how to start boxing

**theatrain** · March 15th, 2009, 04:04 PM

Hey guys,

I've asked about this a few times. . because I've always been interested in boxing. . actually I love watching it and I wish I would have taken boxing lessons at a young age. .

My question is this. . Since I cannot afford boxing lessons (money is tight right now) my cousin offered to spar with me/ take me through his training routine that he does daily. . we would do this 3 times a week (On my cardio days). .

Should I start off learning what I can from him? He has been boxing for a long time now. . hes been doing it for years. .

Once my money is right then I would consider taken lessons by a professional instructor. . but since my cousin is not a professional instructor I dont know if its wise to follow him. . hes good I've seen some of his fights. . but I dont want to pick up bad habbits that a professional instructor would be able to correct

My goal isn't to become a professional boxer or compete. . I just want to learn some sort of self defense. . The area I live in there are alot of trouble makers and should anything every happen (It's come close) i would like to be confident in my abilities to defend myself. .btw i'm not looking for a fight. . I hate them.

My size gives me an advantage. . seeing as I actually workout compared to the wannabe thugs around here who have never lifted a weight, but im sure they do not fight alone.

Jesse Hodge · March 15th, 2009, 04:27 PM

Free lessons are always a plus.

Just be cautious that you don't learn a bad habit. I would assume, since your cousin has trained for years, he's trained himself out of bad habits.

With all due respect, Boxing is a relatively simple sport to learn so there's not tons of movements to get down, such as Kung Fu or Kempo. I hear there's basically 8 moves that you'll learn, and that's pretty much all it is, perfecting those 8 moves.

Then whupp some arse..

Have you thought about purchasing an instructional DVD?

**wil** · March 15th, 2009, 04:28 PM

Definitely start learning from your cousin. He'll be able to teach you the basics.

If you are looking at this for self defense... just keep in mind that boxing and street fighting are very different animals.

**theatrain** · March 15th, 2009, 05:51 PM

Thanks. I'm going to start doing some bag work with him (heavy bag and speed bag) next week. .

I know that boxing and street fighting are completely different things. . but if a situation did occur wouldnt you feel much more comfortable in your ability to defend yourself knowing that you had some sort of experience?

In a street fight theres no rules, they could use a weapon or even kill you. . but hopefully through training I learn to be confident enough in myself to protect myself should a situation occur. .

My biggest problem is the pre-fight butterflys. . "fight or flight syndrome" I honestly start shaking uncontrollably. . and it hinders my ability to protect myself. .

I've been in fights before. . and if I dont know anything about my opponent I always get the butterflies and it scares the hell out of me. . even if hes 4'5" 110lbs. . as opposed to fighting someone I know who is 6 feet tall 200lbs and not getting the butterflies at all. . i dont know why

**pliny_2001** · March 15th, 2009, 07:50 PM

I won't comment on the street fighting aspects, but I know that when I first started boxing (in a ring, not just hitting a bag) learning to control the adrenaline response was practically the toughest part -- once the bells rings and you're actually fighting, there's so much adrenaline shooting through you that I could gas out way before the first round was over (and I'm mostly an endurance athlete!).

There's no real problem learning from someone who may (or may not) have bad habits -- you aren't going into a ring, you're just learning how to move around a bit, throw a few punches, get some cardio in. Have fun!

**theatrain** · March 15th, 2009, 08:52 PM

how do you beat the butterflies pliny?

**pliny_2001** · March 16th, 2009, 09:27 AM

Practice.

You'll always get psyched up when you step in a ring, but you've done the same thing hundreds or thousands of times in training, so you're not flooding your system. You've practiced, you're in control, and you've done this before. It's the exact same thing as giving a presentation in front of a big room, meeting someone famous/important, first dates, max effort benches, whatever -- you're nervous, adrenaline flying, etc before it happens, but if you just practice it enough, you get in control of it.

So no special breathing patterns or exercises in advance - just do it, learn how you respond, and you'll get in control of it. You'll always have some amount of nervousness, but you won't burn out quickly like before.

**SAINT_X** · March 16th, 2009, 10:51 AM

Excellent idea A-Train!

You do want to try and remember afew things as you work out ... pretty soon they will be second nature.

1) Use wraps when you hit the heavy bag...if not you will have wrist /hand issues.
2) Focus on not telegraphing...( ie, concentrate on not drawing back at all before throwing punches)
3) Keep your hands up and your chin tucked down...if you try and keep your head away from the fight it makes for a great target and you cannot commit to your punches. Concentrate on throwing with speed and power from a good defensive position.
Plenty of other stuff...

Just get a heavy bag...a speed bag if you can ... oh and/or a headache bag, those are fantastic.

Have fun man...

Oh...this site is pretty good...
Your Top Source For Boxing News and Training Advice

**its1** · March 19th, 2009, 03:12 PM

Hey A train,

It is good to have another boxer on here. I have uploaded some clips that I used when I first started. The basics are a must, footwork is everything. a lot of people ignore footwork and think it is all about punching hard or fast; your punches will be much stronger,faster and you will have balance.

This might sound obvious but watch the #1 video first, they got out of order when I uploaded them. The same goes for anyone who reads this, feel free to click on the link and download the files.

Oh and SaintX is right, that link he posted is a good site, but it will be more beneficial to you if you get the basics down first.

Good luck to you, if you have questions I will try to answer them if I can.

Free File Hosting Made Simple - MediaFire

**SAINT_X** · March 19th, 2009, 03:18 PM

Oh man...absolutely...its1 is 100% correct. footwork is supercritical, got to stay balanced.

vy224 · March 20th, 2009, 07:49 AM

Boxing is a great workout. Try hitting a heavy bag for 10-15 minutes straight and see how exhausted you get.

I reccomend not sparring for at least 6 months. No joke. You need to learn technique, foot work, and most important, defense. Spend 6 months on the pads, develop your left and right, learn how to move, and most importantly, get in shape. You can punch like a champ for 3 minutes, but see how that translates to an actual round when your hands are by your sides at the begining of the 2nd.

Best of luck!

**torofuerte** · March 20th, 2009, 03:58 PM

thea, I'd suggest you check Freddy Roach's VHS tapes on boxing (available at titleboxing.com) - they are incredibly cheap compared to, say, BJJ, Judo or MMA training videos. And yet they are of excellent quality. I'd also suggest that you drill on the basics - basic footwork, work the angles, and the most basic of combos (jab-cross, jab-cross-hook).

Work on your jab and ask your cousin to teach you how to keep distance. If you are concerned about learning how to box for a S/D scenario, then learn to walk backwards and at angles, letting the motherfucker chase you and get tired while walking into your stiff jabs. He's going to gas real fast (in about 10 seconds), plus after a couple of jabs to his face he's going to realize "oh shit, this hurts."

There are entire strategies that you need to follow should you be unfortunate to not have other options but to fight to defend yourself. For starters, there are legal issues: keep the distance and get him to chase you - this will look like you were actively trying to walk away in a court of law (even if you are setting the motherfucker to run his face into your fists.)

If you lead with your left (and place your power hand behind), then step backwards and to your left - you will catch an untrained aggressor at an angle with your power hand cocked and ready to land on his face. In fact, I'd ask your cousin to get you to shadow box for 3 minutes doing nothing but jab, jab, step to the left, cross, hook, immediately step away and repeat (while always keeping your hands to your face.)

Realize (and this is the hardest part) that you will get hit. There is no hocus pocus that will get you to deflect punches away from you a-la Steven Seagal or some retarded Hollywood/HK movie shit like that.

So, tuck your chin and present your forehead - if you are going to get hit, get hit in the forehead and not on your chin. Don't aim at the face, but at the chin. I'm sure your cousin will teach you that. This is a very simplistic view of boxing and a trained boxer would eat anyone trying to do this, BUT, it works for S/D (barring multiple opponents, weapons or someone with a modicum of wrestling or tackling experience.)

If you or your cousin also know wrestling, American football or rugby, then train the tackle. Same principles as in boxing, step back, then to the left, and run the motherfucker down at an angle. Get him down and get up immediately and run away to safety. It's amazing (and pretty freaking cool) when you see someone completely paralyzed and eyes wide open in shock after being tackled or thrown to the ground. It takes them seconds to realize what's happening.

At the end of the day, you want to survive an initial assault. Every non methodical fight begins with some sort of violent assault. If you can remain unscathed for the first 10-15 seconds (or better yet, violently maul someone within that time), the fight will come to a stop (and lessen the chances of you getting seriously injured.)

-- edit --

On second thought, also check Rodney King's 'Crazy Monkey' university website - the crazy monkey type of boxing is specifically designed for mma gloves or bareknuckles, clinch game and to protect the head under those variables.

**theatrain** · March 20th, 2009, 06:07 PM

toro thanks bro good stuff. . actually thanks to everyone. i start with my cousin monday.

oh by the way, atrain, not thea hahah.

about the wrestling. . on occasions my cousin has taught me how to dodge being tackled which would have come in use 2 years ago, but oh well. . long story short. . entire football team was drunk in a parking lot. . drinking allons of milk to see who pukes first (dude, wtf?) me and a friend cut thru the parking lot and they got tough with us cause we werent a part of their crowd. . some kid tackled me and absolutely slammed my ass on the pavement. . unfortunatley for him when he tackled.. his head was locked under my arm and his face split open on the concrete. . i guess he didnt realize that the street isnt a blue wrestling mat. . i just got up and walked away.. i didnt lay a hand on him, he put himself to sleep . . blood everywhere. . my ass had a huge brusie on it though. . wish i was bigger back then or had some knowledge of self defense

**theatrain** · March 30th, 2009, 08:18 PM

day 1 of boxing was crazy.

I hit the heavy bag, did some pad work, and some light sparring. . just me throwing punches and my cousin blocking.

We worked a little bit of footwork, but damn did I sweat my ass off.

I'm good with the pads and the bag, but there's hesitation when throwing the punches at my cousin even when hes just blocking/dodging and not even throwing them back. I don't know why!

FitnessStrengthTraining · April 26th, 2009, 10:40 AM

Great tips - I've considered some boxing training, now I have a 'starting point' with your suggestions. Thanks

**theatrain** · April 26th, 2009, 05:16 PM

ive been doing it a few times a week since this thread started

its a damn good cardio workout!

also been doing wrestling

**sohail** · July 20th, 2009, 06:59 AM

Get hold of Jack Dempsey's book called "Championship Fighting". it will help you in many ways...especially in building your basics strong.

msid17 · July 31st, 2009, 07:01 AM

well when i started learning kickboxing my instructor started my training with simple exercises such as push ups , running and jumping then after 2 months i had my first lesson on movements of punches and kicking style..