Jul 24 2007

Do Boxing Gyms Require Me To Spar?

Published by Nerd of Steel at 5:07 am under Uncategorized, Sparring

I bet before the yuppie boxing and girl boxing days, a very high percentage of boxing students sparred. I bet it used to be common for trainers to pressure people to spar. Today lots of students don’t spar and I rarely see trainers put any pressure on beginners to spar.

boxing sparring

In my opinion everyone should spar and at least to get a taste of real boxing. You won’t appreciate what boxing is really about until you spar. There’s a lot more than making a punch look good in the mirror. There’s defense, knowing when you’re safe, where to put your head. There’s what punch to throw, when, at what angle, and against which kind of fighter. Hell, 80% of boxing can probably only be learned inside the ring.

You can have a lot of fun “cardio boxing,” get in great shape and add a little adventure to life just by stepping into a boxing gym. But no matter how much effort you spend on your skills you won’t know if you’re doing it right until you can do it against a quality opponent.

3 Responses to “Do Boxing Gyms Require Me To Spar?”

  1. # Marcon 25 Jul 2007 at 8:18 am

    Thanks for the inspirational reminder. I knew I needed to spar!

    M

  2. # Timon 31 Jul 2007 at 4:54 pm

    Hi–

    I’m enjoying your blog; very thoughtful and informative. Be glad you’re (relatively) youthful–in your early 30’s. I think you need to have something of a reckless attitude to even begin this sort of activity, and most of us feel much more indestructible when we’re young. Unfortunately, I started training in my mid-40’s, and because I was working with much younger people (who had little or no control in sparring), I developed a “gunshyness” that I’ve never been able to overcome, in spite of working with 3 or 4 very talented trainers over the years. Now, approaching 60, I realize that my window of opportunity has passed.

    You are correct that the only way to really test your skills is through sparring; but I don’t think I’ll ever find out. What I do now is, basically, cardio boxing…..

    At any rate, good luck!

    Tim

  3. # Nerd of Steelon 03 Aug 2007 at 9:39 am

    Hi Tim,

    Thanks for the encouragement!

    I often think about that window of opportunity. I want to get in all the athletic endeavors I can, while I can.

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