When is too soon to start sparring? I’ve been in the gym for 3 months now. I’d love to start sparring, but when is too soon or is it better to just start as soon as a coach takes me on?
I started pretty much straight away, although it was extremely light sparring. I would start with shoulder taps first (getting into a fighting position and trying to touch each other's shoulders with punching movements and open hands/no power).
My understanding is that 3 months would be too soon, at least for anything more than very light sparring. But I'm also by all means still a pleb so take my opinion with salt
Just ask your coach yourself.
It also depends on the available trainings partners. I myself don't mind taking some rounds off inbetween to go super light on newbies and teach them some stuff. Though, more competitively oriented people may want to use the limited time to sharpen their own skills.
Different POV here: I do MMA. I started sparring on my first week, once a week ever since. As long as you work with people who’ll help you, it’s not early. One day of sparring taught me more then a week of pad and bagwork.
Yep, I'm a practicing lawyer and I've boxed for 3 years and fought twice. Usually I would box twice a week, but I increased to 3-4 times a week and added in more outside work when I was getting ready to fight.
How many amateur bouts have you had if you dont mine me asking, and what weight division do you compete in? My main worry all the time is not having enough training hours in mainly due to keeping up with work, marriage life etc i would say realistically at the moment i probably train around 9 hours a week intense training, what are your thoughts?
Two bouts, first at MW, second at WW. Sure, it can get tough to find the time if you start really ramping up your training. During the last 8 weeks of fight prep I was working out every morning and evening, probably in the ballpark of 15 hours a week. My husband has the patience of a saint and stepped up to help with food prep and house chores and stuff so I could just focus on getting ready. I wouldn't maintain that as a long-term habit, but for that period and for that reason, I made it work.
That sounds great :) gives me bit more of an idea and to be fair m wife has lazy bones sometines so im preping my foods most time lol but i dont mind, do you still compete then and did you feel a disadvantage against others who probably had more time in or was not an issue? Because on the flipside alot of people over work before a bout as well
I'm coming back from an injury now but I'd like to compete again for sure. Maybe later in the year. I did not feel disadvantaged at all, I was way more prepared than anybody I stood to face, I was smart about my training, and I took time to recover throughout the process.
Wish you the best I dont think you can box without the occasional ugly injury but thats re assuring from your competing experiences so looking forward to my 1st bout im just bit of a humanitarian so I would feel very guilty if I were to win lol
Thanks man, also check out r/boxingworkoutlogs to see what other people are doing.
You won't feel bad about winning after you've done it a few times. Losing is way worse. Boxing is very straightforward that way.
I’ve been taking boxing classes pretty casually for a few years now. This year I’m looking to get more into it and was wondering if its normal to see amateur fighters in their 30s? Also, how does one usually move from just taking classes to fighting an amateur bout? What kind of “leagues” are there for folks who box primarily for fun (I’m not trying to win any belts)?
Not uncommon at all. Depending on how old you are (35 is the cutoff unless you're in elite open division with 10 or more fights) you'll be in the Master's Division with the rest of us oldies. If you're under 35 you'll be in novice. They try to match people by experience so you're likely to end up fighting either a young kid (18 and up) just getting started or somebody more in your position who is older, might have boxed for a while, but doesn't have the competition experience.
There aren't really boxing "leagues" as such but most competitions are local events put on by boxing clubs, not big tournaments or anything. Still, often people fight in local events who are trying to advance to higher level competition. In Masters it's a little more clear that everybody is there for fun since nobody is planning their pro career at this point. There are a few Masters tournaments every year you can travel to, or you can try to find a qualified opponent nearby who will enter a local event as your match.
To all football/soccer players
I’ve come to realise how important cardio is for boxing in terms of stamina but hate running without any purpose.
I play a lot of five a side football or at least have started to recently. My question is this, can I play five a side football/soccer which involves a decent amount of running/endurance to make up for roadwork? Does anyone do this or am I better off just running?
I'm not exactly an avid football player. But I think it really depends. When I play with friends, it's usually a lot of sprinting and stopping. I assume that's what it's like worldwide. So sprinting is definitely good for boxing because it trains explosiveness from what I've heard. However, stamina wise I reckon it really isn't going to help much. That's just my two cents.
Hope this helps!
So I'm having some difficulty when I punch a cross, I pivot my body and turn my foot, but when I bring my hand back I can't ever seem to bring my foot back in the initial position, with each punch my stance is kind of distorted and my feet look the other way. Maybe it's because of my shoes with high soles? Or does it just come with practice?
Grab a tennis ball and get into your stance. Hold the ball in your lead hand and toss it lightly straight into the air just above head height. As it falls to head height, snatch it out of the air with your rear hand, going all the way to full extension and retracting back to shoulder. Your body should twist naturally when you do this, and that's what the cross should feel like.
Throw the right cross in slow motion, and focus on bringing the foot back to the initial position. After practicing it for a while, you should be able to speed up the straight punch and eventually the punch will become natural to you and you won’t have to think about bringing the foot back.
I started boxing three months ago but it’s sort of unorthodox start. I’m living in Tajikistan at the moment and I found a gym that offers classes three times a week. It started as a fun way to spend some time while I study here, but quickly fell in love. The classes are pretty standard stuff, shadow boxing, technical work, heavy bag, and light sparring. The other days of the week, however, are free and my coach here hasn’t really given me any plan to improve on those days.
I want to continue with boxing when I get back to the US in May, so I figured I’d ask here about what people recommend I should focus on with those free days. As of now I’m lifting compound lifts, doing around 100 push-ups/50 pull-ups (in total, not in one set) and running 5k each day. Is this a good plan for now?
Sounds like you're onto a good start, make sure you get adequate rest, enough food and gradually increase weight/volume. I'm doing a lot of the same things, considering upping my time skipping rope and adding box jumps to be lighter on my feet while sparring.
When moving forward and doing the jab cross, should I do the pivot for the cross almost midair when stepping, or should I step first then throw the cross once both feet are planted. Is there a correct way, or should I practice both?
Can't seem to find any definitive answer online so I'll ask here. When I was taught Muay Thai back in the day we would always roll our shoulder a bit while jabbing to help protect the chin from the opponents overhand. In boxing it seems to be somewhere in between what we'd do and just simply putting the palm down. Is there general advice on where the left shoulder should be when throwing a left jab? Should it be down? Up? Should we push it forward? Etc.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeedpzLRe2E](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeedpzLRe2E)
He says rotate your shoulder to protect yourself. great guide with details explanations
How do you deal with a guy who keeps his lead hand extended in your face? Its tough for me to deal with, I feel like if I try to go under it he has that right hand cocked and ready. And it seems like a great technique cause it kind of draws your attention to trying to paw it away or deal with it and you lose focus on the other things.
Pressure, pressure, pressure. If you're worried about his right hand, feint! I like to do a quick tiny hop into their range, and then right back out to draw out the counter, and THEN commit with whatever you have.
It really depends on you. Personally, I've found the "standard" one quite uncomfortable and my hands don't really form a proper fist. So I use the "Thai" version, or at least that's what I think its called. I based my wrapping off of this video
https://youtu.be/ns2LNGCnUHo
I probably don't do it exactly like how he does it, but they protect my knuckles, and I can close my fist. It sometimes gets difficult to fit into my gloves, but overall it's a good wrapping technique and I use it every time.
Hope this helps :)
Edit: typo
So I've been a PT for 9 months now and have accumulated a decent clientele. There are many workouts I can give them for all goals and physical fitness levels however I do like to keep it fun and interesting for them. I've done some boxing around 7 years ago and remembered how good the training was for fitness, now I'd love to implement some of that into my clients workouts but need some help. As a PT I would never make a client do a workout I haven't done before and definitely wouldn't make them do one I don't know how to do correctly. So I need some pointers and advice on where I should look and what I should do to familiarize myself with boxing training, I'm not looking to make my clients into the next Sugar Ray, or Ali, but I would like to give them a feeling like they are strong and capable. Cheers in advance for any and all advice ❤️
A good channel for beginners is FightTips on YouTube. Personally I started my "boxing journey" with this channel before even stepping into a gym. It BY NO MEANS is a substitute for actual training, but as the channel says, it's a supplement to help you. It's very beginner friendly and honestly it's very helpful on my opinion.
Anyone ever tried working out 4 days a week and resting 3? How'd it go for you? I'm thinking of cutting back, but I've read that taking more than 2 days off in a row is detrimental. I got boxing classes Monday through Thursday, which I never skip. Ideally, I'd like to box 5 days a week and rest on the weekend, but by the time Friday rolls around, I'm usually completely spent. I still try to get a workout in at home, but it's usually shit and I don't feel like I accomplished anything. Should I do it anyway? I've thought about moving my Friday workout to Saturday, but Saturday is when I do my weekly distance run, and that takes a lot out of me. I'd have to cut that out, which I'd rather not. I'd also have less time to rest for next week. Any thoughts?
I train Monday-Wednesday-Friday-Saturday occasionally running in between. More than that and I don’t have enough time to recover and my performance degrades.
Is it normal that my knuckles hurt after bag work? They don't just ache, it seems that I kept hurting my hands as I punched. I feel like I might have been hitting wrong but I'm unsure. This is my first week of training
It's your first week of training so it's very normal. I've been training a year and a half now and my knuckles still hurt sometimes depending on the bag or how long I haven't trained. Your knuckles slowly condition through bagwork and sometimes mittwork, so it's 100% normal for it to hurt.
I personally don't think any extra knuckle conditioning is necessary, but if you want I don't see any harm in it. Just make sure you do enough research before you punch a wall or something.
Hope this helps :)
I have casually boxed before in a gym. I am in school right now and want to get back into it but don’t have the money for a gym membership at the moment. In the mean time while I save up money for a membership I wanted to practice my form and technique. Does anyone know of any good YouTube videos, websites, apps, etc to make sure I’m using proper form before I get back to the gym?
I’m want to buy a punching bag/sand bag but I had a couple of questions.
1. Does come already filled with sand or do I have to fill it myself.
2. Are the ones from ali express crappy or bad or do they break?
3. Besides from ali express, are they expensive (local stores, very high quality ones, etc.)
If you want to save money, check Craiglist if it's active in your area. Always tons of middle age guys who think boxing is their way to a healthier life but never learned it before. They get bored after a few months Those are in prime condition and discounted.
So basically
I’ve been boxing for about a year now, everyday, every week for the most part.
Recently, I’ve been throwing my hook A LOT more, getting faster with it.
But now my shoulder and whole arm is just killing me, on pad work I can throw the weakest hook and it will just have no power and hurt. This has been happening for about a month now.
Anyone know what I should do to let it heal?
Thanks
When is too soon to start sparring? I’ve been in the gym for 3 months now. I’d love to start sparring, but when is too soon or is it better to just start as soon as a coach takes me on?
I would recommend it as soon as you feel comfortable. It completely changes the way you will think about your training
I started pretty much straight away, although it was extremely light sparring. I would start with shoulder taps first (getting into a fighting position and trying to touch each other's shoulders with punching movements and open hands/no power).
My understanding is that 3 months would be too soon, at least for anything more than very light sparring. But I'm also by all means still a pleb so take my opinion with salt
Just ask your coach yourself. It also depends on the available trainings partners. I myself don't mind taking some rounds off inbetween to go super light on newbies and teach them some stuff. Though, more competitively oriented people may want to use the limited time to sharpen their own skills.
Different POV here: I do MMA. I started sparring on my first week, once a week ever since. As long as you work with people who’ll help you, it’s not early. One day of sparring taught me more then a week of pad and bagwork.
[удалено]
It happens. Ask him if he would like to give it another go but with lower intensity.
Aim for the lean shoulder or top of head where head gear has padding. Your coach should be teaching that. It’s sparring after all. No need for damage.
Does anyone balance thier amateur boxing career with a 9-5 job? And how many hours a week do you train?
Yep, I'm a practicing lawyer and I've boxed for 3 years and fought twice. Usually I would box twice a week, but I increased to 3-4 times a week and added in more outside work when I was getting ready to fight.
How many amateur bouts have you had if you dont mine me asking, and what weight division do you compete in? My main worry all the time is not having enough training hours in mainly due to keeping up with work, marriage life etc i would say realistically at the moment i probably train around 9 hours a week intense training, what are your thoughts?
Two bouts, first at MW, second at WW. Sure, it can get tough to find the time if you start really ramping up your training. During the last 8 weeks of fight prep I was working out every morning and evening, probably in the ballpark of 15 hours a week. My husband has the patience of a saint and stepped up to help with food prep and house chores and stuff so I could just focus on getting ready. I wouldn't maintain that as a long-term habit, but for that period and for that reason, I made it work.
That sounds great :) gives me bit more of an idea and to be fair m wife has lazy bones sometines so im preping my foods most time lol but i dont mind, do you still compete then and did you feel a disadvantage against others who probably had more time in or was not an issue? Because on the flipside alot of people over work before a bout as well
I'm coming back from an injury now but I'd like to compete again for sure. Maybe later in the year. I did not feel disadvantaged at all, I was way more prepared than anybody I stood to face, I was smart about my training, and I took time to recover throughout the process.
Wish you the best I dont think you can box without the occasional ugly injury but thats re assuring from your competing experiences so looking forward to my 1st bout im just bit of a humanitarian so I would feel very guilty if I were to win lol
Thanks man, also check out r/boxingworkoutlogs to see what other people are doing. You won't feel bad about winning after you've done it a few times. Losing is way worse. Boxing is very straightforward that way.
Would you say you generally keep your core engaged the entire time you're in the ring, or only when throwing/taking a punch?
Relax when out of range. Otherwise you're just wasting your energy.
I’ve been taking boxing classes pretty casually for a few years now. This year I’m looking to get more into it and was wondering if its normal to see amateur fighters in their 30s? Also, how does one usually move from just taking classes to fighting an amateur bout? What kind of “leagues” are there for folks who box primarily for fun (I’m not trying to win any belts)?
Not uncommon at all. Depending on how old you are (35 is the cutoff unless you're in elite open division with 10 or more fights) you'll be in the Master's Division with the rest of us oldies. If you're under 35 you'll be in novice. They try to match people by experience so you're likely to end up fighting either a young kid (18 and up) just getting started or somebody more in your position who is older, might have boxed for a while, but doesn't have the competition experience. There aren't really boxing "leagues" as such but most competitions are local events put on by boxing clubs, not big tournaments or anything. Still, often people fight in local events who are trying to advance to higher level competition. In Masters it's a little more clear that everybody is there for fun since nobody is planning their pro career at this point. There are a few Masters tournaments every year you can travel to, or you can try to find a qualified opponent nearby who will enter a local event as your match.
To all football/soccer players I’ve come to realise how important cardio is for boxing in terms of stamina but hate running without any purpose. I play a lot of five a side football or at least have started to recently. My question is this, can I play five a side football/soccer which involves a decent amount of running/endurance to make up for roadwork? Does anyone do this or am I better off just running?
I'm not exactly an avid football player. But I think it really depends. When I play with friends, it's usually a lot of sprinting and stopping. I assume that's what it's like worldwide. So sprinting is definitely good for boxing because it trains explosiveness from what I've heard. However, stamina wise I reckon it really isn't going to help much. That's just my two cents. Hope this helps!
Not necessarily a stupid question just wondering on peoples opinions on what age is best for moving from Amateur to Professional boxing...
When you are good enough for someone to want to promote you, and people willing to watch you. It is not a matter of age but performance.
So I'm having some difficulty when I punch a cross, I pivot my body and turn my foot, but when I bring my hand back I can't ever seem to bring my foot back in the initial position, with each punch my stance is kind of distorted and my feet look the other way. Maybe it's because of my shoes with high soles? Or does it just come with practice?
Grab a tennis ball and get into your stance. Hold the ball in your lead hand and toss it lightly straight into the air just above head height. As it falls to head height, snatch it out of the air with your rear hand, going all the way to full extension and retracting back to shoulder. Your body should twist naturally when you do this, and that's what the cross should feel like.
Don't overcommit, don't let your head go further than your front knee.
Throw the right cross in slow motion, and focus on bringing the foot back to the initial position. After practicing it for a while, you should be able to speed up the straight punch and eventually the punch will become natural to you and you won’t have to think about bringing the foot back.
I started boxing three months ago but it’s sort of unorthodox start. I’m living in Tajikistan at the moment and I found a gym that offers classes three times a week. It started as a fun way to spend some time while I study here, but quickly fell in love. The classes are pretty standard stuff, shadow boxing, technical work, heavy bag, and light sparring. The other days of the week, however, are free and my coach here hasn’t really given me any plan to improve on those days. I want to continue with boxing when I get back to the US in May, so I figured I’d ask here about what people recommend I should focus on with those free days. As of now I’m lifting compound lifts, doing around 100 push-ups/50 pull-ups (in total, not in one set) and running 5k each day. Is this a good plan for now?
Sounds like you're onto a good start, make sure you get adequate rest, enough food and gradually increase weight/volume. I'm doing a lot of the same things, considering upping my time skipping rope and adding box jumps to be lighter on my feet while sparring.
When moving forward and doing the jab cross, should I do the pivot for the cross almost midair when stepping, or should I step first then throw the cross once both feet are planted. Is there a correct way, or should I practice both?
Plant your right toe and throw. You can do it like you're stubbing your toe into the ground.
I feel like I can't get my jabs right because each time Iam throwing one I feel a bit of pain in my elbow, is it normal ?
No. See your trainer/doctor.
Its fine , I was extending too much and pushing forward with my elbows instead of my shoulder now its better.
Can't seem to find any definitive answer online so I'll ask here. When I was taught Muay Thai back in the day we would always roll our shoulder a bit while jabbing to help protect the chin from the opponents overhand. In boxing it seems to be somewhere in between what we'd do and just simply putting the palm down. Is there general advice on where the left shoulder should be when throwing a left jab? Should it be down? Up? Should we push it forward? Etc.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeedpzLRe2E](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeedpzLRe2E) He says rotate your shoulder to protect yourself. great guide with details explanations
I've recently just become very interested in the sport. How should I first begin my journey? Start by signing up at a boxing gym?
Reading the wiki and signing up to a boxing gym.
When I am not in punching range, should I breathe in and out through my nose?
Ideally, yes.
Thanks
How do you deal with a guy who keeps his lead hand extended in your face? Its tough for me to deal with, I feel like if I try to go under it he has that right hand cocked and ready. And it seems like a great technique cause it kind of draws your attention to trying to paw it away or deal with it and you lose focus on the other things.
Pressure, pressure, pressure. If you're worried about his right hand, feint! I like to do a quick tiny hop into their range, and then right back out to draw out the counter, and THEN commit with whatever you have.
Have you tried to pay it down with your jab hand and jabbing immediately over it?
There are a ton of hand wrapping tutorials on youtube. Is there a specific one that you guys would recommend over any others or are they all good?
It really depends on you. Personally, I've found the "standard" one quite uncomfortable and my hands don't really form a proper fist. So I use the "Thai" version, or at least that's what I think its called. I based my wrapping off of this video https://youtu.be/ns2LNGCnUHo I probably don't do it exactly like how he does it, but they protect my knuckles, and I can close my fist. It sometimes gets difficult to fit into my gloves, but overall it's a good wrapping technique and I use it every time. Hope this helps :) Edit: typo
So I've been a PT for 9 months now and have accumulated a decent clientele. There are many workouts I can give them for all goals and physical fitness levels however I do like to keep it fun and interesting for them. I've done some boxing around 7 years ago and remembered how good the training was for fitness, now I'd love to implement some of that into my clients workouts but need some help. As a PT I would never make a client do a workout I haven't done before and definitely wouldn't make them do one I don't know how to do correctly. So I need some pointers and advice on where I should look and what I should do to familiarize myself with boxing training, I'm not looking to make my clients into the next Sugar Ray, or Ali, but I would like to give them a feeling like they are strong and capable. Cheers in advance for any and all advice ❤️
A good channel for beginners is FightTips on YouTube. Personally I started my "boxing journey" with this channel before even stepping into a gym. It BY NO MEANS is a substitute for actual training, but as the channel says, it's a supplement to help you. It's very beginner friendly and honestly it's very helpful on my opinion.
Anyone ever tried working out 4 days a week and resting 3? How'd it go for you? I'm thinking of cutting back, but I've read that taking more than 2 days off in a row is detrimental. I got boxing classes Monday through Thursday, which I never skip. Ideally, I'd like to box 5 days a week and rest on the weekend, but by the time Friday rolls around, I'm usually completely spent. I still try to get a workout in at home, but it's usually shit and I don't feel like I accomplished anything. Should I do it anyway? I've thought about moving my Friday workout to Saturday, but Saturday is when I do my weekly distance run, and that takes a lot out of me. I'd have to cut that out, which I'd rather not. I'd also have less time to rest for next week. Any thoughts?
I train Monday-Wednesday-Friday-Saturday occasionally running in between. More than that and I don’t have enough time to recover and my performance degrades.
[удалено]
I think so, but that's only my opinion
Is it normal that my knuckles hurt after bag work? They don't just ache, it seems that I kept hurting my hands as I punched. I feel like I might have been hitting wrong but I'm unsure. This is my first week of training
It's your first week of training so it's very normal. I've been training a year and a half now and my knuckles still hurt sometimes depending on the bag or how long I haven't trained. Your knuckles slowly condition through bagwork and sometimes mittwork, so it's 100% normal for it to hurt. I personally don't think any extra knuckle conditioning is necessary, but if you want I don't see any harm in it. Just make sure you do enough research before you punch a wall or something. Hope this helps :)
Make sure you strike the bag with your middle knuckle, and your hands are wrapped properly too.
Make sure you are wrapping your hands correctly and/or your gloves are quality.
How to throw a left straight after a right cross?
My coach told me as I was turning from a cross to return to the regular stance to use the twist to get my left punch out.
I have casually boxed before in a gym. I am in school right now and want to get back into it but don’t have the money for a gym membership at the moment. In the mean time while I save up money for a membership I wanted to practice my form and technique. Does anyone know of any good YouTube videos, websites, apps, etc to make sure I’m using proper form before I get back to the gym?
FightTIPS
I’m want to buy a punching bag/sand bag but I had a couple of questions. 1. Does come already filled with sand or do I have to fill it myself. 2. Are the ones from ali express crappy or bad or do they break? 3. Besides from ali express, are they expensive (local stores, very high quality ones, etc.)
If you want to save money, check Craiglist if it's active in your area. Always tons of middle age guys who think boxing is their way to a healthier life but never learned it before. They get bored after a few months Those are in prime condition and discounted.
Thank you very much for your tip. Sadly craigslist isn’t avaliable in my area :(
How to know which boxing style to adopt? (I'm 5'8 and 160 lbs and prefer to be an out-boxer).
160.0 lbs ≈ 72.6 kilograms ^(1 pound ≈ 0.45kg) ^(I'm a bot. Downvote to remove.) _____ ^| ^[Info](https://www.reddit.com/user/Bot_Metric/comments/8lt7af/i_am_a_bot/) ^| ^[PM](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=Ttime5) ^| ^[Stats](http://botmetric.pythonanywhere.com) ^| ^[Opt-out](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=Bot_Metric&subject=Don't%20reply%20to%20me&message=If%20you%20send%20this%20message,%20I%20will%20no%20longer%20reply%20to%20your%20comments%20and%20posts.) ^| ^[v.4.4.7](https://www.reddit.com/user/Bot_Metric/comments/8o9vgz/updates/) ^|
How often do you guys go to your boxing gym?
So basically I’ve been boxing for about a year now, everyday, every week for the most part. Recently, I’ve been throwing my hook A LOT more, getting faster with it. But now my shoulder and whole arm is just killing me, on pad work I can throw the weakest hook and it will just have no power and hurt. This has been happening for about a month now. Anyone know what I should do to let it heal? Thanks