Went to a boxing gym...

[NPMantis]

Hi all,

I just thought I'd share my experience with you. I finally went to a boxing gym last Monday (after a long time of putting it off!) with a mate, it was a little different to expected.

After training in Kung Fu and Muay Thai where you have an instructor telling you what to do, it was very different to go to a boxing gym and basically get ignored by the instructors, although I was expecting this - I have heard that boxing coaches only really coach their fighters that have been going for a long time.

When we arrived we spent the best part of half an hour skipping and eventually plucked up the courage to ask one of the instructors what we should be doing and he was really helpful, he showed us how to stand, shadow box and jab/cross so we spent the remainer of our time there doing this.

There were quite a lot of kids there (teens) with a bit of an attitude problem with a few older people who were more focussed on training. It was quite clicky and we were obviously the new boys, although we're not going there to socialise it did have a bit of an atmosphere. I didn't feel 100% comfortable there, although I guess that just adds to the motivation to train and not let yourself down. We didn't use any of the heavy bags as we obviously don't know how to do, has anyone here been boxing? Should we just dive right in and learn the technique as we go along or what?

The fitness of the other boxers is unbelievable, everybody was covered in sweat. The workouts were pretty tough. Essentially from what the coach was saying, most people there did :

- 4 rounds of skipping
- 4 rounds of shadow boxing in a mirror
- 4 rounds of boxing bags/focus pads
- 4 rounds of pressups/etc. in a circuit they had which was 30 secs of 6 kinds of exercise - burpees, pressups, crunches, rev pressups, etc.
..etc.

It is very hard training but it is something I have wanted to do for a long time so I'm glad I finally did it. I think everyone should try it at least once, however hard I thought I was training before it has showed me that I need to train harder!

Although many people argue boxing is not complete, it's very good training for anyone in terms of fitness, footwork and power and speed of strikes and I'd highly recommend it.

Anyway, I hope this has been useful for someone and if anyone has any ideas for me it'd be great!

Many thanks,

NPMantis

[yuanfen]

NP Mantis- I do not know the boxing gym that you went to-
and some things can be different in a US versus Uk gym... even in the US there are gyms and there are gyms.

I am glad that you went. Boxing fitness is a world into itself and training regimens can vary fro amateur and pro. Boxing can be a useful base for learning self defense and good boxers ahould not be underestimated by MA folks.
But for the sorting life- a boxer's prime is over for the most part by 30- though by careful nurturing some skills can remain for some time- if neural damage has not occurred...from too many matches.

Nest time you go spota friendly trainer and ask him to show you how to hit the bags properly- heavy, light, speed bag etc.
Depending on trainer there will be variations about where to have the hands and footwork. A good trainer will also analyse your strengths and weaknesses and make individualised recommendations on training, bag work, shadowboxing and sparring.

Some important qualities can be duplicated in other ways in TCMA but boxing teaches a lot about composure under fire, distance,
non telegraphing,
non flinching amoung other goodies.

Like many subjects-getting a wise teacher is better than reading Dempsey, watching videos and television etc. And a good trainer will bring you along rather feeding you to the wolves.
A problem can be that good teachers are more oriented to the golden gloves, police atletic leagues or the pros. rather than to kung fu stylists.

[maccajim]

The reason they train that hard is once u have put the mouth guard in and spared after the 3rd u wish u had done tonnes more skipping cardio, when the guy u were beating in the 1st starts slamming u cause u can't keep your hands up

[neit]

perhaps it would be good to keep in mind that you are not training for "large gloved combat" but more bare fisted. i know several boxers who have ended a streetfight with one punch, but at the same time broken their hand. i like to do some boxing on the heavy bag, but i keep it bare fisted or wraps only. even light bag gloves cause me the false sense that my hands are indestructable.

[Merryprankster]

Broken hands=target choice problem.

[Knifefighter]

Originally posted by yuanfen
But for the sorting life- a boxer's prime is over for the most part by 30- though by careful nurturing some skills can remain for some time- if neural damage has not occurred...from too many matches.

This is true for almost all physical activities. Whether you are talking boxing, martial arts, self-defense, running, golf, or tennis. Whatever the activity, physical peak comes between 25 and 35 for the majority of people.

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

i got too much on my plate right now to even think about getting serious at a boxing gym, but i firmly believe every man, woman, and child should be able to throw a decent jab, cross, hook, and uppercut.

[ewallace]

I thought you believed that every man should be able to throw a decent jab, cross, hook, and uppercut at a woman or a child.

[MatT3T4]

My old Muay Thai gym was like that, except my Kru showed me everything from day one, very cool guy. The people there were nice, and helpful, and willing to help you when you needed.

[fa_jing]

I'm honestly surprised that no one ever showed you how to train your mantis strikes on a heavy bag. I would think that at least some of these strikes would be related to Western boxing-type strikes, and wouldn't appear too out of place at the gym.

[NPMantis]

I went back again last night and I enjoyed it much more. I think I was just expecting too much out of it. I figure it'll take me a mont or two to start enjoying it, like when I first went to the gym!

I did 4 rounds of skipping, shadow boxing in a mirror and heavy bag, then did a circuit of crunches, pressups, squats, etc. and I'm not feeling too bad today, no muscular pain at all.

I think it's a very enlightening experience going to a boxing gym, I definately need to improve my footwork and punching power an technique... I was amazed at the footwork of the boxers, after doing Kung Fu and Muay Thai I have to say I've probably never met anyone who was as light on their feet as these guys.

Thanks a lot for your help guys, it really helped me a lot!

ps. I got some good boxing articles and a boxing manual if anyone in interested in learning a bit more about boxing please post a mail address and I'll send you some stuff or leave me a private message.

[Ravenshaw]

For a short time, some of my martial brothers and I were doing extra training in preparation for fighting competition. Though when I sparred, my techniques were kung fu, but when we trained for endurance we trained like Thai boxers (one of the guys doing it used to practice Muay Thai). Here's how we did it:

After the 2 1/2 hour Bak Sil Lum class (one hour conditioning, forty-five minutes teaching junior students, forty-five minutes lesson from Sifu), we changed and got out the equipment. Then we did:
-3 rounds of skipping rope
-3 round shadowboxing in front of a mirror
-4 rounds focus mitts
-4 rounds takedowns
-4 rounds Thai pads
-At least 1 round medicine ball

We usually finished at midnight and everyone had already been there since seven o'clock at the latest (I'd been there since three!).

What I got out of it was:
-Endurance in general
-Endurance specifically for punching/kicking
-Familiarity with a few good punching/kicking combos

[NPMantis]

Well, I'm still going and thought I'd update you all. I'm really enjoying it and I'm probably fitter than I ever have been, after the first month it becomes much easier but there's still an atmosphere which encourages you to train really hard, this is my standard current workout :

7 Rounds of skipping
3 Rounds of shadow boxing in mirror
5 Rounds on the heavy bags

(1 round = 3 minutes of exercise and 1 minute rest).

I would highly recommend anyone try it for the experience!

[ComeToJesus]

You shoud probably try and put the skipping rounds together. More like 20 minutes of constant skipping, rather than 3 minutes then rest. I'm not just talking out of my a$$, I used to kickbox.
The way I used to train was leaving the skipping for the end.

[fa_jing]

so when are you going to spar a boxer?