shadowboxing

/ˈʃædoʊˌbɑksɪŋ/
noun
  1. The activity of practicing boxing movements without a real opponent, as a form of exercise or training.
    • He does ten minutes of shadowboxing every morning.
    • The coach had the team start with shadowboxing to warm up.
    • Shadowboxing is a great way to improve your punching technique.
  2. A situation where people avoid dealing with a real problem or opponent, often by pretending to fight or argue.
    • Stop the shadowboxing and address the budget cuts directly.
    • Their public debate was shadowboxing while the real issues were ignored.
    • The meeting was just shadowboxing; no real decisions were made.