MT: 19 Female- What to Expect from Boxing?

[Knowledge Bot]

19 Female- What to Expect from Boxing? By athena09 - 03-17-2008 03:23 AM

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Hey all,

So I'm a 19 year old girl from Canada and I'm planning to try boxing. I trained wing chun for the past three years, but my ma goals have changed a lot, and I'm no longer really interested in a method of self defense so much as an aggressive/high intensity form of exercise (I hope that description doesn't offend all you serious boxers out there :/ - that's just what I'd like boxing to be for me, as I wouldn't want to compete). On a sidenote, I'm overall fit, but my cardio probably sucks right now and I only weigh like, 120lbs.

Anyway, I'm wondering what I should expect my first few classes to be like- and if anyone has any advice. I plan on checking out a few clubs in town, so anything I should be looking out for (in the good or bad sense)? Or better yet, if anyone else is from Ottawa- which club would you recommend?

Thanks! =)


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[Michael Wright]

Hi,

I guess it depends on what you mean by "Boxing". If you mean moving around, hitting some pads, hitting some bags, skipping, conditioning etc then most normal gyms or martial arts studios offer that.

If you are talking about going to a serious Boxing gym and actually learning the art of Boxing, then thats different. My concern there is your open admission that you don't want to compete. Thats totally fine by the way, but if you walk into any serious Boxing gym and say that, they are unlikely to give you any focus or attention. Boxing gyms survive as a business based on the reputation of the fighters they produce, amateur and professional. Therefore the coaches will invest their time in people who want to represent the gym and win titles. In my experience, the guys who just want to train recreationally just get left around the egdes, hitting some bags on their own.

If a high intensity combative workout is what you are after, my personal advice is join a gym that runs a good MMA workout, or a Kickboxing club. These places will be full of people like yourself who are there to train for the fitness and conditioning. Any serious Boxing Gym will be full of people who are there to compete, and the amount you gain from that environment may be very limited.

[Odd-toed]

Hiya

I would say that if boxing holds an interest for you, then you should go and try out some clubs, the fact that you don't want to compete should not hold you back, you may find that once you start and get the bug then this may change in time. Would agree that may be this should not be said up front, but the clubs in Canada may be different to the ones in the UK, so I say go and see what you think, unless you step through the door and have a few sessions then you will never know if boxing is really for you or not, I would say (although I have limited experience of wing chun) that you will find the boxing experience different and knackering! :-)

I would not throw away the idea of self defense, I think you will find that boxing will help in this area and help build your confidence. Anyway hope you do find a good club.