Failure to cover themselves is a very common mistake students make when sparring with Boxers

Covering a Boxer adequately is very important. If you cover him but inadequately, a skillful Boxer may slip pass your taming hand and strike you at close range. In Shaolin Kungfu, such slipping away from a taming hand is called lau sau, or leak hand. Instead of merely taming him, you may grip his arm with a Tiger-Claw or an Eagle-Claw, thereby making your coverage even more secure.

When you cover a Boxer adequately, he usually bounces away. He can then strike you with fast punches again. To prevent this, you should chase in swiftly to bridge the gap. As your stances are wider than those of a Boxer, it is easy for us to do so. As a Boxer bounces a step away, you move in half or a full step of your Bow-Arrow Stance, thus still keeping your covering hand on him. (Your one step of a Bow-Arrow Stance is about two steps of a Boxer’s bounce.) When you have him securely covered, you can safely strike him.