pretty limited to folks who wanted to box in the ring competitively but that has changed a lot and many do it nowadays primarily for training. Some because they really wanted to learn the sport but plenty of others who were just looking for a new way to exercise, burn calories, tone up, get some stress out, have more fun with their workout, look cool, etc.
As I have said thousands of times, no matter what the reason or combination of reasons, learning proper boxing form is critical because it helps with everything: better workout, burns more calories, tones you up more, gets more stress out because you are hitting hard with more efficiency, is more fun because you feel good about yourself getting better at something and of course you look cooler the better you box!
Besides just proper form, there is a more to understanding boxing. The biggest thing is what I kind of lump into one big category called "The Why." Why do we do the things that we do in boxing? What is the point of it all? Starting from there can give you the best path forward to understanding The How and The What.
There are many layers to this and it starts with the most basic - why do we throw punches? It's not just an exercise, even if you do it for just exercise. We generally throw punches in boxing to hurt our opponent (or set them up for a punch that does hurt them). We want to hurt our opponent because they are going to hurt us if we don't. When you start looking at punches like that on the heavy bag, it can change everything. Good form will inherently give you more power but attitude and understanding will help a lot too. Throw punches with bad intentions. You want to break somebody's face, break their ribs, break their spirit. Yes, I know that's very violent and you may be a nice person but you can still think of your punches in this mean, violent way.
If you are just tapping the bag and moving your arms, that's not really going to benefit you very much. Another thing I say all the time is that I would much rather people threw fewer better, harder, more explosive punches than just non-stop lackluster punches. Throwing non-stop lackluster punches is like jogging - steady state cardio. But that's not what boxing is. It is a series of quick, anaerobic explosions like mini-sprints. I guarantee you the workout will go through the roof once you start approaching things like this.
Even beyond the punches, imagine your boxing workout is a real fight. If you were standing in a ring with someone who wants to hurt you, you wouldn't break posture or be flat footed with your hands down. You probably wouldn't just stand there either after you were done punching because very likely, that opponent was going to punch you back! So you would be moving around because you don't want to get hit. You might be tired but it's better to be tired than take punches (mostly). If you dodge a punch, it can't be lazy and slow or you wouldn't be able to dodge it. Again, understand The Why. When we do something like roll, you are ducking down under a fast punch that is trying to take your head off. So duck down fast! And if you are quick enough to dodge it, don't waste any time in countering or countering with a weak punch of your own. Someone just tried to take your head off! You don't want that happening again. So go get 'em! Once again, with this approach, everything you do during your boxing workout gets better.
You can take this much deeper too. Understanding The Why behind combinations and strategy can make a much bigger difference than you might think. When you throw something like a basic jab-cross-hook, what exactly are you doing? Where are you striking exactly and how might someone react? What if they bring their gloves together to block the jab and cross but you sneak the hook around their guard and hit them right in the jaw? Think of it that way and it will change the way you punch. What I see sometimes is people throwing punches as if it were just a random sequence of movements they have to memorize. It's like dancing but just doing the steps without ever feeling the music or getting the spirit of the dance. Or better yet, maybe more like acting. You don't just want to memorize lines. You want to become the character, understand what they are feeling and why they are feeling that way.
I know the punch sequences can be difficult to remember but understanding The Why may actually help you here too. Like, why are we throwing 2 punches to the head and one to the body? How are we setting someone up? Oftentimes, we explain this during class but you might tune out if you think that understanding The Why isn't important. When these punches take on more meaning and have a certain logic to them, they become much easier to remember.
So how do you better understand The Why? Well for one, as I just mentioned, listen when we talk about it during classes and/or ask us questions about anything any time! Also, during class, visualize the heavy bag as a real opponent. Think about where your punches are landing and always imagine punches coming back. You can always take a deeper dive into boxing online too. Besides our wonderful youtube channel filled with focus points of the week and midweek musings - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLN0PPf0o8X6X1Te2zEgHrqy-BtyI-RAg3 - there are plenty of other good resources out there who do in depth fight breakdowns like The Modern Martial Artist.
And always remember, no matter what your reason for boxing training is, whether you give a damn about the sport or not, understanding The Why will help every aspect of your training. The more you know, the better everything gets, even in ways you may not be able to imagine.
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