The Forearm Pin

There is always the question of the Old School vs the New School, each generation believes they are better and more advanced than the one that came before them. In many sports this may be true and in many sports it is true up to a certain point – such as Boxing. In Boxing we have seen it all before and Boxing is a sport governed by weight classes so fighters are not necessarily faster or harder hitting than their predecessors. Technically I do not believe today’s boxers are ahead of generations in the past, sure diet, nutrition and strength and conditioning have advanced but technique, more of what makes you a better boxer has not in my opinion advanced. So here is a quick look at one Old School Boxing technique we’ve seen used today but was developed many years ago.

The Pin is a technique whereby the boxer uses one forearm to block or hold the glove or arm of the opposing boxer, this prevents the boxer from throwing a counter punch and also interferes with the boxers defence making it more difficult to block the opponents punches.

In the video below we see Vasyl Lomachenko using the pin to block and opponents guard and throw punches with his free hand, he then changes the sequence to instead using the other arm to block the guard and throw punches with the other hand. More tricks from the bag of the one they call the matrix, he truly is a boxing genius.

After this clip of Lomachenko, the Old School Boxing coach Don Familton explains that the pin was used by the great Archie Moore. Moore was one of the fighters I discussed in my book Forgotten Legends of the Ring. Known as the Old Mongoose for being a wily fighter in the ring, Moore knew every trick in the book. Familton brings up Moore when discussing the inside slip which can be a risky move in boxing because you are potentially slipping into the power hand of your opponent so it is generally safer to slip to the outside. Familton explains that Archie Moore would slip to the inside but to decrease the risk of slipping into the right hand, Moore would use his right forearm to pin the opponents arm and use his left hand to throw hooks to the head and body. We can see an example of Archie Moore also using the pin in the video below.

Take a look at the video and see whether this old school boxing trick is something you can incorporate into your game.