How To Get Better At Boxing When You ARE Boxing

Even if you box entirely for fitness and don't give a toss about the sport at all, boxing is a skill-based workout and something you can get better at just about every time you do it. How much better you get depends on you and your coach. For the sake of this article, let's assume you have a pretty good coach who knows how to teach, cares about you and wants to make you better. We're just going to talk about the You part here. How can you make the most of your boxing training and improve your skills and fitness levels during training? Of course the obvious answer is "Practice!" but let's also assume you already are practicing and want to practice better. Here are 8 tried-and-true suggestions!

1) Listen to Your Coach

I used to be a Project Manager (among other things) in the video game industry. Did it for many years and as the teams I worked with got bigger and bigger, communication became more and more important. It was a relatively fluid environment with changes always coming down the pipe - dates, assignments, features, etc. We'd have meetings and send out emails but people wouldn't always get the message. Then they'd get mad when they didn't know what was going on. I tried very hard to impress on them that communication is a 2-way street. Information must be broadcast and information must be received. Just broadcasting doesn't mean something gets communicated. The receiver must actively receive it. They must pay attention and process it.

Of course this is true in everything else and certainly boxing. Listen to what your coach is broadcasting, even if you think it doesn't apply to you or you already know it.

2) No Really, Listen

When it comes to learning a skill like boxing, especially at a furious pace when you are tired, it is easy to become unaware of what you are actually doing. A couple years ago, if a coach would have told me to keep my hands up when I was punching, I would have thought, "Duh, I'm already doing that!" But the strange thing was, I wasn't. I thought I was but I wasn't always. This is VERY common and a big reason why we all need coaches. We tend to think we are doing something but an impartial observer will notice otherwise. We have to be willing to always question ourselves and accept feedback.

3) Don't Assume That You Can't Do It

This is huge. I have now seen many thousands of people learn to box, many of them not necessarily young, athletic, fit or have a natural aptitude for learning a sport. These things do not have to be barriers though. True, everyone progresses at different rates but everyone CAN do it and everyone can be stronger and faster than they currently are.

The problem, though, is not physical at all. It's mental. I can usually tell from looking at someone whether or not they believe they can do something I've asked them to do. And it is pretty much as simple as is this: if they think they can, they can. If they think they can't, they can't. The mental barriers are just as strong as the physical ones. Too often, I see folks resign themselves to believing something is too hard and they can't do it right off the bat instead of calmly, taking each part step by step and executing with confidence. Believe that you can do it, believe that you can do better, and both things will be true.

4.) But Don't Assume That You've Got It Either

This is kind of the flipside of #3. Believing that you've got something down and no longer need to think about making it better anymore. Whether it is boxing or any sport, the highest level athletes don't practice less than everybody else because they are so good, they practice more! There is never a point where a boxer says something like, "I don't think I need to practice throwing jabs any more. I've thrown millions and that jab is as good as it's going to get." No, your jab and your everything can ALWAYS get better. That is a great thing about sports. There are no ceilings!

5.) You Must Push and Get Uncomfortable

I have met plenty of people who say they want to get better but they want this to somehow happen magically or without putting in harder work than they have put in previously. Unfortunately, as nice as it would be, this is not going to happen. We all have to ask ourselves, do we really want to get better? Really? Or are we just telling ourselves this because they alternative sounds negative?

If you really want to get better at boxing (or most things in life), you're gonna have to work for it. You are going to have to leave your comfort zone, physically and mentally. You can't be afraid to push yourself a little harder when you're completely exhausted and just want to rest. You can't be afraid to try something brand new that you might look silly doing. You can't be afraid to change something that you've been doing for a long time and is awkward to fix. Even if you are boxing only for fitness, don't be afraid to slow down and try to get some of the mechanics right. You may feel like you are sacrificing your workout that particular day but in the long term, your workouts will improve with proper technique. There are lots of ways to get out of our comfort zone and we have to do pretty much all of them to get better! Doing the same thing over and over will not get you there.

This also relates to working on the things you have more trouble with. If you struggle with something like, say, uppercuts, don't just resign yourself to the fact that you struggle with uppercuts. Work extra hard on them and be comfortable being uncomfortable. Just like you push past the physical barriers, you must push past those mental barriers too.

6.) Stay Disciplined When You Are Tired

Speaking of scary things, getting really tired during a workout is kind of scary. We don't usually think about it in those terms but it is true. Being tired at the end of a long day and climbing into a comfy bed is great but the kind of physical exhaustion that comes from a high-intensity workout is a whole different animal. What's more is that when you feel this way and the workout is not even half over. You have to still go on, despite wanting very much to stop.

If/when this happens to you, what if you looked at it in a totally different way? What if you looked it at as A) a good sign that shows you are working hard and making yourself stronger (despite feeling weaker at that exact moment) and B) see it as an opportunity to stay disciplined? If you watch just about any boxing match that goes into the later rounds, you will see professional boxers in the best physical condition possible start to get tired. For many of them, when they get tired like this, things start to change. They're not as up on their toes, their hands aren't always up, their punches don't snap like they used to, etc.

Some of that is certainly inevitable but if you find yourself feeling tired and not as sharp as you once were, start to focus more on what you are doing. Work extra hard to keep your hands up, stay on the balls of your feet and if your punches aren't as snappy, throw fewer of them, but focus more on snapping the ones you do throw. It really doesn't save you that much energy to put your hands down and rest than if you had just kept your hands up and moved around the bag. The difference is much smaller than someone might think. So do it! Spend that extra joule of energy, as I like to say, staying disciplined. 

7) Finish Strong!

Let's say you're not having the greatest day of training ever. Maybe you're tired and you're sick of trying to stay disciplined and you're pushing yourself but just feel like you are grinding your gears. We all have those days. All of us. Pro boxers even take rounds off sometimes! But in training, I would never advise taking a round off. What you can do though, is slow things down for a round where you're grinding a little bit but still try to finish strong at the end of the round. Or end of the session. Give yourself that extra push at the end because you know a break is coming. It won't feel great and you won't want to do it but it will make a big, positive difference in the long-term. Plus it trains your body to recover better and creates somewhat of a killer instinct.

8) Film Yourself

I mentioned earlier about how a coach can see things you can't and it's important to listen to them but sometimes, YOU need to see it to believe it. I also mentioned earlier not believing that I was dropping my hands on punches until I finally saw video of me doing it.

So film yourself during a boxing training session and then watch it back later. WARNING! You might be taken aback by what you see. Besides technical mistakes, we  often look slower on video than we feel like we are moving. And sloppier. Don't let that get you down though. Most everybody feels this way so instead think of it as constructive criticism. How can you get better?  Maybe try to improve your speed and mechanics. Then film yourself again later and compare the two. You might still feel like you were moving faster than the video shows but at least you see that you were moving faster than you were in the first video.

If you do these 8 things and put in the work, no matter who you are, you WILL get better at boxing and your fitness will improve. I guarantee it. There is no way it won't work. How much better you get may depend a little bit on other factors but you will improve. You just have to do it. And relatively speaking, they are not that hard to do. Think about this way, you've already done the hardest part. If have made the time and you are already in the gym training, that is by far the biggest hurdle for the vast majority of people. Showing up. Might as well make the most of your time while you're there, right?

How To Get Better at Boxing When You're NOT Boxing

Remember that scene in the movie, The Matrix, where Keanu Reeves's character is strapped to a chair with cables hooked up to his skull and a computer uploads a complete mastery of Kung Fu into his brain within seconds? Well, you can't do that with boxing. You also can't do it with Kung Fu. I do remember people selling tapes that you could listen to while you were sleeping that would implant suggestions that supposedly helped with things like weight loss, and I am pretty sure that none of those things worked either. As nice is it would be to do absolutely nothing and learn certain skills or disciplines, this is not an option for us in the present day. For now, learning things requires hard work.

But you can get better at boxing, even when you are not actually training boxing. Here are 4 ways to do it and note that you do have to be awake for all of them:

Watching With a Purpose

While we can't have boxing just directly implanted into our brains like Neo in the Matrix, we do have the ability now to watch boxing any time we want, anywhere we want, through our many screen options. Watching competitive boxing, particularly with skilled fighters, will help you to better understand the sport and movement mechanics, which can translate into better success in your own training. I put some good, classic fights up on our youtube channel here - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLN0PPf0o8X6WesaqNEuumJFunk5C9P_-u

But you can make it much more effective than just watching some good fights. Instead, pick a fighter to study. Preferably someone who you connect with and seems more similar to you than others. There may not be that many similarities but if you are small and fast, maybe find a good small and fast fighter to study, for example. Or better yet, let's say you have a favorite punch or at least, one you like to throw. Or maybe you really like footwork. Or defense. Or you just like punching and aren't interested as much in the other stuff. Or whatever. Find a fighter who is like that. Search online for things like, "which boxer has the best left hook?," "which boxer punches the fastest?," etc. You will likely get different answers and you can explore all of them a little.

Once you find that fighter to study, watch some of their fights or at least, highlights. Then try to visualize them when you get back to boxing training. Provided they aren't breaking a ton of rules, your boxing will almost definitely improve. I always tell people to watch Mike Tyson throwing uppercuts. The more you visualize him using his legs, exploding upwards, rotating his hips and arch his back, the more power you are going to get. I can tell you to do all of those things myself but if you are able to clearly see it in your head, it can really help.

DISCLAIMER: Note that the advice above is for someone who has already been training in boxing. You don't have to be an expert, not by any means, but at least have a very basic handle on the different punches and movements. I occasionally see people come to our club who have never done any training before in their lives and instantly try to be like Floyd Mayweather Jr., doing Philly Shell defense and shoulder roll and this is definitely NOT what I am talking about here. 

Boxing On My Mind

Just thinking about boxing will help you get better at it. Maybe won't make a huge difference but it will help. As I have said many many times, boxing is not natural. Taking a swing at somebody, sure, that is pretty natural but throwing proper punches with good form while staying protected is the opposite of natural. Keeping your mind engaged in the sport, even when you aren't training your body, will assist with the transition of making something unnatural become natural.

So, what should you think about? Could be anything, really, but something I recommend are combinations. Think about throwing a combination. Doesn't have to be anything long or fancy at all. Could even be a jab-cross. Just like I mentioned above, see it in your mind. Then think about what punch you might throw next. You don't have to put a lot of thought into it either, just whatever feels right. Then what might you throw after that? You could imagine defense as well. And you could think about everything in relation to an opponent and it will get even better. What did your opponent do when you threw the jab-cross? How does that change your next punch? Did they throw something back at you and how are you going to defend it? Perhaps this is veering into the more complicated, but simple works just fine, too.

When would you actually do this? While you're waiting in line for something. During an unskippable commercial interlude. Any time you have a few seconds where you aren't able to do anything else productive. You actually do this while you are trying to get to sleep and it actually may help, like a violent version of counting sheep. Maybe you are thinking now, "Look, I like boxing but I am not THAT into it where I would be thinking of combos during the day and night." Maybe that does feel like a certain level of interest that you don't have, but during these moments, what else are you going to think about? I am a relatively busy person and I like to stay busy, but still find those little moments of dead time all the time.

Accept That You Are Boxer

If you train boxing somewhat consistently, at least once a week in a very structured manner under a coach, you are a boxer. Doesn't matter if you train on the heavy bag, mitts, even shadow boxing, if you are training with a purpose and a decent coach, you are a boxer. I wrote a whole blog post on this once that anybody who doubts whether or not they are a boxer should read - https://theboxingmanifesto.blogspot.com/2022/12/are-you-boxer.html

How does this help you get better? Because it changes your mindset. It means you are more likely to do the 2 things I have already mentioned above and means that you take your own training more seriously, with more accountability. We all hold ourselves back in different ways and this is extremely common when it comes to average folks learning boxing. Boxing is not their world and as I'll say again, it is certainly not natural nor easy, so they create a mental block for themselves, as well as a built-in excuse. "I don't have to punch any harder or faster because I'm not a boxer - I'm just trying a new kind of exercise." They may certainly just be trying out a new kind of exercise but that thinking will hold them and their exercise results back. 

Once again, if you train consistently under a coach in a structured format, like the classes we do at our club, you are a boxer. You may not think of yourself as a particularly good or strong boxers but you are boxer nonetheless. And you can always get better. Always. No matter who you are or who you think you are.

Self-Care

Whether you are a boxer, bowler, bocce baller, or just regular old human being, proper nutrition, sleep and eating habits are important. You don't need me to tell you that, but sometimes it helps to think about it in a different context. If you eat healthier, you will perform better when you box. You'll have more energy, feel less fatigued, and recover quicker. If those things happen, you will be able to focus more on form and coaching in general, as well as generally feel more capable while you box as opposed to wiped out. You also may feel more confident as you perform better. All of those things translate into making you a better boxer, so the better you eat, the better you box.

Sleep too. If you have a rough sleep and only get about 4 hours in, you are almost definitely not going to perform as well the next day as you would have done with 7-8 hours of good sleep. Besides what I mentioned above with nutrition, a lack of sleep also leads to crankiness, which can make the mind less open to learning and developing. Sleep also gives the body a chance to recover so that you perform better the next time as well. If you have trouble falling asleep, there are plenty of healthy, non-narcotic options out there, like counting or thinking about boxing combinations as mentioned earlier. You just have to explore.

Of course everyone knows that eating and sleeping are crucial to our well-being but we can't just flip a switch and start eating better and sleeping better.  These things require time and discipline, not things we all have in spades. Instead of trying to do a total 180 with your self-care habits, start small. Maybe go to bed 30 minutes earlier than usual for a while. Take one day where you normally eat something like pizza and go with an even slightly healthier alternative. Baby steps. This does not have to be a major life change. Every little bit matters and besides making you generally healthier, it makes you a better boxer too.

What about other, non-boxing exercises? Will lifting/running/etc. help you become a better boxer when you're away from your training facility? This is yet another thing I have talked about before in an earlier post - https://theboxingmanifesto.blogspot.com/2021/06/weight-training-for-boxing-this-is-big.html#comment-form - but my short, pithy answer is that there are plenty of good reasons to perform other basic exercises but they likely won't make a huge difference in your boxing ability, with the exception of skipping rope. There are boxing benefits that come from skipping rope beyond the general fitness/cardio aspect, like timing, rhythm, learning how to turn off certain parts of your body while engaging others but for the most part, if the goal is simply to get better at boxing while not boxing in a gym, you would be better served practicing your footwork, head movement, and shadowboxing. You could do sprints and tempo runs for better cardio and weight loss, if this was an area you really wanted to focus on too. Most of us only have so much time for exercise though, and obviously you are going to get the best boxing bang for your buck by actually boxing. But when you can't box, at least there are some other options that don't really require any physical exertion.

Will Boxing Improve Your Golf Game? And Vice Versa?

Just like boxing, golf as we know it was invented in Great Britain (Scotland).  But other than that, the two sports wouldn't seem to have too much in common on the surface. Boxing is fast-paced, explosive and violent whereas golf is pretty much the opposite of all that. Some of the basic mechanics and movement philosophies, however, share a lot of similarities, including:

1. Stance and balance are critical
2. Power is generated from the ground up
3. The motion transfers from the legs through rotation of the hips and core. Torque!
4. Weight is shifted from one foot to the other
5. Fast-twitch muscle fibers are engaged
6. Muscles stay relaxed, not tense, to create a smooth, whip-like motion
7. Many punches, like golf swings, travel in an arc and maintaining that arc is critical for power and accuracy
8. Strong focus on technique and repeated practice of a single movement, never perfecting but always refining.

While people don't normally associate golf with physical strength, it is an often overlooked component. All-time great golfers like Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods used/use their legs to really drive the ball further than everybody else back in their respective heydays. Then there is the core. Just like people mistakenly think boxing punches come from the arms, some people think that about golf too. That you would swing your arms to hit the ball, when in reality, is the hips and core rotating that generates the swing while the arms follow.

So how does boxing help your golf game? Going back to those 8 similarities, boxing will not just give you reps in each of these things but thousands and thousands of reps PER SESSION, drilling those fundamentals into your brain and better yet, your muscle memory. Besides the memory part, these reps also develop muscles too. The more you push your foot into the ground to generate power on the punch, the stronger your legs get. The more you practice throwing fast, whip-like punches, the more fast-twitch muscle fiber you will develop. And the more you do literally everything in boxing, the stronger your core will be.

I have heard from literally every person who golfs and trains boxing that at the very least, their drives have undeniably improved from boxing. Distance, in particular, as well as accuracy. Plus increased stamina and coordination is always helpful. Boxing with proper technique can also help with core flexibility, something important when it comes to golf swings. There aren't a ton of boxers who golf but those that do, like Canelo and Manny Pacquiao, are pretty darn good players. Canelo may very well become a golf pro after he retires from the ring.

But what about the vice versa? Will golf help your boxing game? I can tell you this for absolute certain (and have said it many times), that the #1 hardest thing to teach people new to boxing is how to rotate their hips and shift their weight on every punch and defensive movement. It is just not natural and as I alluded to earlier, most untrained people think that boxing is done with the hands, arms and shoulders so that is where their focus is. Someone coming in from a golf background, however, will already understand this first, major point. They will likely know how to use their core to create torque and this is HUGE!

Depending on their golf experience level, they may also very well understand that tensing up every muscle and trying to brute strength every drive is not going to get the job done. They are going to get more distance on their swing by staying loose and fluid and the same is true with punches. Being able to relax while boxing and use that to actually throw faster, more dangerous punches is yet another thing that is very hard to beginners to grasp so a good golfer may come in with these skills already.

Of course there are plenty of things boxing and golf don't have in common but if you are a golfer looking to cross train, I guarantee that boxing is the best possible fit for you. Maybe not competitive boxing, as being punched in the head is not particularly useful for anything, but bag work, mitt work, and shadowboxing are going to definitely help your golf game. Plus you will have the added advantage of being ahead of the game on some of the more difficult concepts that come with learning boxing.

Where Did Boxing Come From?

Competitions involving combat and fist-fighting have been around for literally thousands of years. It
was part of the very first Olympiad in ancient Greece and there is evidence to show it goes back even further. But it was a lot different than what we know of the sport nowadays. There was very little structure other than whoever was left standing was also the winner. As such, it was very violent and bloody. 

With the rise of the Roman empire, gladiatorial combat with weapons and armor became more popular and of course even more violent, as the losing combatant generally died. But as Christianity began to rise and said Roman Empire faded, these kind of competitions were considered barbaric, eventually ceasing to exist on any mainstream level.

Bare-knuckle fighting, known first as pugilism, would surface again in Britain during the late 1600s. Contests would go down in relatively large venues, like the Royal Theater of London, and it became a popular sport to bet on. There were still no real rules though. No weight classes either. You could also wrestle, take your opponent down, and even hit them while they were down. The fights went on as long as they had to.

Despite its popularity, boxing was still technically illegal. One of the first champions to gain support was James "the Newton" Figg (probably not really his nickname). This was around the time that the term, "boxing” started to get associated with the sport but yet again, still no general set of rules, other than just ones made for specific fights. No referees either so there was plenty of headbutts, eye gouges (no gloves either), and God knows what else. It's funny to think about but it was really MMA long before MMA.One of Figg's training partners/proteges was Jack "Muscles" Broughton (also not his real nickname) who became champion and was apparently undefeated for 24 years. But more importantly, he was the first to codify any kind of official rules for general boxing contests. Known as "The Broughton Rules," they consisted of seven things that would eventually become adopted as The London Prize Ring Rules in 1743.

These rules established judges and knockdown rules, where a fighter would not be allowed to hit a downed opponent, as he was given a certain amount of time to stand up and continue the fight. Also outlawed were grabbing of the legs but you could still wrestle and throw kicks. Broughton was also one of the first boxers to wear something akin to a glove, then called "mufflers" to protect hands. Gloves did not achieve widespread popularity until about another 150 years though, as they actually made the sport more violent because combatants were able to punch up high since they didn't have to worry quite as much about breaking their hands, whereas bareknuckle fighters tend to go to the body more. NOTE: I would bet that American professional football might actually be safer too if players did not wear padding and helmets, for this same reason.

It wasn’t until 1867 that a Welch journalist and sportsman called John Graham Chambers would establish the Marquess of Queensberry Rules. They were called this because it was under the patronage of the Marquess of Queensberry that Chambers was able to publish those rules. This is when modern boxing would finally take shape and these rules are still used to this day.  Now boxers had to fight in a ring, there was no wrestling allowed whatsoever, the now-standard 3-minute round was introduced with 1 minute breaks in between, as was the notion of the 10-second count and standing 8 counts with boxers returning to their corners. The referee now had full control of the fight and it essentially made boxing into a real sport, as opposed to just a barroom brawl, where skill and tactics became more important.

It is unclear how the basic punches were developed but I would guess they predate the London bareknuckle scene of the 1700s. The old-timey boxing stance that people associate with Ireland - mainly because of the Notre Dame Leprechaun - actually did originate in England but it is also unknown if any specific person could have been credited with inventing it.

James "Jem" Mace (that actually was his nickname) was the first heavyweight champion under the new rules and his popularity helped to cement them into boxing culture. Mace, and the sport's popularity, would make it's way to America, particularly through English and Irish immigration. America would eventually start to dominate the sport and international fights started to take place. From there, boxing would spread throughout the world and at one time could even be considered one of the most popular global sports.

So, while you could say that boxing's roots trace back at least as long as we have cave drawings, it is safe to say that what we know as boxing today came directly from jolly, old England and will hopefully continue to flourish. While both amateur and competitive boxing are not as popular as they used to be (see my earlier blog post on that - https://theboxingmanifesto.blogspot.com/2023/02/what-is-wrong-with-professional-boxing.html), it is heartening to see that now more people probably have done some form of boxing training than ever before. So who knows, maybe the best era is still to come?

Hand Hygiene, Boxing and YOU!!

While it is often correctly mentioned that boxing is a full-body activity with most of the punching power being generated by the legs and core, it is primarily our hands which take the punishment. This is why it is important that when we train on the heavy bag, we wrap our hands, use at least 12-ounce gloves, and of course use proper form. 

We must take care of our hands and this extends beyond even the physical impact. We also want our equipment to last and stay in good condition. Then there are hygienic issues to be considered as well- for you and those you train with. Here are several important tips to keep in mind:

Wash (And Dry) Your Hand Wraps After Every Use!

It doesn't matter how clean you are, how clean your hands are, how clean your gloves are, or anything else: when you box for more than a few minutes, your hand wraps are not going to smell good. They get sweaty and wet with very little ventilation and they stink. Don't take it personally, it is an undeniable, scientific fact of life. If by some chance, your unwashed wraps don't smell particularly bad to you, I guarantee you they do to others. It can be pretty pungent too and very specific. So just like you would wash a T-shirt that got completely soaked with sweat after one use, you should do the same thing with hand wraps.

This smell is caused by bacteria and repeatedly exposing yourself to this bacteria can cause skin irritation and rash. In the case of hand wraps, you are also transferring this bacteria to your gloves. So it's not just about being nice to your coaches and training partners, washing your hand wraps is good for you too.

I have met some people who didn't know that they could wash their wraps and others who thought they could wash them but not put them in a dryer. You absolutely can and should put them in the dryer! Hand wraps are too long to dry properly without heating in a dryer. And if your hand wraps are wet when you use them, even after being washed, they are going to acquire bacteria more quickly.

PRO-TIP - Worried about your wraps getting tangled up in the laundry? Get a zip-up
mesh bag and put the wraps inside when you wash and dry them. They come in all sizes and are pretty cheap, $5-10 max.

Use Lotion For Your Hands

Sounds like a little thing but it really can make a difference. Punching something solid with dry, cracked skin can be painful, bloody in some cases, and it's not going to heal extra slow unless you do something. Now of course, you may think that raw, bleeding hands makes you kind of tougher but it will affect your punches somewhat, even if you try to consciously avoid it.

I like to just use lotion before I go to bed at night and it helps. Depending on your
hands, you may need it more frequently. Pretty much any moisturizing lotion is good but again, if you have really chapped hands, you might need something more serious.  I like the Duke Cannon "Bloody Knuckles" balm for those rough cases. Plus it just makes me feel manlier than say, L'Occitane

Dry/Disinfect Your Gloves

Just like wraps, the reason why old gloves smell bad is because they get damp, don't dry well, and thus, bacteria. But you can keep your gloves smelling fresh by disinfecting and drying them yourself, with the drying part being the most important. There are several ways to do this. First, as soon as you finish boxing, you can put these cedar-filled bags inside your gloves to help soak up some of that moisture. These are known as either "glove dogs" or "glove devils.” I have no idea why they are called either of those things, but they definitely help.

What helps even more is using a boot dryer of some kind. It is just a small unit with two plastic tube-like things sticking up that emit heat. I put my gloves on them immediately after use and turn up the heat for about 15 minutes. This has been a game-changer for me. Gloves I use every day have been able to last indefinitely stink-free. You don't need anything fancy here either. Mine cost about $16 bucks on Amazon. Plus you can use it for your boots too!

Disinfecting is not a bad idea either, especially if you are trying to rescue gloves that have already acquired a bit of an odor. You can use just regular old Lysol or in extreme cases, Odor-Aid. You don't need a lot of it either so a bottle should last you a long time. Just one or two squirts after use can take a pair of gloves that you were pretty much ready to give up on because of the smell can turn things completely around.

Am I Too Old to Train Boxing?

If  you are indeed reading this right now, without even knowing exactly who you are, I can say with some certainty that you are NOT too old to train boxing. You are likely not too old to compete either, provided you are matched up appropriately. I would not necessarily recommend the latter to most but I would recommend the former to everyone. Everyone can train in boxing, provided you have no pre-existing health issues that a doctor believes might preclude you from it.

This is because boxing training for fitness, skill-development and fun is relatively quite safe to do. It is high-intensity, yes, but everyone can go at their own pace. Even at a very high intensity level though, boxing does not put nearly the stress on your joints that other forms of exercise do. When people do something like jog for instance, their feet impact the ground thousands upon thousands of times. Surfaces may vary but either way, that ground is not going anywhere. It is solid so each step someone takes, their full bodyweight is absorbed as soon as that foot hits the ground. Eventually, that repetitive stress can wear them down, especially those with non-small frames. HIIT training may not have the same volume of stress but it almost always involves jumping, which can magnify the problem significantly. Weight-lifting, even with lighter weights, can also present a risk factor as you may have perfect form 99.9% of the time but that one, rare, instance where maybe you're tired, maybe you're coming down to the last few reps of set and something is just slightly off, that could be the rep that causes an injury.

Boxing training does not have these same kind of hazards. Whether you are punching a heavy bag, mitts, or just the air (shadowboxing), you are not striking an immovable surface and hence, aren't absorbing 100% of the impact. Nor are you as likely to encounter the problem of landing something wrong and causing serious injury because there is still some give to your striking surface. There is plenty of footwork in boxing and much of the power comes from the legs but the knees stay bent and there is no hard contact between your foot and the ground. And while you get great resistance training by punching the bag, it is not connected to your body the way a weight is, nor does it affect movement the way holding weight does so the chances of that one bad rep which causes injury is far slimmer than it would be lifting.

There are certainly other forms of exercise that don't pose big risk factors either but other than swimming, you are going to be hard pressed to find one that provides anywhere near the workout that boxing training does for cardio, full-body resistance and high intensity training. 

But that's not all! Boxing trains your base level physical skills like balance, coordination, agility and reaction time. When we're young and running around on playgrounds, climbing trees, playing sports, etc., we are constantly using these skills. As we get older and our adult lives take over, it is very hard to remain active like that. We may go to the gym for an hour every day or so but unless you participate in a sport, it is very, very unlikely you will train all 4 of those skills I mention. Even if you do a lot of sports-related drills, without the constantly change and real time adaptation, you won't be engaging those skills nearly as much as you would with boxing training. (Note: I have met many people who believe their lack of coordination cannot be improved, that they are just born that way. While it's true that some people are naturally more coordinated or better in certain ways than others, this is still a trainable skill that can be improved with practice).

The other big thing about skills like coordination and balance is that if you don't use them, you lose them. This is one reason that seniors face an increased risk of falling as they get older. Balance requires maintenance and finding a fun activity to keep you engaged is the best way to do it. General body coordination is required to do just about all the activities of daily life boxing will certainly help us here as it requires just about every body part to work in concert.

Boxing trains your brain too. It's not rocket science but it does require you to think and keep your mind active. Processing each move, each sequence of moves and changing patterns of movement keeps the neural pathways open and the neurotransmitters firing. This is why boxing can be recommended for people with Parkinson's, to either slow and sometimes help reverse symptoms of the disease.

Then there is stress. Even those who have never boxed in their lives know that it is a great way to relieve stress and while some of us mellow out as we get a little older and wiser, there is always stress to be released and this is probably the healthiest way to do it! 

These are all some of the reasons why I myself has chosen boxing as a training regimen. It is literally something I can do my entire life. It is a full-body, high-intensity workout that is easily scalable with less risk of injury and long-term wear and tear than most anything else. It will keep my skills sharp, my brain working, and even slow the process of my eventual transition into a grumpy old man. Plus if I ever have to throw down against some mischievous young whippersnappers, I've at least got a fighting chance!

Do kickboxers and MMA-ers box differently than boxers?

Whether it is Muay Thai, kickboxing (not the same as Muay Thai) or mixed martial arts, fighters generally use the same traditional punches that boxers do - jabs, crosses, hooks, uppercuts, body shots, overhands, etc. But that doesn't necessarily mean they throw them the same way or in the same context. Occasionally, you hear boxing purists criticize the boxing ability of Thai boxers, kickboxers and MMA-ers. Sometimes the criticism is more than warranted but other times, it is not so much that their boxing technique is "bad,” it's just that their sports are different and that drastically changes how they approach the punching part of their striking.

Even just within boxing itself, there are different styles, different stances, different guards and different strategies. Oftentimes, these variables change the way fighters throw punches. Then when we add things like kicks, elbows, knees, backfists, sweeps, spinning attacks, takedowns, submissions and more, those variables can change the punching technique exponentially.

The format of the sport will, of course, have a big effect as well. Professional boxing rounds are generally 3-minutes long, with 1-minute rest in between, and fights can be anywhere from 4-12 rounds. Most of the fights you see on TV will be at least 8 rounds. In Muay Thai, their rounds are also 3 minutes long but they usually get a 2-minute break in between and 5 rounds in total. Most kickboxing competitions use 3-minute rounds, with 1-minute breaks in between, and go for 3 rounds (some promotions will do an extra 4th round if it is a draw by the end of 3). MMA rounds are 5-minutes in length with a 1-minute break in between, anywhere from 3 or 5 rounds depending on whether it is a championship/headliner match (which would be the 5-round version). This might not seem like it would have a specific impact on the way fighters throw punches but it actually can. The biggest example is when it comes to the jab, which becomes much more important in a fight with more rounds than it would in say, a traditional kickboxing match. Therefore boxers will use their jab very differently than kickboxers. Everybody's scoring systems are different too, which will affect things even more.

But mostly, it is the technique for each sport that makes the punches different and it all starts with the stance and the guard. The Muay Thai stance is often high, with feet relatively close together and most of the weight loaded on the back foot. The hands are often up high, above the shoulder, leaving the body uncovered. The reason for this is to always be ready to check front leg kicks, block high kicks and while the body is exposed, this can be a trap as they will reign down elbows if you try to get inside for body shots or just generally clinch. This stance and guard is not going to lend itself to power punches at all though. The weight primarily on the back foot prevents them from really committing and having to start and end all punches from higher-than-chin level will slow things down. While Muay Thai is definitely the art of 8 limbs, there is no doubt that kicks, elbows and knees are much more used, especially by the fighters actually from Thailand. Some boxers, particularly the Dutch, have brought more punching/boxing into Muay Thai but the fists are far from their primary weapons. The punching combinations will never be as nuanced and the hands really function more to set up everything else.

A regular kickboxing stance is similar but the hands aren't as high and there is a little more bend in the knees. It is still considered to be a tall stance and neither footwork nor head movement is not a big part of what kickboxers (or Thai boxers) do. This is another huge difference as footwork and head movement are absolute cornerstones of boxing. In all kickboxing iterations ,there is a lot of standing and trading and head movement can present a problem where kicks and knees are involved (eg if you try to roll under a hook, you could run right into someone's knee).

Then an MMA stance is much lower and hence, wider. The MMA guard can vary quite a bit but more often than not, the hands are out a little wider too. The main reason for this is the takedown. Fighters need to always be ready to defend a takedown attempt or make one themselves. Hands may be low for that as well. Sometimes you will get a fight where neither combatant is interested in grappling and it becomes more like a kickboxing match but they can never put it completely out of mind. Because of this, and the kicks, an MMA fighter generally has their weight on their back leg as well. These things will have a big effect on punching. Another thing that does is that the fighters wear fingerless, 4-ounce gloves so a single punch can do more damage in MMA than it usually can in boxing or kickboxing. This can make the punching more significant but it changes the approach. Instead of trying to land a volume of punches or good combinations, it's more about landing a single, (sometimes wild and loopy) power punch. This is something a disciplined boxer would pick apart completely but in mixed martial arts, good technique and form is usually less important as you don't have to worry as much about the other person out-boxing you too much so long as you can time your strikes well. 

The same is mostly true for kickboxing and Muay Thai, though they are rarely wild and loopy with their punches. Ultimately, a boxer's punching technique will always be sharper than those who do other forms of combat. Their hand speed is generally going to be much higher too. As well they both should be! Boxers only throw punches so it makes sense that their punching skills are going to be advanced and more nuanced. And of course they have more time to devote to their punches too, especially compared to MMA-ers who train in kickboxing, wrestling and jiu-jitsu as well. A boxer will also use their head and feet to set up their punches as well as avoid punches in ways that other fighters just cannot because they have other things to think about. So for the most part, I think it's unfair to view a kickboxer or mixed martial artist's punching through the lens of boxing because their sports are just different. Some fighters can compete in all 4 disciplines but they definitely can't fight the same and their entire boxing mindset will need to change for them to have any kind of success.

How Often Should You Train Boxing?

Being both a boxing coach and a guy who really likes to box, you might expect me to answer the question of how often should someone train in boxing is "as much as possible." And you would be right! But it really depends on you. As is always the case with any exercise program, it comes down to what your goals are. Are you looking to get in better shape? Get better at boxing? Feel strong and tough? Maybe learn some self-defense skills? Stress relief? Just because you feel like you have to do some form of exercise? Or is it some combination of all or some of those things?

The next question is, how bad you want it? How important are those goals of yours and how important is it that you achieve them? This is a critical question because it will determine how much time you will make for it. Usually people do this the other way around. They decide how much time they want to spend on an exercise program first. And there are certain guidelines for this too. The CDC says that each week, adults need 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity and 2 days of muscle strengthening activity, working the regular muscle groups of legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms. They also say that for even greater health benefits, you could add on 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity or equivalent combination. Those are perfectly fine guidelines but don't necessarily address your specific goals and desire to achieve them. Also remember that if you just do the minimum, you will eventually plateau, with diminishing returns.

No matter how committed you are to your fitness goals, I realize that none of us have unlimited hours to devote to exercise. We will need a balance but I still think we can't put the cart before the horse here. Consider your goals and how bad you want them first and foremost, then we can start thinking about time. Successful people in all aspects of life make the time for what is important to them and on track with their goals. Try to think about ways you can make the time for fitness instead of just the reasons that you can't.

Time is also relative. While you may only have an hour or so every other day, what you do with each minute is VERY scalable. Intensity level, power, speed and rest can be adjusted to make a workout harder or easier within a given time frame. Specific order of exercises can make a big difference too. That is one of many nice things about a boxing workout. It can be made infinitely more challenging based on the work you put in.

When it comes to lifting of heavy weights, the general rule of thumb is to give each muscle group at least 48 hours rest before working them again but this is not the case with boxing. You can box every day without diminishing returns, but I would recommend to everybody to take at least  one rest day per week. If you end up actually training 6 days in a row, though, you don't necessarily want to train same intensity level each day. Even then, everybody is a little different. Different people react to high amounts of training differently. So if you are very active, always be on the lookout for symptoms of overtraining, which include overly persistent muscle soreness, general lack of recovery, legs in particular feeling extra heavy, racing heart rate immediately into exercise and at rest, more frequent injury or illness, inability to relax, lack of energy, lack of joyfulness, and increased irritability. It doesn't have to mean that you are overtraining but one thing that can happen to highly active people is they feel completely useless when they don't exercise or even worse, have to skip a session. It's a fine line because you want to be motivated and excited to do your normal exercise routine but you can't get too down when you don't do it.

So if most people can very likely physically box about 6 days a week at somewhat varying intensity levels. without diminishing returns, does that mean they should do it? If they love it and have big fitness and/or skills goals, yes! You will very likely get better and stronger training that much, though it will be harder to measure or see because you are doing it so frequently (like watching the hands of a clock move). But this also means you will need to keep learning, pushing yourself, and getting out of your comfort zone if you want these positive results to continue long-term. The golden rule of "if it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you" always applies and it may become harder to challenge you, the better you get.

Okay, but let's say that 6 days of boxing is still a little much. Maybe you do other stuff too besides box. As long as what you are doing is consistent with your goals, that is just fine. If you are looking to tone up, maybe lose a little weight or at least, feel more fit, and learn how to box, 2-3 hours of good, well-structured, high-intensity boxing per week might be enough. If you are trying to lose over 50 pounds let's say, you are going to need a little more moderate-to-higher intensity work, as well as likely dietary changes. If you wanted to train for an eventual fight, you will definitely need more of all varieties of work.

What about even less though? We have members of our club who only come once a week. Some of them do a lot of other things and boxing is somewhat of a supplemental workout for them, to switch things up. This can be particularly useful to distance runners, who want to get in some high intensity cardio without putting a lot of stress on their joints. And you can certainly learn the skills training once per week, though it will be an obviously slower process, especially at first. As I have mentioned many times, boxing movements are not natural movements and it takes time to commit them to muscle memory. Having a whole week go by before trying to get your body to remember those movements again will take some time and of course, slow progression. And as I have mentioned even more than many times before, your workout gets better as your boxing technique gets better so the effectiveness of the workout progresses more slowly as well.

How about just training in boxing once in a while? Like not every week but more sporadically? You can definitely get a good sweat on. Something is always better than nothing. But you are missing out on an opportunity to really build those skills and boxing becomes more like other forms of HIIT. Again, not a bad thing but always remember that boxing is different than those other forms of HIIT. It is special! Training consistently is like a force multiplier, where everything just gets better and better. So anyone interested in learning a skill-based workout like boxing should make sure they stay consistent, stay challenged, and make sure that what you are doing is in line with your specific goals. If you don't have any goals, let's come up with some! But that is a different post for a different day...

Boxers Who Should Have a Movie

Speaking of the movie Creed 3, we saw a trailer for a new biopic about George Foreman that definitely looks worth watching, just called Big George Foreman. Plenty of real life boxers have seen feature-length movies (as opposed to TV or documentary) of their lives but it's actually pretty surprising how many great boxers have never been portrayed as the main character on the silver screens: Sugar Ray Robinson (though there is talk of one going into production soon), Jack Dempsey, Jack Johnson, Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Leonard and plenty of others. Even Joe Louis hasn't had a film made about him in 70 years. Not that Hollywood is just churning out boxer pics left and right but fighters do make for interesting cinematic subjects. Their lives are generally tough, they do a job 99.9999999% of the population in their right minds would be afraid to do (rightly so) and can be a great model for admirable qualities like determination, perseverance and heart, triumphing over adversity.

This got me thinking about boxers who I would like to see in the movies. I'd certainly watch any from the abovementioned list but Jack Dempsey might be my top pick just because of how important he was to the sport and our culture at the time. I'm very surprised no one has even attempted this, outside of a made-for-TV movie starring Treat Williams and Sally Kellerman. Dempsey also had that classic, handsome, American icon look so you'd get a lot of high-profile actors wanting to play him and probably wouldn't have trouble filling the seats.

Although the much bigger shock is that there is no high-budget theatrical version of the Jack Johnson story. He broke the color barrier many many years before Jackie Robinson and Marion Motley, faced even more scrutiny marrying multiple white women, and also opened some interracial night clubs (one later became the Cotton Club after Johnson sold it). He faced scrutiny from both blacks and whites at the time, lived a life mired in controversy, had a professional life outside of boxing and even spent time in prison. If a movie studio wants lots of money and at least a few Oscars, this one seems to be pretty much tee'd up. 

Plus, very few people know what Jack Johnson looks like and even less know what he sounded like so we would all go in with no expectations of the man himself. This gets the filmmakers around the problem that I, as a boxing fan, have when they cast actors to play boxers. I could never get past Will Smith in Ali. Not that he did a bad job at all, he did as well as anyone could to encapsulate the Ali persona but it all came through a Will Smith filter. I had the same problem with the Tyson series on Hulu recently. The actor did a fine job but just like Ali, Mike Tyson is such a truly unique character that no one else can really play him but him. I don't have a problem with them not being to pull off the boxing part, it's just that I have such a strong association with these fighters that I can't get immersed into the story when I only see the actor, especially a really well-known one.

So if I'm a studio head, I will definitely greenlight the Jack Johnson biopic. Sugar Ray Leonard is another one of the high-profile boxers I'd like to see up on screen too. I'm a little afraid of the paradigm with Ali and Tyson I mentioned above since I have a strong association with Leonard too but he was played by Usher in the Roberto Duran film (Hands of Stone) and even though he looked nothing like Sugar Ray, I still wasn't put off by it. So maybe I could handle a whole film about his life with an actor playing him. Plus we'd get to see the other 3 kings - Hagler, Hearns and Duran - since their careers were so intertwined. Sugar Ray was a golden boy for sure but he had his share of issues in his personal life and I wondering if that is something he would want to see portrayed in a movie. I hate to say it but the best version of this story might have to come after Ray Leonard has passed on.

Speaking of Golden Boys, I expect an Oscar de la Hoya movie will emerge at some point, but maybe also down the road as Oscar's professional life is still playing out.

One much lower-profile fighter who I think has an interesting life's story is Matthew Saad Muhammed. He was left on the steps of a church as an infant, taken in by nuns, eventually adopted, and turned into one of the more exciting, underrated fighters of the 70s and 80s. His fights were exciting and often involved comebacks, perfect for a movie. He even fought in one of the very early, pre-UFC MMA-type bouts in 1991 against a grappler who submitted him in under a minute. Unfortunately, he was one of those athletes who lost all of his money and declared bankruptcy, eventually becoming homeless on the streets of Philadelphia. So it wouldn't exactly be the happiest of endings but still inspiring to see him go from rags to riches, before eventually going back to rags.

Then there are plenty of current fighters who might one day make for an interesting movie in the future. Tyson Fury, Floyd Mayweather Jr., hell even the Paul brothers' legacy will probably be immortalized on film after their story comes to an end. One thing's for sure that whoever gets a movie, I will be there to watch it. I will watch any movie about a fictitious boxer too. In fact, if I'm being totally honest, the first boxing hero/inspiration was none other than Rocky Balboa himself. Who knows where I would be without him!

The Double-Cross Guard in Creed 3 - Is That A Thing???

If you've seen the movie, Creed 3, you may notice that the friend/opponent character of Dame Anderson has a somewhat interesting boxing style (at least, after he returns from prison - when they show a younger Anderson fighting before prison, his style is relatively standard). Most notably, he uses something called the double-cross arm guard where he brings both hands across his face at 90-degree angles, creating almost a wall in front of his head. It looks cool and it is one of the rare times where a boxing movie actually was able to accentuate a specific style in a noticeable way.

But is it actually a legitimate defensive maneuver for boxing? The short answer is yes, at least that it used to be, but there are also multiple versions of it that differ from what we saw in the movie. From what I remember, Dame Anderson's double-cross guard was very much parallel with the ground, meaning his arms were up and both elbows were parallel with both shoulders. Archie Moore - heavyweight champ from 1952-1963 with a knockout record that will almost definitely never be broken - popularized a version of this defense but he generally had hips and shoulders tilted so that his arms were on more of a 45-degree axis, which covered not just his head but the right side of his body as well. Ken Norton utilized a version of it as well in the 70s and it was most famously used by George Foreman later in his career, who almost definitely learned it directly from Archie Moore, who was one of his trainers. The Foreman version was probably the most similar to Dame's in the movie as he really made it into a big wall, whereas Moore and Norton combined it more with head movement and footwork.

There were other boxers who used it too but in general, the double-cross guard is relatively rare. The reason is probably somewhat obvious - you are not in a great position to throw punches back when your arms are crossed. Of course the 3 heavyweights I mentioned were incredibly successful but if it were something generally effective, we'd all be using it a lot more than we do now (can't think of anyone who does currently). It should also be noted that the examples I gave were heavyweights, which makes a little more sense. Smaller, faster fighters would have a very hard time pulling it off against other smaller, faster fighters. It just takes too much time to get your hands into position and again, takes time to get your hands back to a good place to punch from. (And then note that in boxing, you are not allowed to strike with the back of your hand or your elbows so you couldn't pull off any kind of a backhanded strike).

The big pro to using this defense is that it gives you extra layers of protection and can cover a pretty big area. Punches can be blocked with the shoulder, elbows or hands. In fact in a non-boxing street self-defense scenario, it is kind of similar to something I teach called "Dracula's Cape", where you completely cover the right side of your face with the right shoulder, the front of your face with the right elbow, and then your left arm is in tight, answer-the-phone guard, adding extra protection to the left side (as most people are right-handed and take big, wild swings with their dominant hand in a street fight).

The Dame Anderson version in the movie though, was so high that it would have been really easy for someone to land a punch to the body. Not only because it was uncovered but you could use your non punching hand to pin his elbows in place for a split second so that he couldn't even try to react and defend low. But Archie Moore and Ken Norton had this solved by tilting their guard to be able to better adjust to blocking body punches.

The Philly Shell defense made famous by Floyd Mayweather involves another version of the cross guard but inside of both hands crossing over each other, only one crosses over to defend the other side of his face or body. This means the other can potentially counter but there is also less protection too. And it comes back to a general problem that if you cross one hand over to the other side of your body, the other side is unprotected and it will take additional, important milliseconds to get it back. Floyd made it work with elite-level reflexes, head movement, and a non-aggressive approach and as I've spoken about many times before, I do not think this a good model for someone who is not yet a good, well-rounded boxer with experience fighting in a more traditional guard. But just like the Dame Anderson double-cross guard in Creed 3, it looks kind of cool so I understand people new to boxing wanting to check it out.

I would say that this is kind of true for everything in a way. In boxing, and in life. Certain fighters will do some pretty cool moves, sometimes breaking the rules and making it work. Sometimes they can be really fun to emulate too. You just want to make sure you have a good, unconscious understanding of the rules and basic technique before incorporating anything that might lead to bad habits or other problems.

Why Do We Do Core?

In our club, we end every boxing session with a relatively brief-but-intense set of core exercises. Every class. There are several reasons why we do this - as somewhat of a cooldown after an even more intense series of boxing rounds, it's a good transition into stretching, we like to torture people, but most importantly, because it makes you a much stronger boxer.

Oftentimes when people think about their core, they think about their front abdominal muscles. The 6-pack. But the core goes all the way around, 360 degrees, like one of those giant, championship belts. I even like to include the gluteal muscle group as part of the core and it is the most important muscle group for boxing. The function of our core is really to connect the lower and upper body together. When throwing punches, most of that power should originate from the lower half and it will be translated to the upper half through one's core. Rotation of the hips and trunk are critical, so without a strong core, any other strength you have will not convert to power. This requires all the muscles in that core belt to be strong.

I've said many times that having gym strength and functional strength can be two very different things. Gym strength - or at least how the majority of gym-goers train - is about lifting balanced loads of weight on single planes of motion at a steady pace. Most work all the different muscle groups with different lifts but those three above-mentioned points remain the same. This does not necessarily create functional strength. It can certainly help, but the strength you need for activities of daily life and sports often does NOT involve balanced loads, on a single plane of motion, at a steady, repeated pace. And those activities almost always involve the core. Picking up groceries and putting them away, moving boxes, shoveling snow, raking leaves, cleaning things, walking a dog, I could go on and on. We don't just isolate a muscle group to do these things. Like boxing, they often involve starting with the lower body and transferring to the upper, with the core being our conduit.

Core strength also helps us with general body control - holding a posture or changing direction, which is something we certainly need in daily life and in any sport. In fact, body control is probably the most important attribute for sports but most underrated because it cannot be easily measured like speed and strength or any of the other criteria we use to rate athletes. Jerry Rice and Michael Jordan are examples of athletes at the top of their respective professions but never because of their measurables. There was certainly a mental part too, especially with Jordan, but I believe it was simply the ability to control their own bodies that set them apart from everybody else. Coordination is key but you need the functional strength to apply it properly.

Along those lines, a stronger core will help prevent injuries as well. While not as sexy as having a chiseled, six-pack, injury prevention is a big deal and something everyone, young or older, should train for. Having poor core strength means less postural control and the more chance things are being moved in a way they shouldn't, as well as repeated, unbalanced stress on joints from those postural imbalances.

When people see boxers doing things like sit-ups and other core work, they often think this is to build the abs up so they can better take punches to the body. This is somewhat true (although strengthening and hardening are not the same thing) but it's not just about taking a punch to the stomach, it is about taking punches in general. Just as a strong core gives you better body control, you can also better move with a punch if you have to, OR maintain better base stability so that you don't get as tossed around/ragdoll'd after getting hit.

So every time you work your core, remember that you are making your punches stronger, making yourself functionally stronger, improving your overall body control, helping to prevent future injuries, and even making yourself better able to take a punch. And like any exercise component, it won't happen unless you MAKE the time for it to happen so that is why we always devote the last part of our workout to this critical piece of the fitness puzzle!

 

The Way of the Fist

I just finished watching the Netflix series, Cobra Kai, for the second time. This time with my kids and it made me like the series even more. For those of you who don't know, Cobra Kai is a spin-off of the Karate Kid movies from the 80s, featuring the bad guy in the first film as a now middle-aged man who finds himself by teaching karate to kids. You don't have to have any connection to the original films to enjoy the series but it is nice, as you will appreciate all of the homages and in-jokes they have for fans.

I'm not going to go into the plot too much more but for the point of this post, I will say that the aforementioned bad guy from the 80s movies, Johnny, starts up his own dojo under the name, "Cobra Kai." It was the dojo/system he trained at as a kid. The Cobra Cai motto is "Strike first, strike hard, no mercy" and their general ideology is to be more badass and tough, as opposed to the gentler, more defensive-minded, more traditional karate styles. 

The show isn't really able to differentiate the styles - it's more of just a story conceit - but I am seeing somewhat of a clearer paradigm in real life, when it comes to other boxing gyms/trainers. The vast majority of people who come to our club have never boxed before but there definitely is a subset who come in with previous boxing experience, some even significant experience. What I have noticed and experienced at other boxing gyms (and viewed online) is that during heavy bag workouts, most people do not throw particularly powerful, explosive strikes. There are plenty of exceptions, for sure, and I am not saying this to criticize other gyms or trainers at all. It's just a stylistic thing. We've had amateur boxers come to the club and tap/touch up the bag for 10 rounds, never really exploding with speed or power.

To me, this is somewhat strange, as the heavy bag is the absolute best tool to practice power and there is certainly nothing stopping you from working on your speed as well. I realize I am not the only genius to have figured that out and there are reasons that I often see other boxers go light (light by my standards). In this post, I am going to go through some of those reasons and not rebut them, as they are certainly legitimate and logical, but explain my particular take on them.

#1) Not all punches in boxing are meant to be particularly hard or fast

As a single statement, this is absolutely true. There are set-up punches, throwaway punches, distance-gauging punches, rhythm punches, off-speed punches in an effort to catch your opponent expecting something different, and more. Then of course, you throw fast punches and hard punches. Boxing is all about shifting gears, I like to say. Changing states suddenly, creating rhythms and breaking rhythms. It is one of the things that makes it so exhausting. But you still have to switch gears. What I often see at plenty of gyms and people coming from other gyms is really just one gear. And it's rarely powerful or fast. Can everybody hit really hard or punch really fast? Relative to them, yes! We ALL have gears. Some people's power gear is harder than someone else’s, but you can and absolutely should make that state change. Doesn't matter how old you are or what kind of shape you are in. This is the way you develop speed and power - by practicing it! Again, the heavy bag is the perfect opportunity for this.

#2) If I just slug it out and go for power, my technique will suffer and I really want to focus on that

When hearing people philosophize about boxing (or anything), there is often a very binary approach to their analyses. It is either this OR this, with both options being mutually exclusive. Sure, you could throw wild, looping, haymaker punches with poor technique when going for power but you certainly don't have to. It is very possible to throw heavy, powerful punches with perfect technique. Watch Mike Tyson in the 80s. 

Not only that, proper technique translates to power. When you learn how to throw a lead hook properly, it can end up being the hardest punch you throw, despite being on your non-dominant hand. This is purely because of  technique. Shifting your weight, getting your elbow behind the punch, getting your hips slightly ahead of your hands and then catching up at the end are all technical cues that will make your hook significantly more powerful. This is true for everything. To a lesser degree with speed but still true. Like for instance if you were to drop your hand every time you were about to throw a jab, that jab would not travel as fast as a perfectly straight shot. Same if you were too tense in your arm. Or you let your elbow flare out. Proper technique = Power; proper technique = Speed.

#3) If I just slug it out and go for power, I will be more open for counter-punches

This is a truer version of #2 above. Every time you throw a punch when facing your opponent in striking distance, you are open for a counter. The more you physically commit to that punch, the window of time you are open tends to increase. This cannot be changed. What you can change is the size of your window and there are things you can do to mitigate that risk. Again, watch Mike Tyson in the 80s. He was vicious and explosive but his style was a defensive style and his constant head movement and quickness made him difficult to tag.

Better technique can certainly help here too. If you throw a cross and bring your rear hand shoulder up to your cheek, you are better covered for a potential hook counter. If you keep your non-punching hand up, even better. If you throw long, looping hooks like George Foreman, they are slower and easier to see coming. If you throw shorter, tighter hooks like Joe Frazier, they are much harder to spot and defend.

There are plenty of great boxers who fight cautiously and never really commit or open up. You can certainly be one of those boxers too if that really matches your abilities but at the very least, from a workout perspective, you will get so much more out of trying to box like Mike Tyson (in the 80s) than Floyd Mayweather Jr. post 2001.

#4) If I just slug it out and go for power or throw lighting-fast quick punches, I will gas myself out and not be able to maintain that pace

This is certainly true if you allow it to be true. If you don't push yourself and go beyond your limits, you will never increase those limits. Explosive punching is very tiring, yes, especially if you include the necessary quick head movement and footwork. But would be amazed what you can do to improve your ventilatory threshold and glycolytic energy systems. The problem is that people concede this WAY too easily. Proper technique helps here too but the secret ingredient is pushing yourself/being pushed, getting out of your comfort zone and out of your pace. I have seen multiple people hit a heavy bag for 120 straight three-minute rounds with one-minute rests. That's 8 hours of almost non-stop boxing!!! And that's not just kind of noodling around or touching it up or anything. Going HARD for 120 rounds, throwing combos, using footwork, and doing non-stop rapid-fire burnouts. This would have been impossible for me to even imagine had I not seen it done multiple times. I can't even tell you how it's physically possible but nonetheless, completely possible.

Pushing beyond your limits is very difficult. It is uncomfortable. And most of us don't want to be uncomfortable. Plus, going beyond your limits may make you look bad. You may look tired. Your technique can/will suffer. The way to fix that is to train and push through. Otherwise, you won't get any better.

#5) Going too hard makes me more susceptible to injury

Perfectly logical. Could even be true but how much more susceptible does it make you? Does it HAVE to be that way. If your technique and equipment are good and you don't have any pre-existing issues, I would say the chance of injury on a heavy bag is pretty low. I've seen thousands and thousands of people do it over the years, including myself. There are other things you can do to mitigate injury too, like increase your grip and wrist strength, doing hand exercises before boxing, warming up proper, etc. I feel like the chances of injury punching a heavy bag is not even close to the chances doing exercises that more people do every day - running and lifting weights. Or sports and leisure activities like soccer and skiing. I hate to say it but if anyone is holding back for this reason, they are probably just using it as an excuse to either not work hard or learn the proper way to do it.

The general, overall mistake in a lot of the thinking here is believing that explosive speed and power, shifting into those gears, has to come at the expense of something else. It doesn't. You can truly have your cake and eat it too, you just have to put in the work and believe in yourself. 

So I guess to come full circle, I feel like our club has kind of a more Cobra Kai approach, but just without the evil. I believe that if you are learning how to box, you should learn how to throw punches with explosive power and speed, designed to hurt an opponent, to finish the fight. Not because I am a jerk and want anyone hurting anyone but because that is what professional boxing is all about, no matter how much purists want to argue otherwise. And, for the umpteenth time, throwing explosive punches with power and speed will get you a better workout than just staying in a low gear the entire time. I want to teach people how to box properly but more than that, I want to help them to get better. Better at the skill, in better shape, stronger, faster, more confident, more empowered, happier, and just feeling better in general. I believe that this is accomplished by striking fast, striking hard, and showing YOURSELF no mercy!

Learning Boxing in a Group Environment

Like anything else, there are many different ways to learn how to box. You can train 1-on-1 with a coach, you can do smaller group training with a coach/coaches, you can train on your own off of videos/books/etc., you can just lace up the gloves with a buddy and duke it out on your own based on your own respective knowledge of the sport. There are also plenty of different iterations and combinations as well. 

Obviously, some ways are far more effective than others. Maybe even infinitely more effective than those last two options I mentioned. Training 1-on-1 with a coach is usually the fastest way to learn boxing skills, provided of course that the coach is good. It can also be the best scenario for fitness training but not always. Depends a lot on the coach, the student and the program. 

I have seen hundreds of people learn in a group environment too. Certainly not as fast as 1-on-1 but still pretty darn fast, if the minds are willing. And there are many different ways group training can go down. I've learned systems where a group of brand new people all start at the exact same time, like a flight of classes where we develop together. I've done classes with different levels like Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, etc. I've also done classes with all different experience and ability levels. 

For certain martial arts, the first two examples (which group people by experience) make a little more sense. There are cons to this approach too, especially in terms of availability but most martial arts have a LOT of different, specific techniques that are sometimes stacked on top of each other so it doesn't make sense to learn something like how to defend a certain weapon if you haven't done the unarmed defenses first.

Boxing is a little bit different though. It does not necessarily involve a ton of small, separate techniques. There are the basic punches with some variance, there are combinations, there is footwork, there is defense, there is clinch work/hand control, there is strategy, there is feinting, there are some different styles, but that is mainly it. That doesn't mean you can learn it all super easily- there is literally infinite nuance in each of those categories, but compared to another martial art like say, Tae Kwon Do, just their list of all the different kicks could fill a page. 

I have seen people learn boxing efficiently and effectively in an all-levels heavy bag class environment. Sometimes there are more advanced techniques that might be a little much for a brand new person to take in, but exposing them to it is certainly not a detriment, and while they may not be able to execute the technique flawlessly, they can still throw punches, take steps, etc. Whereas if you were taking judo, for example, and you attempted to pull off a shoulder throw your first day, you likely wouldn't be able to get it started (shoulder throws are MUCH harder than they look!). 

Then on the flip side, there is no boxer who is just too damn good to be throwing jabs, crosses, hooks, etc. and working basic defenses on the heavy bag with other folks of different levels. No one. And anyone who thinks that way is very undereducated and probably a little scared too. Sure, there are different things to train in boxing you would want to do if you are competing/training to compete but the basic stuff never changes, and you are never good enough. It's not like when you get to a certain level, you are able to learn this special, secret uppercut that we can't teach to the newbies. Instead you just make your basic uppercuts better and once again, there is always more stuff to improve. In fact, the more you learn and practice, the more you realize there is to learn. You learn these things by being taught but also practicing over and over and over and over again.

One thing I have seen is that many people have it in their minds that they can't really learn in a fast-paced, cardio-intensive group environment where they are thrown into the mix. It makes sense too. There are plenty of things you almost definitely can't learn like that. Sewing, for one. Or again, even certain traditional martial arts. Or something like weightlifting, where the potential for injury is much higher. But boxing, at least non-competitive boxing, is different. I know because I have seen it happen with all different types of people. Some in shape, some not. Some athletic, some not. Some relatively young, some not.

The only obstacle, most of the time, is their mindset. People convince themselves that they can't do it, or that it's too hard, or that the environment is not conducive to learning. I've tried on several occasions to create a Beginner type of boxing class and have noticed that nothing really changes for brand new boxers. Those who struggle will struggle in a simpler class too, they just won't learn as quickly. 

Changing your mindset isn't always easy though, and it can be very hard to feel uncoordinated and like you don't know what you're doing. The more you accept those things and understand that it is all part of the learning process, the better things will go. Ever watch a baby try to stand up and take their first steps? It ain't pretty. They stumble and fall and stumble and fall until one day, they can stand up and take a few steps. Those aren't very graceful either but it builds a foundation that can eventually take them anywhere they want to go. But the baby has no problem with trying and falling down. Or stumbling and looking silly. 

So whether you are learning how to box- or just about anything- I think that last point is pretty key right there. Be okay with getting it wrong, maybe feeling like you look a little silly as you try to put these awkward, foreign movements together. Yes, it might be tougher to do in a group setting but if you can be comfortable being uncomfortable for a while, you're going to learn it quickly!