Boxing

As a young boy, boxing was my first love & I participated in training & sparring sessions as a junior at my local amateur club back in the 80s.

I recall being on the verge of selection to box for the club when it was all quickly brought to a sudden halt after a relatively short period.

When you're taught how to punch, you typically start with some light bag work before eventually sparring.

Inevitable punches to the nose, mouth & head can lead to one of two outcomes.

It either motivates you to improve & continue or convince you very quickly that you aren't suited for it.

I generally did okay in sparring during training, but the more experienced kids would send me home with headaches that would last for three days.

I do look back & wonder if I'd have been good enough to have won junior or even senior titles but the decision to stop was the correct one.

I truly enjoyed the training (not sparring) and still hit the bag today, always grateful for the confidence it instilled in me.

When I became a personal trainer many years later, I became boxing instructor under a course run by David Haye & his trainer at the time, Adam Booth.

I then used this to train clients in individual sessions & run my own boxing classes.

The classes were not based on fight preparation, they were used to teach the fundamentals of pad punching, head movement & footwork to enhance fitness; & it works.

Anyone that has ever done it will tell you that there's more involved than throwing punches.

Hitting a moving target whilst moving your head & feet into the right position heightens your respect for just how demanding a form of exercise it is, especially once fatigued.

Then there's its stress relieving qualities.

I could not count the number of times clients would come into a session stressed over something that had gone at work earlier that day & within minutes, by focussing on something different & exerting high physical intensity it would be gone.

Confidence building

I once did a talk to a group of around 20 women when I picked out one who weighed around 8.5 stone/54k.

Punching starts from the floor, using that energy by transferring it through the feet & legs before rotating through the torso & shoulders will result in the force ending with enough impact that a woman of that stature could easily render a man 5 stone heavier incapacitated.

This was greeted with a shocked response until I explained that in addition to the above, the key was correct technique, timing & placement.

Like any other form of martial art the knowledge gained by the recipient must always be applied with responsibility & in the correct manor.

For instance a few years back, a single mother contacted me, worried about her 13-year-old son, whom she believed was being bullied.

She had learned about the classes I was conducting at the time, attended one & then sought my assistance.

My goal was not to teach her son to fight, but to help him neutralize an immediate threat of danger when all other options had been exhausted.

My classes typically focused on techniques, starting with single punches before progressing to basic combinations, followed by blocking and various other defensive drills. Participants would wrap their hands (crucial) before putting on gloves & partnering with someone wearing pads, with roles switching halfway through.

Techniques were taught, the training drills were intense, and there was excellent camaraderie during the class.

I've found that this type of training demands endurance, speed, explosiveness, timing, power, and coordination; it covers all the bases.

The emergence in popularity of other disciplines such as Muay Thai (Thailand), Jiu Jitsu (Brazil) & Krav Maga (Israel) point to a growing interest in alternative forms of self defense training not often practiced in commercial gyms & these are excellent disciplines.

If you're a bit flat from doing your usual gym routine & want to learn something new then any of the above is something that I would highly suggest.

If choosing boxing then get yourself into a class that is run by a certified coach or better still a licensed boxing gym that opens their doors to the public on a particular day.

These clubs are run by ex pros & amateurs who know the sport & will ensure that what you are doing is safe & correct.

You will learn a confidence building skill that will stay with you for the rest of your life & one that is also a great for fitness & for releasing stress.