Getting Started In Boxing

You've watched your favourite fighters compete, and now you want to give it a shot yourself, but you have no idea where to begin.

Join our boxing sessions, and subsequently, regardless of your goals, these seven steps on how to start boxing are universal and can be used by virtually anyone interested in getting their feet wet in the "sweet science".

7 Steps When You Learn How To Start Boxing

Step 1. Identify Your Motive

What inspired you to get into boxing in the first place? Do you wish to engage in competition? If that's the case, how far do you plan on taking it? Or do you wish to improve your physical condition?

Until newcomers give it a shot, these questions will frequently remain unresolved for them until they do so. But on the other hand, my experience has shown me that people who are firm about what they want from the outset almost always accomplish what they set out to do.

Take things one step at a time, and don't worry about becoming a world champion just yet; there's nothing wrong with that, but this doesn't mean you shouldn't try to achieve that goal.

Your initial goal can be to participate as an amateur and, after that, to get professional and try to win a regional championship before moving on to bigger and better things.

Finding out why you're doing something is the first step in figuring out how to get where you want to go. You can be sure that there will be obstacles in your path, but you should view them not as failures but as "calls to action" for growth in one facet of your game or another.

Step 2. Get The Right Equipment

Regardless of whether you intend to compete for glory or simply want to get into the best form of your life, it would be best if you were sure that you have the appropriate equipment.

Although most boxing gyms will already provide you with some things to use, such as gloves and headgear, I strongly advise that you get your own because the equipment available for use by anybody is typically worn out, torn, and filthy.

If money is tight for you, you first need a pair of good quality boxing gloves that will last for a long time. In the past, I have made the mistake of purchasing low-quality ones, which tend to tear around the thumb and inside of the glove within the first few weeks of use.

You'll skip rope for a significant portion of your workout, so investing in a high-quality model is in your best interest. In addition, if you intend to engage in free sparring, you must have a head guard, a groin guard, and a gum shield. Finally, consider purchasing a pair of boxing shoes designed to make the wearer nimble on their feet.

Step 3. Learn The Fundamentals Of Boxing

You may have already seen some professional boxers compete, and if so, you've probably learned a thing or two from watching them. But, on the other hand, if this is going to be your first time going to train in boxing, then it is necessary for you to master the basics.

It includes learning the ideal stance to take, how to protect yourself correctly and throw basic punches and combinations, and how to move your feet and other related skills properly. Develop a routine based on these essentials. Only try to emulate your favourite fighter if the fighter drops his hands. You will quickly learn that this is not a good thing to do. If your favourite fighter drops his hands, try to avoid imitating him.

Instead, focus on mastering the essentials; as you gain more experience, you'll start to establish your own style. Then you will know what works for you and what doesn't without picking up too many negative habits along the road to cloud your judgment.

Step 4. Get Into The Right Condition

The process of getting into a condition is done throughout all of your training, but it is also a choice you make about your lifestyle. Creating a solid meal plan to get the most out of your workouts would be best. How quickly and readily you see benefits in your training and physique will be directly correlated to what you eat and how you train.

If you have excessive body fat, you should engage in many cardiovascular workouts of varying intensities, such as sprinting and jogging. In addition, lifting heavy weights should be avoided in favour of using lesser weights and increasing the number of repetitions you perform.

An excellent way to get in a nice workout is to shadowbox for three rounds of three minutes with 0.5–1 kilograms of dumbbells held in each hand, with one minute of rest between each round. Your upper body will become more toned due to this, rather than gaining additional muscle, which would be counterproductive. You may also get a terrific workout by doing tough rounds on the heavy bag. Again, it will help you tone and strengthen your muscles.

Boxing is a high-impact and high-intensity activity that requires a lot of energy, so getting into a condition is the second most important component of boxing after mastering the principles of the sport. Even if you are the most talented fighter in the world, if you are out of shape, you will lose to less skilled competitors who are in better shape.

Step 5. Start Sparring

It can be nerve-wracking to begin sparring for the first time, and this feeling can start before you enter the ring. Unfortunately, there is no way to prepare for this most effectively; all you can do is go through the motions and use what you already know.

Despite this, you will likely become exhausted after the first round due to the nervous energy you exert.

After a few sessions, you'll become used to it and discover that you have a greater capacity to exercise restrained control over your energy levels. However, when engaging in sparring for the first time, it is important to keep the following advice in mind:

• Learning is the purpose of sparring; it is not a competition to see who can knock their opponent out.
• Put in some effort to improve your quickness, accuracy, timing, technique, defence and mobility. Try to fixate appropriately on authority.
• You should find a seasoned training partner who is not attempting to knock your head off (although certain gyms will try to test your mettle early, so be prepared).
• If you have injured yourself in any way and it is causing you a great deal of pain, then you should wait until it has healed before engaging in any training that will make it worse before engaging in any kind of sparring again.

Step 6. Compete

You may have always planned to start boxing at the amateur level at some point in the future, but the question is: when should you do it? The answer to that question is going to depend on either one of these two facts or both of them together:

1. When you have gained sufficient experience via the practice of sparring.
2. Whenever your trainer thinks you're ready to go to the next level.

The number of times you hit your opponent and the number of times they hit you back is a good indicator of how well you perform in sparring. Boxing, especially at the amateur level, is all about how often you can punch your opponent without being hit yourself. Therefore, consistently performing well in sparring is a great confidence booster, and you should feel prepared to compete when you reach that point.

On the other hand, if you're like many other boxers who put things off for too long, your trainer should step in and tell you that you're ready, even if you don't think you are. Ше is true even if you think you aren't prepared. Is frequent encouragement required before taking any action? In this regard, your trainer will plan bouts for you, and all that is required of you is to show up ready to go into battle.

Step 7. Constantly Improve

You always need to go back to the drawing board and enhance elements of your game that need work, whether you win, lose, or draw. Ше is true regardless of the outcome of the game. For example, if your opponent was applying pressure and it was tough for you to keep him off of you, you should work on improving your jab to counteract this.

If you were constantly getting hit with an uppercut, you should avoid leaning forward too far. Instead, getting specific about what aspects of your performance need to be improved and how you can accomplish it would be best.

Watch many videos of other boxers who are fundamentally and technically sound, like Floyd Mayweather Jr., Andre Ward, and Bernard Hopkins. Of course, they each have problems with certain competitors, but you should observe how they discover and adapt to their adversaries.

Make boxing a permanent part of your life if you want to attain tremendous success. Learn to think and behave like a professional athlete or boxer by completely submerging yourself in their world. Don't take shortcuts because you'll end up shortchanging yourself in the long run. The path to glory is not an easy one, but it is a path that is worth travelling.

Basic Boxing Gear And Moves

Boxing is, without a doubt, one of the sports that is recognized all over the world the most. Boxing has produced some of the most well-known athletes in the history of the sport, including the iconic Muhammad Ali, whose name appears on almost every list of athletes that people are familiar with. And even people who don't follow the sport might be familiar with it, at least from its representation in popular cultures, such as in the numerous films that record the lives of boxers, both real and fictional.

When this is considered, it is not surprising that boxing-style training has gained more and more popularity over the years. Who among us wouldn't want to experience the joy that Rocky does when he finally makes it to the top of that staircase? However, if you want decent exercise out of boxing workouts, you can do more than a punch with reckless abandon. You may want to do it the proper way and get a good workout out of it.

Boxing is a combat sport requiring strength, strategy, perfect technique, and excellent conditioning for competitors to last as many rounds as possible against their opponents. A professional boxing match can run up to 12 rounds, each of which lasts three minutes, with a one-minute rest between each round. That's going to be a tough battle to win.

With minimum equipment, you can get started with some shadow boxing and training right in your living room or garden. Still, you will want to ensure that you nail the fundamentals and consider some safety recommendations. Even though it might not seem crucial when you're only shadow boxing, you'll be pleased you did it if you ever plan to truly pound a heavy bag at home or sign up for a boxing gym in the future.

We will cover all you need about shadow boxing, from the correct posture to the four real punches and recommendations for getting the most out of the exercise.

Basic Boxing Gear

You will want to ensure that you have the appropriate workout gear, regardless of whether you start by joining a gym. Even if you are not using a heavy bag, it is still a good idea to get acclimated to wearing protective gear whenever you shadowbox. It is especially important if you are using a heavy bag.

If you decide to get a heavy bag, one important thing to remember is that you should wait to jump from 0 to 100 pounds.

People enjoy hitting big bags with a lot of force but think about what this means in terms of fitness. Getting up to maximum speed requires a progression, just like building strength by lifting weights or doing any other form of training. You have to train your muscles and joints to be able to withstand the impacts that will be placed on them. If you go in immediately and start hitting hard, you risk seriously injuring yourself.

Before punching the bag, wrap your wrists and put gloves on. It is true even if you only use the most basic boxing equipment.

According to, the most crucial thing to do when working with a heavy bag is to wrap your wrists. The wraps are known to be intimidating, yet their primary purpose is to protect the little bones in your wrist. Additionally, you are required to wear gloves. If you don't do those, you put yourself at risk of injury and could miss a day or two of training.

Traditional canvas wraps are inexpensive and easy to apply with some practice; in addition, many video lessons on YouTube demonstrate the correct wrapping technique. It would be best if you put gloves on your hands to protect them from the elements. Purchase a weight appropriate for your requirements, regardless of whether you select a more affordable or expensive option. You can get away with wearing minimal gear, such as gloves designed for bag work, if all you plan to do is hit a bag.

Choose gloves that weigh 14 or 16 ounces if you eventually want to engage in sparring (in a controlled environment, such as a gym with a trainer). When starting, you should get heavier gloves to protect your hands.

Proper Stance

First, you need to make sure you're standing in the right way before you start throwing punches.

To begin, position your feet so they are shoulder-width apart and one foot is in front of the other. It will be your starting position.

You should point your front foot straight ahead at the person you are pretending to be competing against. If you are right-handed, you should be pointing your left foot in a forward direction. Of course, the rules are completely different if you're left-handed, often known as a Southpaw in boxing jargon. In either case, the best approach to begin is to position your back foot such that it points in a direction that is approximately 45 degrees out from the imaginary line that your front foot is sitting on.

Additionally, your front shoulder should be brought forward so that you can stand with your back to your rival. It is extremely important because rotating your body will transfer more power to your blows.

The boxing stance enables a significantly improved springing in your step, regardless of whether you are moving forward or backward. When you observe boxers, you'll notice that they move backwards just as often as forward for an attack. It is both a defensive and an attacking position for them.

You will have less agility if your feet are too close or far apart. You want to be in a position where you can go forward and backward as easily as you can move left and right.

Imagine you're in a battle and want to defend your head by holding both hands in front of your face. It is the position your hands should be in. After you've punched someone, make it a practice to bring your hands back into your body immediately.

Now is the time to throw some uppercuts, jabs, crosses, and hooks at your opponent.

How To Throw A Jab

The jab is delivered with the lead hand, which is the right for right-handed fighters and the left for Southpaws. It is not intended to be the strike that knocks an opponent out.

It's a setup punch, so if you notice that hand coming, it's usually used to mask or set up another punch that's a little bit more powerful. If you see that hand coming, it's meant to set you up for it.

When you jab, you will essentially be reaching forward with your palm facing down and your two larger knuckles pointing directly ahead of you; of course, your fist will be closed throughout the entire motion. To emphasise once more, you are not supposed to throw your strength into it.

Additionally, we emphasise how important it is always to maintain your thumbs outside your fists. If you hold your thumbs between your fingers, you put your hands at a significant risk of suffering major injuries. Of course, it is true for all punches, but it is crucial to remember this while transitioning from shadowboxing to training with a heavy bag.

How To Throw A Cross

A cross is a blow similar to a jab in that you are punching straight at your imagined opponent; however, the cross is performed by bringing your backhand across your body rather than to your side. Although you will be generating greater power with your hips, your backhand should continue to be aimed in front of you with the palm pointing downward.

Your strength comes from the rotation of your hips and waist and the extension of your arms as you push forward. It is where you gain momentum. We liken it to the sport of baseball, in which you will never see a batter hit a home run by swinging with only their arms. Similarly, the power behind a punch is generated by the entire body working together.

How To Throw A Hook

The hook, especially the lead hook, is a solid blow that should come after the cross. This way, you'll be switching hands at regular intervals. According to him, this is the strike that results in a knockout most of the time in boxing. Of course, you can also throw a rear hook, but the lead is more popular as it doesn't leave as much of your body exposed to a strike as the rear hook does.

The name "lead hook" comes from hooking your fist around your opponent or the bag in the shape of a half circle, which is how the move is executed. Imagine that your adversary is guarding themselves with their hands in front of them and that if you throw a straight punch, they will stop it with their hands. If you strike like a circle, you will avoid hitting their hands while making your way to their face.

In this move, your fist will approach the bag from the side rather than the front. Your fist should be aligned with that point, and your elbow should be around shoulder height or a little below shoulder height. When you're in that posture, it looks like you could balance a tray on top of your arm without the tray toppling over. In contrast to the previous punches, in which your palm pointed downward, it will now be turned upward and facing you.

Another thing to keep in mind is that some people choose to execute this punch with their palms facing away from them, but keeping your palm toward you helps ensure that you hit the bag with your whole fist and do not simply clip it with your pinky knuckle, which could cause injury to your fingers.

How To Throw An Uppercut

The fourth type of real punch is an uppercut, typically delivered with the backhand. When you want to deliver an uppercut, you should move your palm away from your face and toward the belly, but not down.

They call this "telegraphing your punches", which many guys do by dropping their hand too low and letting you see what they're going to do next.

Just let go of your grip ever-so-slightly, and you'll have created something conceptually analogous to a hook, but rather than coming around the body, you'll be approaching from below. Put your hand behind your back, then draw a line that goes straight from your belly button to your chin.

It would help if you worked on perfecting these four basic punches before progressing to shadow boxing or bag practice.

Shadowboxing Basics

An excellent form of exercise is shadow boxing. Can is the keyword. But you need to do it the right way to grasp what all the hype is about and why it's considered such a good cardio workout. Those are two reasons why.

As a novice, you don't need to worry too much about the combos you're throwing because the principle is straightforward to understand. Getting your body involved in the activity is the most crucial thing you can do to ensure a productive workout. One of the most typical mistakes of novice boxers is focusing on punching the opponent without involving the rest of their body.

If all you do is move your arms, you're not moving your body. And there are more effective ways to burn calories than moving your arms, especially if you are trying to lose weight. The major muscle groups are the ones that contribute to the aerobic part of the workout due to their size and the fact that they use more oxygen, and so burn more calories.

You may engage the rest of your body by varying the levels of your punches by stooping down and back up and ensuring that you rotate your torso into your strikes. Changing the levels of your punches is one way to do this. Especially important in shadowboxing is the ability to block such punches. It is an additional factor that comes into play.

When you deliver a powerful and swift punch, you must end it. Therefore, the effort is involved in slowing down the momentum of a punch. In the ring, this technique is referred to as "drawing your punches", but in shadowboxing, it's an absolute requirement. If you don't, you risk hyperextending your arm and injuring yourself.

Lastly, ensure you are hopping back and forth, moving your feet around, and changing your weight between your legs. Because of these features, it is a full-body workout that can be performed by everyone without risk and requires very little space.

If you want to train like a real boxer, you should try shadowboxing for full rounds that last three minutes and have "breaks" that last one minute in between each round "breaks" we mean "conditioning". Some common conditioning alternatives include core exercises such as jackknives, planks, or crunches and body weight exercises such as squats, which help keep your heart rate up while working for various muscle groups.