Street Fighting + Boxing, A Few Thoughts

[Maleante PR]

I read through a few of the topics involving people asking for tips about street fighting and if Boxing will make them a better street fighter.

I wanted to say, although Boxing will give you skills that will make you more effective in any type of confentation. Will you have the heart to use these skills when the situation arises?

Boxing will not automaticlly make you a street fighter. It will give you useful tips, but it's all about weather or not you have the heart to use them. Just my thoughts.

[shadowkiller]

Very nice post. I can't say I can really relate, growing up in canada in an ok city doesnt usually lead to many fights. I have been in a few,none were more then 1 on 1 though, mostly school things when someone decided to pick on one of my friends or at parties. But what I learned in boxing really did help me.

One of the things that helped most was learning to take a shot and be able to keep going. If you have been hit in sparring a few times you sort of get used to it. Plus the conditioning and knowing how to throw a shot helps a whole lot. Most of the fights I have been in the person did not know how to hit, and well a lot of them they went down after I threw one or two shots.
Just the tough guy mentality I guess, never really been in to that.

I have only ever lost one fight and that was before I started boxing and was sucker punched. Guy was drunk and I was a little afraid and didnt know what to do, was my first fight.

So again I just want to reiterate the point you made, boxing does help with street altercations. Its such a simple style and anyone can learn to be proficient in it quickly.

[shaolin-warrior]

I read through a few of the topics involving people asking for tips about street fighting and if Boxing will make them a better street fighter.

Any time you add a skill set to your arsenal of self defense, it makes you a better street fighter.

[GQchris]

thats why in situations of multiple opponents, it helps to have a butterfly knife with a nasty razor sharp edge.. thugs get less brave when blood starts to flow..

[7r14ngL3Ch0k3]

Just hope they dont have a gun!

[totaltwatdeano]

I read through a few of the topics involving people asking for tips about street fighting and if Boxing will make them a better street fighter.

I wanted to say, although Boxing will give you skills that will make you more effective in any type of confentation. Will you have the heart to use these skills when the situation arises?

I grew up in the south Bronx, and I have had my share of fights. These aren't fights with drunkin idiots who can barely move. I fought for my sneakers, over stares, coats, a few bucks. As I grew older I got into such serious confrentations I fought for my life.

You see, I won't lie. I was afraid. I was scared to death to get hit in the beggining. The fact that violence was the answer to everything here. So many times I froze up. I wouldn't budge. Someone would through a punch, and I just wouldn't react quick enough. It was the shock factor. So much aldrenalin. You need to learn to better focus the aldreanalin, and there will be times when you will really be caught off guard.

Well as I grew older, the fights grew more serious. There was always the risk of someone carrying a weapon too (Guns, knives, boxcutters, clubs are all too common). Plus in the ghetto, very few fight alone. After getting my ass beat a few times, and beating a few asses. I felt confident enough to get hit. I remember the last time I got hit and froze was when I got clobbered and amost slashed open in a gang initition. One gang member knew me from the neighborhood and saved my face.

So after that time, I told myself. No more of this bullshit. Next time someone attacks me, i'm gonna react. The next time I was attacked I was jumped in a project courtyard. I was attacked by 5 guys, one armed with a cane. I was severly beatin but I fought hard and walked out. I never once fell and if I did, I wouldn't be typing this today. I was hit 4 times in the head with the cane, black out the first 2 or 3 times, then hit the in the back over 20 times. Not including the punches and kicks off the benches I recieved.

After this incident, I told myself "**** it, i'm going to make sure i'm always alert and ready to fight" I focused on doing pushups when ever I could. It really was all I could do. My room in my apartment was too small for even the smallest bench, so weights were out of the question. So I did pushups, situps, pullups, running. I focused on the environment everytime I stepped out. I noticed everything from the number of guys on the corner, to the crackhead shooting up under the stoop. The workouts gave me confidence and it felt good to know you were prepared. I practiced shadowboxing to see how many punches I could land on a set point, and how fast I could throw them. I also worked on moving around and attacking multiple points and pivoting on a toe.

Well the most recent time I was attacked was an "attempted" robbery in broad daylight down the block a few months ago. I was walking home tired from work. I wanted to get home, sit down and relax. Some 6 thugs on the corner figured I would be an easy target being alone. I saw them from down the block, but I was too lazy to cross the street becuase I lived on this side of the street. I always saw these assholes in front of their building and I knew they were up to no good. I kept alert waiting for one to make the first move. As I got closer I noticed they all got quiet and looked at me. One guy turned his body in my direction. it was obvious what was going to happen next.

There it came. A swing from the right. I reacted fast and dodged the punch. I then took a swing of my own, a strait arm punch to the chin like I had trained myself to throw. Lets just say, it went from 6 to 5 guys. I had automarically lowered my chin and tightened my stomack, and it hit me, there are way more guys then me. So what did I do. I ran.

I saw a car coming down the block and ran across in front of it. He hit the breaks hard and one thugs flew into the side of the car. I then cut a right and ran in a strait line at full speed. I ran hard and fast, I turned around a block later and saw only two guys still running but an almost half block gap. By the next block they gave up. I ran up on a stoop and asked some two guys if I could take a quick break. They said "don't bring that shit over here". Typical Bronx bullshit. I stopped anyway to see if the guys were still coming for me. They gave up and turned around. I then went around the block and took the long way home.

Although I am not a boxer, the boxing like techniques I practiced like shadowboxing, chin down, strait punched, awareness, and calestetics really helped me out. You don't always win fights, and sometimes you just have to run. These guys could have been armed, and the fact there were 6 would have ment I would get my ass kicked.

I'm not a big guy. 5"10' 140. So reasonably tall, decent reach, and slim. Size doesn't really matter. Its all about heart, technique, and the will to keep fighting. I saw a female crack head take out a group of male cops in Bushwick, she had to be 4'11" 95 pounds but she was wild and had the will to fight.

Boxing will not automaticlly make you a street fighter. It will give you useful tips, but it's all about weather or not you have the heart to use them. Just my thoughts.

you sound like you've had it rough. my neighbourhood's pretty rough, but fights are always one on one. it's an honour thing.

[GQchris]

Boxing

Boxing should be a part of any young man's basic things to learn in life.. along with swimming and learning to operate jumper cables,...

[Zentenk]

I seriously need to learn how to use Jumper cables, no one has taught me.