Originally Posted by Mike Brewer

I believe the qualifying age is 17 and up, but I could be wrong. As far as using boxing tournaments to gain TMA experience, I'd caution against it. The way that usually works is you get your ass handed to you because the rules are so different and either you come away feeling slighted because the boxing world is somehow less "real" than the martial arts world and wouldn't allow you to use all the tools that "really work" or you end up just plain bitter. I don't think I've ever seen a purely traditional martial artist do well against a trained and ready boxer under boxing rules. Boxers are not only quite accustomed to being hit, they also tend not to stop once they get you in trouble the way a lot of martial artists are used to. It's certainly great experience, but if you compete, be willing to try boxing for boxing's sake. As a stylistic comparison, the deck is well stacked against you. Now sparring with boxers is another story, and you can learn a lot about yourself and your art in doing that. But as I've quoted before, Mark Twain said it well when he wrote:

"When you pick a cat up by the tail, you learn something about a cat that you can learn in no other way."

In short, the lesson may indeed be valuable, but that may not be any fun at all. Fights are easy to get, but not at all easy to win. Take that advice for what it's worth. Like I said, I do encourage you to explore the sport for its own sake, and I'd bet you'd fall in love with it if you're a competitive type. Just be careful using it as a barometer for your TMA "success."