able to perfectly block these two attacks because I see the Sparring Partner lower his arms.


Lastly, keep your guard up (or attack) as you dodge.
In a lot of these GIFs, I don't have any guard up. I do this in order to emphasize the dodge and ensure that I don't accidentally "block" the attack.

But I won't lie, I also just have a trash habit of not blocking when I dodge (and not wanting to smack the hell out of my Oculus).

And I know I'm a bit of a hypocrite explaining most of these, but I truly believe you can be better than me.
Why not do a little more with your dodges? Like countering and blocking as well?



Rolling

The best way to roll is to picture how you would smoothly move under a hook.

The iconic "Dempsey Roll", in fact, is a mix of a roll with power punches. While rolling, you can mix in hooks and long crosses, putting your shoulder into the blow.

Here's an interesting video explaining it in detail.

And of course, how can I do a section on rolling without including the iconic "Dempsey Roll" scene mentioned prior:

In the "jab" section, I briefly touch on why jabs are so important as a tool for manipulating a someone's guard.

But I really cannot stress it enough. Truly, I believe jabs and manipulating guards is the reason why boxing is so damn powerful.

It goes without saying that hitting someone's padded hands is a lot less effective than hitting them in the face.
There will always be a limit to how much area a person can cover with their beefy arms.

What that means for you is that you shouldn't completely rely on blocking. Having skill in weaving and rolling is also important.

What that means for your opponent, however, is that they will always have an area that's potentially vulnerable. So take advantage of that!


The easiest example of this is attacking the body when the AI protects their head:
Here, I make a complete fool of the Sparring Partner by making them switch from blocking the body to face through flicker crosses (more on that in a later section).



In this next GIF, I hook an enemy that is blocking the front of their face. This is probably the most common way I found myself getting around a guard.
Notice how after my first hook, I find that he still doesn't protect his ears, so I hook again, knocking him down.



An interesting exception to all of this is when the AI does a "guarded attack" or simultaneously weaves while blocking. More on that in the "Guarded Attacks" section.

As mentioned before, I used to train with real coaches, one of them being a local heavyweight.
If you want more workouts, here's some small things you can do:

• Try shadowboxing. Imagine someone in the air in front of you and practice your punches.
  -Try not to halfass it, give it some effort, get used to keeping your guard up and blocking after most of your attacks.
  -Also, try it at least once in front of a mirror. It's a nice way to see how you look, and if any of your movements looks awkward, try to refine it.
  -I used to shadowbox for 15-20 minutes before bed to tire myself out. It was honestly pretty nice, and I'd sleep well.
  
• Most self-body workouts are great for boxers. That means push-ups, sit-ups, planks, that sort of stuff.
  
• Something I'd do to really work on my weave is close my eyes, imagine attacks, and weave around them. You may realize through this what specific movements you need to work on, or alternatively, if you need to slightly alter your stance.
  -Being fast at weaving in random directions makes a good workout, and, is honestly impressive to see.
  
• The more you play this game, the more you may realize that you may have a need for stamina. Running is the simple, straightforward way to improve, but uh... now that I think about it, you could just box too. Boxing makes for the ultimate cardio, training every single part of your body.

(Credit to Noubish in the comments for this part!)
Someone asked about strength training. Generally, yeah, strength training is great! It may not help much with this game, since it primarily tracks the speed of your movements rather than power, but it would look damn impressive (both ingame and outgame)!

In real-life boxing, it could help a lot. Higher strength obviously means more powerful punches.

It's common misconception that training with weights will make you slower. This is why you see those martial arts and movie compilations with characters only doing "bodyweight" exercises like pushups, pullups, and situps. This isn't true, anyone can gain muscle and still be as fast as they used to be. However...
Be warned though of "adjusting" to a new weight. Try not to grow too swole to control. No, I'm not kidding!
I heard this one story about this Karate black belt who took a break to do a bunch of strength training. He wanted to pack some muscle in his free time before he went back to his old dojo. What happened was that he had grown so much more weight that a lot of his muscle memory was now "off" in a sense. His kicks and techniques didn't hit the same, so he had to sort of retrain and relearn them.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that you can throw a perfect punch a million times when you're skinny - but when you suddenly gain a ton of muscle, throwing the punch will not be the same as you remembered it. Although the force of your arm may now be much stronger, it is now also heavier, and so you need to get used to throwing around that new weight.

So if you want to transition from the cardio of boxing to something like weight lifting, go for it! I'm sure that would be pretty effective.
But if you want to relatively keep your boxing skill while gaining muscle mass, try to keep in touch with boxing on your journey. Find a balance between cardio and strength training.

Practice shadowboxing occasionally so you can help yourself adjust to your changing weight. This advice applies not only to gaining weight, but losing it as well.

With that said, I want to get on my soapbox for a second. I want to say that, regardless of all of this, you'll find that some things can't be forgotten.
A large part of any martial art is mental. As long as you remember how to do techniques, you will have an advantage over anyone starting fresh. And because of how simple boxing is, you may find that, years in the future, you can easily regain that perfect punch with very little practice.

So yeah! Once a boxer, always a boxer!

I recommend not doing the following until you have the basics down well.

You don't need to master every move, but at least know how to do them.

Compare these two clips:
The first is the Sparring Partner (I believe on Easy difficulty) while the second is British dude on Endurance difficulty.

As you can see, punch speed increases with difficulty, and possibly the opponent.

Not only that, but punches hurt more, and your enemy will have far more health.

What is the takeaway?

On higher difficulties, your defensive abilities will become more and more important.

It is far more difficult to get a knockdown on the harder difficulties. You will no longer be able to rely on "surprise comebacks", like you may have in previous matches. I come to this conclusion after having a 200k damage round on the hardest difficulty in the middle of the roster, (which I think is a record for me) but still not getting the knockdown.

So, my tip is that if you can master a good defense, you will not lose this game, even on the harder difficulties (as long as you can convince the judges you did more damage).

Let's peek back at the second GIF.

Being real, I'm pretty ass at dodging.

But the clip does show that I can block decently well on instinct.

I blame this as the only reason I was able to beat him, and beat him every round, no less. I struggled with him for quite a while, until I learned to perfect my guard.


Another thing with harder opponents is they have a larger tendency to weave and give "guarded attacks".

Most of these GIFs will come from "Moneymaker", the last enemy in the game. They're often very fast, so I recommend watching them multiple times.


The farther you get into the game, the more the opponents will use more skillful techniques. Namely, smart, guarded attacks, and weaves.

To compare, here is an unguarded attack:

Notice how I easily counter his lunge with a straight punch. I even attempt to hook him (but whiff, that's embarrassing).

In contrast, watch him hook while covering his left side:

Not only is it much harder to hit him, but it's harder for me to predict when he will attack. When the time comes, I only recoil back to protect myself.

Often times, I will hook with reckless abandon in order to quickly take down an opponent. This easily works on lower tier contenders, but felt impossible for Moneymaker.

Here's a clip of a guarded attack actually saving him from a hook:

Every move he blocks of yours is a waste of energy he imposes on you.


Another way they can make you waste your energy is by weaving your attacks.

Sealost does not mess around with difficulty in those final stages.




But where the hell am I going with all of this?




Basically, an opponent with a good defense sucks, but you can mitigate the effect of these two specific techniques through jabs.


In the last GIF, I make him weave from jabs and small crosses alone.

Earlier, I mentioned that it might not be worth it to dodge jabs. Here's the reason why.

As talented in his defense the final boss is, he is also wasting his energy here.

As the rounds go on, the enemy will weave less and less, and their defense will also become more lax (meaning they will drop their guard more often).


This is likely a result of the hidden endurance stat that every opponent has. As the match goes on, their endurance will go down.


What this means is that in later rounds, enemies will weave less, guard less, and make more unguarded attacks. They might even punch slower.

When that time comes, take advantage and give more powerful attacks.


Conversely, jab more in the early rounds to trick the AI into wasting their energy. Your high energy power blows might get weaved, so throw them only with preparation.



As a second option, I found that jabs will sometimes stun enemies, making powerful followups more reliable.


Here, I jab and very quickly hook "The Artist".

There is no time for them to weave. It is an immediate stun to power hook.



Pulling off Guarded Attacks Yourself
As a cool side note, you can replicate many of the impressive moves your enemies do.

For example, maybe watching old Moneymaker has you thinking that you got to get better at keeping those hands up while you punch.


I encourage that. You should always guard one side while you attack, it's a great habit and can save you. Guarded attacks should be your default.


WITH THAT SAID: sometimes I drop my guard and put all of my energy into a punch. A haymaker.

I know some boxing old heads aren't gonna like the idea of that, but ♥♥♥♥ them.
It's fun and it can make some powerful as ♥♥♥♥ moves.



Now really, do you expect a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ like me to do a move like that guarded?

Hell no! I'm gonna put my whole body into it and punch that ♥♥♥♥♥♥ to the moon!!




In summary, get in the habit of guarding while you attack, but also think about the raw power and potential satisfaction of landing a haymaker, pal.

It's worth it every once in a while. Trust me.

"Aw come on... again with the anime ♥♥♥♥?"

♥♥♥♥ yeah again with the anime ♥♥♥♥!



In my explanation of The Thrill of the Fight, I mention something extremely important:


The punches you land either damage or don't damage.


Why is this so critical?

Because you are likely going to find that you can throw two types of punches:

1. Punches that you're good at. (that consistently damage)
and
2. Punches that require more training to be effective. (are inconsistent)

As an example, my strong suit is right-handed (rear) hooks to the head. They always do yellow-orange damage to the chin, even on 1.0x power.



In complete contrast, every other attack I do is a bit lame and inconsistent.


What you are good at and what you are not so good at will strongly influence your development as a boxer.


In training your offense, you will have two options:

1. Specialize in something you're already good at.
or
2. Improve the technique of another move until you become "good at it".

I recommend (because it's easier and much more fun) to specialize at first.


Oh come on, think about it.

Wouldn't you rather be the guy with the "reaper hooks", "lightning cross counter", or "gazelle punch", rather than be a no-name "Jack-of-all-trades"?



Hell yeah you do.


But in pushing a specialty, don't just train your attack, you also need to train ways of effectively setting it up so it's harder to defend against.


In a real life fight your opponent will learn how to counter your habits.

I recommend getting better at feinting (not mentioned in this guide) and creating alternative paths to set up your specialty.

In my case, to set up my right-handed hook to the head, all I need to do is get the opponent to not cover their ears.

I tend to rely on jabs to the face for this.

However, I've also found that hooks to the body will work, and are sometimes more reliable, with the added cost of being more exhausting.

So if I notice that my usual jabs are not effective against my current rival, I have another option.

Without that second option, I'm straight up, ♥♥♥♥♥♥.

My hook will be dynamite but it will barely land, and I'll just exhaust myself unless I happen to get lucky.

And the same thing will happen to your special move unless you have options to allow it.


That's enough technical ♥♥♥♥ for now.


On a much more entertaining note here's my move in all it's glory:
I call it: "The Bell Ringer." I jab an open spot then hook during the small amount of stun.

I trained my hook on the dummy and noticed I could consistently hit the chin. This is great because it multiplies the damage I do.

I recommend the dummy for training your move as well, it's great to see what you do the most damage with and what you have trouble landing (I suck at liver punches).

But enough of me though, what's your special move?

As implied by the next section, boxing is not just limited to the main "attacks" that everyone knows.

So experiment.

As an example, Bas Rutten popularized the "liver shot" in MMA.
This video explains how he does it (which you can actually do in this game, since the liver is a "weak point").


If you actually watch how his left arm actually does the blow, you will also notice that it's not necessarily a perfect hook or uppercut. It's a hook angled a bit upwards. Yet apparently, it has a lot of power.

Interestingly, Bas Rutten also recommends "loading" up your attacks with power at the cost of defense.

Most boxers do not recommend this. But he makes a good point that if you're really fast and powerful, it doesn't matter that your defense is down for a split second.


So yeah, if it works, it works. Just be wary of attacks that risk too much of your defense. Or worse, attacks that look like they exert unnecessary energy/will break your wrist.

You might think I'm joking with this section. I'm not.


The Hitman Stance, used by Ryō Mashiba.
In the original stance, you keep your rear arm in the normal position, but lower your front arm.
Then, you take advantage of the front arm's position to throw "flicker jabs".
Flicker jabs are a powerful offensive tool that can easily overwhelm an opponent while barely taking any energy.



Flicker Jabs in Hajime No Ippo:
Notice how Mashiba having his arm so low and throwing it with a "flick" of the wrist makes it a lot more strange and unpredictable. This is doubly powerful for him, since he's a fighter with a naturally large reach.













When I felt fatigue and my hooks began to slow down, I said ♥♥♥♥ it and tried out this style.

But I slightly altered it for more power. Instead of lowering my lead arm, I lowered my strong arm. This way, I can still block with my front arm but deliver stronger, slower flicks.

I dub these new flicks "flicker crosses".



What do you get? Basically, you get a stance that looks like this:




But hits like this:




Don't believe me? Watch this video of me literally only throwing flicker crosses to the poor sparring partner:



In honor of that, I dub this the Tiger Drop stance. Of course, it doesn't look like the Tiger Drop, but it sure as hell feels like it sometimes.



Remember: this is the Hitman Stance but you reverse the role of the front and rear arms, so your rear arm is the one that's swinging out.

The "flicker cross" itself is just an extension of the rear arm from its lowered position. This extension can reach anywhere from the top of the head to the waist easily.

This is what makes it so damn deadly: you can always get past a defense with it. You just need to know whether to aim at the body or the head.


I find that, appropriately, it works the best on the enemy's solar plexus. This is because A: the solar plexus is easily hit with a straight punch and B: the enemy tends to guard their head more than their body.


It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say I've won a lot of games because of this move. I personally thought my hooks were my strongest attack, but It seems like every time I throw a flicker cross to the body, I see the color yellow. I tried this move out on a dummy, and it seems flickers are registered as "hooks" by the game, so this might be part of the reason.
But hey, if it works, it works.


So why doesn't everyone use Hitman Style or "Flicker Crosses" if they're so powerful?

That's easy. Because it's risky as hell.

Look back at Ryō doing the stance. Do you know how easy it'd be for you to bash this dumbass with a right hook up close?
While I have done a lot of damage with flickers, I've also taken a lot of damage from a newfound carelessness.
And remember, a blurry screen means you're doing much less damage. So sometimes it can have the opposite effect of doing damage if you fail to dodge the counterattack.


In this clip, I actually succeed in dodging:
It's pretty fast, so I'd recommend watching it a couple of times. First, I flick towards the body, I dodge a hook, then I flick towards the head. Notice how my right side is completely open for him to throw this left hook after my first attack. Luckily, I barely manage to weave it, and land another flicker to the face. It was very risky, but I landed two great hits with fairly little energy (compared to a hook or uppercut).


Conclusion
I'd recommend the flicker as an opener when you're not too close to your opponent. Unless the other guy looks like they're seeing stars (or you're confident you can dodge), I don't really recommend it mid-combo. Too many times have I tried that only to get countered really hard on my rear side.

In a real match, this move would likely be a lot less useful. If you punched something hard with it, you'll probably fracture your wrist if you don't keep it straight, so be careful if you try it in a real setting.

But who knows? Maybe it works well. Maybe I just created a new move.

Just for fun:

A couple years after writing this article, I dipped toes into a little bit of other martial arts styles, like Judo, Aikido, and Capoeira. It's fun to note the differences between all of these and boxing.

Firstly, don't use boxing to be a terrible human. For one thing, it'd be quite ironic to use the "sport of the gentleman" like that. If you use boxing outside the ring, I should hope that it was used in pure defense of yourself or others. If you can back off or run from something, do it. A true gentleman fights in a ring. Nobody wants to go to jail (or die) after fighting a random person at a pub just because they're an ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. Those people aren't worth your time.

If it is a defensive situation where you have little choice, then I must say that despite my supreme love for boxing, I must admit that it's a bit flawed as a style for self-defense, but perhaps a really good stepping stone. It's the martial art of a prideful, practical man. You focus one-on-one with another person and utilize simple striking techniques on them that you have honed to a razor sharp edge to overwhelm and knock them down.

That's all fine and dandy, but, as said before, it takes no account for grabs, kicks, weapons, or multiple enemies. And you're bound to see some of that if you're ever in an unlucky situation.

So if you want to upgrade boxing for outside the ring, take these into consideration. Hey, you might just create the next martial art!

It seems pretty minor, but stretch before the match starts.

I stretch to my toes, do circles with both of my arms, and roll my shoulders.

Instead of copying me, better advice might be to personally monitor what muscles feel sore after each session and then adjust accordingly.

For example: if your neck hurt a lot after playing, I would aim to roll your neck before and after every session.


This is another thing that I very much underestimated.


I've played games where I stretched and games where I didn't stretch.

The difference for me is that it may physically hurt to "go all out" if I don't stretch beforehand, like I might be pulling a muscle.
This tends to not happen after getting into the habit of a pre-match stretch.

So stretching will not only decrease your pain and potential damage, it could increase your limits.


Another obvious tip, but drink water and eat food that has at least a little bit of sodium.


Some athletes always assume that more water is better. This isn't true, and there are actual stories of football players dying from drinking too much water.

When you drink too much water, your sodium levels go stupid low. You could vomit, have a seizure, get brain damage, and eventually die.

I don't know much about football, but Tom Brady admits to drinking 37.5 glasses of water some days.
This is way too much.
That man really is trying to kill you.

Instead eat a little bit in preparation to the large amount of water you are inevitably going to drink mid-match.
And, y'know, don't drink 37 glasses of water.

Break Time

You did it. You somehow survived three minutes of hell.


Well, maybe survived isn't the right term...


You're breathing really hard. You don't know how you'll be able to go on in the match. Your sides hurt, your lungs feel like trash, and you're really craving water.


I... I actually didn't know what to do the first couple of times this happened.

I just chose to endure it.


But I learned over time (and I guess with maturity) that you shouldn't do that.


Willpower and endurance is a powerful trait that can be strengthened, but there's a point where you can be more harmful than helpful. Remember that there's a large difference between someone who's only sweating, and someone who's lightheaded, seeing static, and about to pass out.

There's really no glory in being the person that claims to just "deal with it" when it comes to exhaustion and dehydration.

It's just toxic.

If you're in pain, do not deny it. Try to heed these tips - and help yourself and if it's really bad. It's courageous to endure, but sometimes it's much more courageous to recognize your physical limits.

If you think about it, your match is literally just a click away.


No stress. Just play another time.



During your breaks:

• Take deep breaths. You want to try to slow down your heart rate and get a bunch of oxygen in your blood. This takes a bit of self-control, but I've almost felt completely normal post-match after getting better at this.
  
• Make sure you're good to continue. If you see TV static, feel feint, or anything overly bad in general, just quit the game and play another time.
  
• If you quit, don't ever assume you wasted your time. Either way, your stamina is sure to have improved, so you're sure to do better next bout.
  
• Drink water. You'd be surprised how many people believe that they shouldn't drink water in the middle of a workout. Trust me, you'd have to drink a ♥♥♥♥ ton of water and have very little sodium in your diet for it to negatively affect you and... come on man, ya gotta treat yourself right, you know? It's just common sense.

Post-match
Did you win? Hell yeah! Maybe it's time to try the next guy, or a higher difficulty (tomorrow, after you've rested, of course).


Did you lose? Eh, don't worry about it, pal.


Huh? You thought I would make fun of you for losing?
Buddy, I was just joking earlier.


Really, who gives a ♥♥♥♥.


You had the courage to play in the first place.



No matter what happens, remember to encourage yourself.



You're a boxer in my book.

A pure legend.

If you need to hear it, I'm proud of you.


No, I mean it.


No matter what happened, you proved yourself resolute enough to see through the entire thing, and that takes guts. Guts that not everyone in this world has.

So you did good. You already seem pretty cool to me.


Picture me giving you a thumbs up, and patting you on the back. Because that's what I'd be doing if I saw you in person.


You did good.

No, seriously.

Firstly, I wanted to say thank you to everyone that took the time to read my guide and I hope it helped you out. If you want to add anything or have suggestions/corrections, feel free to comment and I'll try to adjust things when I have time.

While everything I said about myself is true, I'm primarily a writer. A lot of this guide is actually ironic.

Honestly, I do think most gamers have less than ideal bodies, but I don't truly mean to look down on them for that or their interests (especially since I'm a huge nerd myself). The beginning is primarily to be funny and entertaining.

Huge shoutout to the game developer! You made one of my favorite VR games and it's pretty damn cheap compared to a lot of other VR titles.

Credit to BettersonMcgee in the comment section for inspiring the "Supplementary Workouts" section!


On an unrelated note I'm currently making a video game right now. It's a post-apocalypse story about working up a business skyscraper, defeating dudes along the way. If you want to support me or learn more, my website is here[www.tylershandcoded.com]

also my Paypal is tvongthongchit@gmail.com.

Please feed my sushi habits.


I did not create anything other than the writing and the Thrill of the Fight gifs. Thrill of the Fight is owned by Sealost Interactive LLC.


Maybe it's because it's 2021, but the GIFs were annoying to make. It's largely because Steam only allows for them to be 2MBs max, which meant I had to learn to lower the resolution and color of literally every GIF in order to post it.

Steam, please update this.


Also, hey you, watch Hajime no Ippo and Ashita no Joe.


Love,
Tyler (But I’m Not A Creator) Vongthongchit