Have you ever learned very much at a boxing gym from a coach?
It seems hard to find good boxing teachers.
From my experience the pattern is you work out, get the eff beat out of you, if you survive and don't quit, you learn from getting the eff beat out of you or you quit.
Then after a while a coach gives you pointers and tips, sort of a bag of tricks approach to speak.
Survivial of those with the most attributes, natural talent.
Anyone else have a different experience?
My first experience in a boxing gym was for 4+ years, after finishing HS wrestling.
Long before the trend in boxing for exercise etc. My point is I do not want to include "boxing" at the fitness club etc.
instruction is totally different from wrestling/bjj
I recommend Boxing for all martial artists.. stick with it and you'll be tough as nails. Boxing has coaches, as opposed to Martial Art "teachers"..you have an issue you ask a question, they'll show you fundamentals etc... but you're personal growth comes from getting your ass whipped and coming back.. lol A good coach will show you the fundamentals, and correct your mistakes along the way.
RobbieH - I recommend Boxing for all martial artists.. stick with it and you'll be tough as nails. Boxing has coaches, as opposed to Martial Art "teachers"..you have an issue you ask a question, they'll show you fundamentals etc... but you're personal growth comes from getting your ass whipped and coming back.. lol A good coach will show you the fundamentals, and correct your mistakes along the way.
Whats the difference between a coach and a teacher?
Tyler Bishop - instruction is totally different from wrestling/bjj
1) My HS wrestling instruction was a bit of bag of tricks approach at times. Although the drills used in wrestling practice help, if you are paying attention you will learn something. But we never talked about match strategy etc.
The most successful program in the area taught match and mat strategy.
2) Something that impressed me with BJJ (esp the first set of tapes lol The Basics) is the approach of teaching a strategy from the start till the finish of a fight/match. It is impressive how they layed out a strategy,an approach, combined with specific tools/techniques as opposed to a bag of tricks.
You must admit back in those days the strategy worked like magic!
Find a boxing gym with some old school Mexican trainers.
Gigantor - Find a boxing gym with some old school Mexican trainers.
^^^^ I have wondered this a 1,000 times!
I think you tend to find this more in suburban gyms then inner city gyms from what I understand, but coming from a suburban area gym I know that the coach wants to weed out the people who aren't really dedicated before he commits himself to developing them as a fighter, which may sound harsh but it's just the nature of the sport.
I don't know about everyone else but like I said I went to a suburban gym and I would see this happen all the time.
Kids, and even grown adults would show up all the time thinking that they wanted to learn how to box. They figured they had the money to do it and had some free time on their hands so why not go to the boxing gym and make yourself a tough guy. What they don't expect is just what the OP said. If you pay your monthly fee and show up with a mouthguard you're going to get into the ring and spar regardless of how experienced you are. If you go to the gym 3-5 times a week you're going to spar 3-5 times a week. A lot of people just aren't comfortable with getting punched in the face repeatedly by someone who knows what they're doing on the reg. So first they start "forgetting their mouthguard", then they start showing up less frequently, then before you know it they're gone. As a dedicated student why would I want my coach to spend time with someone who only wants to be there because they want to be able to walk around and call themselves a boxer but they don't actually want to put in the time and effort, nor spill the blood and sweat that it takes to be good at it.
There's no point in learning ANYTHING in boxing if you're scared of getting punched in the face. A lot of guys want to be "heavy bag heroes" but once shit gets real they forget everything they've learned and are so worried about not getting hit that they shut down. Whats the point in learning footwork, combinations, head movement, etc....if you're just going to turtle up and go into survival mode the first time you get hit.
Now I'm in no way shape or form trying to argue that boxers are the end all toughest guys on the planet. I've wrestled as well and I admit that wrestling is just as tough, if not tougher physically then boxing and I'm sure alot lof the top bjj schools are the same. The difference is that the pain you experience from bjj and wrestling is a long term soreness from the grind of practice, save for the occasional slam or submission hold, which is much easier for your average person to stomach then the shock of eating a well timed straight right to he bridge or your nose and seeing stars but having to keep going.
Once you've proven to the coach that you're not just there so you can start shopping for cool t shirts and impress your friends the next time there's a Floyd Mayweather PPV on, the coach is going to give you these "bag of tricks" type routines to see what works for you. Great boxers can be just as different stylisticaly as great MMA champions. Watch Frazier/Ali fight. Two of the greatest of all time and it almost seems like they're employing two totally different disciplines.
Stick with it man you'll love it. If you're looking to just stick with boxing then you'll have a great time with ti for years to come. If you're looking to use boxing as a complement to an overal MMA skill set then you'll benefit not only from the many skills that boxing will teach you but you'll develop the often overlooked ability to keep fighting and plowing on when you're heads been rocked and you're seeing stars.
btw FRAT ^^ but hopefully its helpful ;-)
Gigantor - Find a boxing gym with some old school Mexican trainers.
FTW!
Taz -Gigantor - Find a boxing gym with some old school Mexican trainers.
FTW!
Or get an irish guy that's ugly as shit and can barely read. You KNOW that guy can fight
10-16
good comments, I have pretty much always been to inner city gyms. The first one I spent 4+ years in.
Funny story which will support part of your comments
Early 90s, the white coach(from Iowa) comes up to me and says
" all you wrestlers always want to be boxers, but you guys have heavy footwork, and square stances, oh geeze, well we will see how you do when you get punched in your little nose."
in my experience you get attention if you've got talent and as the above poster said, if you're there for the long haul.
I've been in shitty boxing gyms and in good ones...the bad coaches are plentiful and it can take years to undo the crap you learn there. Not to mention the damage you take from them just throwing you in the ring with anybody right at the start.
The good coaches are more rare but are worth their weight in gold.
As of right now the old Mexicans probably are your best bet. LOL But look around for former pros too...they don't necessarily need to have been great champions. See Freddie Roach.
Gigantor - Find a boxing gym with some old school Mexican trainers.
This.
Because Mexicans are heavily into the sport, and the old trainers that have been around it forever can teach you quite a bit?
If it bothers you that a minority got credit for something consider that 30 years ago finding an old Italian, Jew, or Irishman would have been the equivalent.
If you go to a gym and they're having you spar you first day, get the hell out of there.
A good trainer will go over technique and try to eliminate bad habits before they form, not create new ones by throwing you in a ring completely unprepared.
Unfortunately, some places it's hard to find good training. My advice would be to go to a local show and try to see if there are any gyms whose fighters show solid technique, and give it a shot there.
Gigantor - Find a boxing gym with some old school Mexican trainers.
truth
Pugilist82 - If you go to a gym and they're having you spar you first day, get the hell out of there.3 out of 3 paragraphs are on the money here.
A good trainer will go over technique and try to eliminate bad habits before they form, not create new ones by throwing you in a ring completely unprepared.
Unfortunately, some places it's hard to find good training. My advice would be to go to a local show and try to see if there are any gyms whose fighters show solid technique, and give it a shot there.
No joke, training with Roger Mayweather for a week I learned a shit load. (like how to throw a hook) whom my previous muay thai teacher neglected to tell me I was doing wrong. and he is a very respected muay thai instructor in las vegas.