First, let’s ask the question, why learn how to box? Those interested in the sport are drawn in for multiple reasons, and the great variety of those reasons is precisely why it’s a good option. Boxing as a sport/hobby, offers the practitioner endless amounts of opportunity for growth and nuanced skill development. For those who enjoy learning complex games, Boxing can provide a lifetime of enjoyment. Next, as a physical form of exercise and longevity, it’s a top performer. The physical demands of the sport challenge a person’s strength, stamina, balance, and mental coordination much like dancing does. In terms of self-defense, the explosive nature of boxing and the ability to strike and move is outstanding for both men and women of all ages. Lastly, the mental focus required for learning the sport is both meditative and cognitively beneficial for brain health. Take a moment and think about it, are you challenging yourself properly? Is your fitness routine complex enough to address everything above? If the answer is no, it’s time to begin the process of forging yourself into a weapon. One thing I can promise, the path will be steep, the road will have dead-ends, at times you will have to hack your way through the jungle, but at the top, the view will be glorious.
Let’s assume you’ve made the great decision and decided to start boxing. The first day can be intimidating, so this will give you an inside look into what you need for day one. First off, Archetype Boxing Club prides itself on coaching first time boxers, regardless of fitness level, so try not to feel nervous or hesitant about joining class. Starting new hobbies can be overwhelming. We understand this and are here to help you every step of the way. I recommend showing up to class 15 minutes early on day one to allow us time to wrap your hands and go over some basics prior to class. There is no need to buy any equipment or gear prior to class. Most sporting goods stores don’t have great boxing gear and you might buy the wrong gloves/wraps/shoes on amazon so hold off at first. Our boxing club has plenty of rental wraps/gloves that you can borrow at no extra charge for your first class. As far as attire, comfortable workout clothes and flat workout shoes or boxing shoes will be just fine.
After you successfully attend your first boxing class (assuming you love it), how often should you be boxing? From my experience, those who come more often in the beginning acclimate and pick up the sport much quicker. Now, that doesn’t mean you should push the pace physically in class. Students can attend (3-5) sessions per week and take it easy in class with a focus on technical skill development. Boxing is an exceptional workout, so in time you can push yourself a little harder, but I don’t recommend pushing your intensity at all during month one. Focusing on those technical foundations will allow you to maintain your technique as you do start upping the intensity later on. Also, the last thing you (and us coaches) want when starting out something new are annoying injuries and setbacks, so ease into the sport like an old man getting into a warm bath.
After a successful day one, you decide to join Archetype Boxing club. Good decisions are being made, bad habits are starting to be replaced. So, what timeline are we working with? Have you thought about goals and objectives? If you go in with a “let’s see how this goes” attitude or “let me try this for a while”, or really anything other than a strong commitment to learning, you will fall short. All that is needed is the simple desire to improve yourself and to commit to the process of learning a challenging sport. Along the path, you will face challenges. Your schedule may be changing, life’s inevitable challenges will appear, work changes, life changes, etc. but it is at these moments, moments when you don’t want to train and challenge yourself even more, that training is the most vital and beneficial. Find a way to get in at least once a week during these difficult moments and the skills you’ve learned will not perish. Life is a cycle; things will improve, and you will be happy you didn’t cast your beneficial hobbies aside.
What’s the best way to retain and build new skills? Let’s first revisit the concept of building foundational skills and their importance. When it comes to combat sports, basics win. A solid understanding of the basic principles and the time spent developing nuanced skills will serve you at the highest level. I have fortunately had the opportunity to learn from many World and Olympic Champions in MMA, Boxing, Kickboxing, Judo, and wrestling. The common thread linking all these outstanding athletes was their disciplined schedule and approach to developing skills. I remember being amazed at watching then Judo Olympic Silver medalist Travis Stephens coach a two-day Judo clinic in Santa Barbara with mostly novice practitioners. He was very intense and persistent with students not wasting a second while on the mat practicing. After the clinic, I shot a series of Judo videos with him for my website JiuJitsupedia.com and asked him about his training. In his mind, if he wasted time training or not making the most of his sessions, he lost pieces of time every session. He felt he was already at a big disadvantage since the USA is not strong in Judo compared to Europe and couldn’t afford to waste a single second during his training sessions. I understood his point, he was speaking to the idea of compounding interest. Most people overestimate what they can achieve in a year, but underestimate what they can achieve in 5 years. Not all the Champions I learned from were as intense as Travis, but they all had a methodical training schedule and learned new skills every single day. We know training daily is the best approach to learning new skills, but I don’t expect everyone to train as such. However, we can take these principles and apply them to every aspect of our lives when it comes to skill building. Make a goal to improve every single week, even if its 1-2 sessions, and watch your skills improve. Trust me, I know that when life is really challenging, it can be easy to trivialize hobbies and sports as expendable. At the end of the day, the things that you have to earn, that give you a feeling of pride, that connect you with a solid community, which make you smile, are NOT TRIVIAL at all.
Now we need to look at physical conditioning and how to best maximize your exercise routine for boxing. Boxing is unique. One cannot simply use the methodology of what works well in other sports and apply it blindly to boxing. Boxing performance and speed and reaction time can be negatively impacted with improper weight training. Zero golden age greats ever lifted weights as part of their training preparation. The old school methods utilized the classic heavy bag, speed and double end bags, light resistance pulleys, and tiny dumbbells at most. What they did do is plenty of body weight exercises like push-ups, burpees, pull ups, skip rope, medicine ball work, and lots of sprints and running. Our recommendation is to build yourself up for boxing by boxing. The unique combination of muscles needed for punching power and movement can all be easily developed hitting the bags and sparring. Additionally, any cardiovascular exercise, VO2 Max training, mobility and flexibility training, and balance and agility training would be greatly beneficial. Now are we telling you never to lift weights again? No, just be mindful of what your goals are and what is the best route to get you to those goals.
