CAN YOU LEARN BOXING AT HOME?

Boxing has become one of America's premier combat sports, and due to the popularity of this competitive Martial Art, people from all over the United States are lining up to learn fundamental boxing skills. There is a lot to learn when it comes to boxing, as all athletes must improve their punching power, their punching technique, their punching speed, their punching fluency, their footwork, their evasive maneuvers, and their overall fight strategy. Boxing is a formidable striking art that is used throughout many other Martial Art forms like Kick Boxing, Shoot Fighting, Krav Maga, and Mixed Martial Arts.

What this article covers:

Setting up a Home Gym
Can Someone Become Good at Boxing from Home

Learning a comprehensive combat system like boxing can have its challenges, but athletes just need to be dedicated, show perseverance, and apply consistency to their training. Most students will learn by attending boxing classes, where they will get hands on teaching from an experienced trainer, and receive real combat experience by sparring with training partners. Some athletes will choose to learn boxing for beginners at home, and setting up a home gym to practise boxing techniques can still be highly effective. Training from home may have a couple of disadvantages, but athletes will have the freedom to learn any techniques they want. Nowadays with the high volume of fundamental tutorials online, athletes are capable of learning intricate boxing maneuvers within the confines of their own homes.

SETTING UP A HOME GYM

Learning boxing from home can be really effective, and this is mainly due to the fact that an athlete can put in a lot of hours into their training. Sometimes training at a boxing gym can get tedious, and always having to leave the family to go to training can be mentally draining. Training from home can help an athlete to stay motivated, and having the ability to access training gear everyday has a definitive advantage. Even though commiting to boxing training at home can be done without any training equipment, there are a lot of different components that can aid an athlete in their quest for improvement. Setting up a home gym can have numerous different avenues, and as long as the equipment services the athlete's needs, then it can be extremely effective.

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Commonly an athlete will need an open area so they have enough space to work on their footwork skills. Laying down at least twenty square metres of mats can make the area even more versatile for an athlete. Boxing gloves, and hand wraps are extremely important, and they both are designed to protect an athlete's hands. There are various kinds of boxing bags, and each have a different purpose to help an athlete develop their punching ability. The heavy bag is used to develop their power, and to work on range, the double ended bag is used to work on evasive skills, and the speed bag is used to develop an athlete's speed of punching, as well as the timing of their punches. Focus mitts are another iconic piece of boxing equipment, and athletes can practise any type of boxing drills at home, as long as they have a training partner they can work with.

A home gym wouldn't be complete without a solid range of workout equipment. Athletes can design any type of circuit training they want, including different kinds of weight machines like a sit down row machine, a bench press, and a deadlift bar. Some athletes like to use less modern tactics like flipping truck tyres, or hitting truck tyres with a sledgehammer. Combining these elements into a workout circuit is a highly beneficial way for athletes to build up their strength and conditioning. Kettlebells or dumbbells are a great substitute for weight machines, because they are compact, and completely functional to help an athlete develop their muscular strength. Athletes can also add other pieces of equipment like an assault bike, a skipping rope, and resistance bands.

CAN SOMEONE BECOME GOOD AT BOXING FROM HOME

Becoming a proficient boxer takes a lot of hard work, and consistent training, and commonly an athlete will improve their skills under the watchful eye of an experienced trainer. Training from home takes a different set of skills, and an athlete must be capable of pushing themself beyond their normal capabilities. Boxing can be a solo drill, and because athletes can master shadow boxing, and hitting the boxing bags, this means that athletes are highly capable of becoming extremely effective with their boxing skills. There is a huge platform these days with YouTube and the dynamic striking websites, where athletes can master their craft, and train effectively from their home gyms. It will only take continuity, perseverance, resilience, physical conditioning, and mental toughness to improve exponentially in boxing skill.

FOOTWORK DRILLS

Learning footwork drills from inside of an athlete's home gym can be just as easy as learning them inside of an academy. One of the main footwork drills that will help an athlete from the beginning is the lateral shuffle. In boxing all athletes need to master how to move sideways in a slick, and evasive manner. The lateral shuffle is the act of moving sideways, by sliding their feet to evade their opponent's strikes, or to utilise a better angle so they can attack their opponents. Using a shuffle can also be done in a forward, and backwards motion, which sometimes can be just as important, as all athletes should be practicing these movements consistently.

Understanding how to use ring control is highly effective in a real boxing fight, and for an athlete training at home they can practice this in a drill format. The square drill is where an athlete will mark out a square on their mats, and start in one corner of the square. Utilising a solid fight stance they will shuffle forward in a diagonal motion towards the opposite corner, before moving laterally to the next corner, and shuffling backwards in a diagonal motion to the last corner of the square. Using this drill, athletes will keep their hands guarded on their chin, so their muscle memory is ingrained to utilise good habits, as they look to throw jabs, and crosses, while they are shuffling around the square.

Having a boxing bag set up inside of an athlete's home gym will enable them to work on a range of movement drills. This means to pretend the boxing bag is an imaginary opponent, as the athlete will circle around the bag, and move in and out of range. This is a great drill that will help athletes to identify how close they can get to an opponent, and how quickly they should be moving away. This drill can incorporate punches into the bag, which is a good strategy of building skills in boxing, while still being able to utilise the appropriate footwork to set up the right shots, from the right distance. Spatial awareness, and distance management are two key components in understanding how to move in and out of range of an opponent.

STRENGTH TRAINING

Although boxers do not have to be body builders, they do however need a considerable amount of strength within their muscle systems. Considering how rigorous a boxing training session can be, and how grueling an actual fight can be, it definitely pays for an athlete to build up a reasonable amount of core strength. Many athletes will utilise different weight training programs, and lifting heavy weights will strengthen an athlete, but there are more functional ways of building up strength. Boxing requires functional strength, and this means utilising different strength exercises like squats, and lunges. Jump squats are a great way to build explosive power in an athlete's core, and utilising multi directional lunges will help to build up an athlete's legs.

It is the old school tactics that will really help an athlete build extensive strength from their home gym, and this means exercises like push ups, chin ups, sit ups, burpees, and sprawls. There are other more modern workout routines like rotational arm, and leg swings, switch punch extensions, rotational shoulder raises, turkish get ups, wall sits, and planks. Kettlebells are one of the most functional strength workouts for a boxing athlete, as not only are they extremely compact, they are easy to use. Athletes can utilise a large range of different exercises like kettlebell swings, kettlebell lunges, kettlebell deadlifts, and kettlebell shoulder raises. This can be an extremely defining structure of strength training, as all athletes that use these systems have become formidable athletes within their own right.

CARDIO WORKOUTS

Training an athlete's cardiorespiratory endurance is essential in the sport of boxing. A boxing match will go for twelve rounds, and has a highly dynamic nature, which requires athletes to become extremely fit. This is why all athletes will build up their cardio, so they can maximise their efficiency during a competitive match. Running and sprinting are great ways to build effective cardio, and explosive power is highly attainable from sprinting exercises like interval sprinting. This is a drill that involves an athlete sprinting for at least thirty seconds, or for one hundred metres, and then walking for a short period of time, before running for an extended period of time again. The object of this drill is to help athletes recover in shorter amounts of time, which is what is needed in a combat sport like boxing.

Other cardio workouts can be just as grueling as a sprinting exercise, and skipping is one of the best of them all. There are many of the world's best boxers utilising different skipping techniques, and this is because boxing is heavily guided by footwork skills, and skipping can help athletes develop this concept. Not only will skipping help an athlete's footwork, but it is a comprehensive way of building up a significant amount of cardiovascular ability. Shadow boxing is another extremely efficient way of raising an athlete's level of cardio, and this involves continuous movements around the mat, while using evasive maneuvers, and throwing a barrage of different boxing combinations. Using these methods to increase an athlete's level of cardio is essential to the viability of a professional athlete, especially wjen they are competing in a combat sport like boxing.

BASIC BOXING COMBINATIONS

There are many different boxing combinations that can be taught to a beginner. Being new to a combat sport like boxing, these beginners need to start off slowly, and work on only a two hit combo, before they can access a higher calibre of punching combination. The jab, and the cross is one of the most basic combinations, and even though it is simplistic, it is still one of the most highly effective combos. All athletes that are setting up more strategic punching combinations, will usually set these up with a jab, and a cross. For a beginner they should be starting with easy combinations like this one, and all it really takes is the use of timing to land the jab, the use of the back foot pivot with rotation through the hips to land the cross.

The double jab followed by a straight punch, can be bewildering to an opponent. This is because the opponent is expecting a cross after the first jab, but when the athlete delivers two jabs in a row it can leave the opponent unsure of what is to come next. Once the athlete has delivered two jabs in a row, they will follow up with a straight right hand, which can be the finishing blow. Utilising this in an effective drill is crucial in building a repertoire of different punching combinations. Practicing combinations that utilise head movements like a slip, or a roll, can put an athlete in a comfortable position, as they look to assert their dominance with high calibre punching combinations.

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Another highly effective boxing combination that all beginners should learn is the jab, cross and the lead hook combination. This combo involves starting the jab with a left hand, as they pivot with their back right foot to generate enough power to do some damage with a nice cross to the jaw. From here the athlete would have gained some significant momentum, as they use their left foot to step in, and deliver the lead hook. It is important to note that the athlete must keep their elbow bent, and use the rotation in their hips, so they can still access a high range of boxing movements. Most opponents will not see the lead hook coming, as they have become used to a jab, and then a cross, or a double jab, and then a cross. So to hit an opponent with a jab, cross, and then a lead hook can throw off their entire defensive structure.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MOBILITY

Building a significant skill in boxing takes considerable patience, and a whole lot of other factors to go right. Boxing is an extremely dynamic, and impactful combat sport, which can have a grueling effect on an athlete's body. Especially when the athlete spends years training, there can be a heavy toll on the athlete's body, and thinking about longevity in any combat sport is a pivotal element. Injury prevention plays a huge role for every boxer that becomes efficient in the art, and building up a significant resilience requires time, hard work, and determination. This is where mobility comes into play, and this is a concept that all athletes should filter into their game style. Mobility is when an athlete increases their range of motion within their joints, and their tendons, and in a sport like boxing this is a key factor.

There are a multitude of different mobility exercises that athletes can utilise. Using a broomstick handle, believe it or not, is one of the best ways that an athlete can broaden their range of mobility in their shoulders, and this is simply by holding the broomstick with a wide grip. While pushing their shoulders back, they can lift up high into a double arm raise, and maneuver the broomstick over their head, and into the middle of their back. Doing circular movements is a great way to become mobile in the joints, and this is commonly seen in an athlete's hips, or their knees, as they will use leg swings, or rotational leg and arm movements to increase their range of motion. Mobility is crucial to a boxing athlete, and they must subsidise their strength, and sparring training with some form of mobility and flexibility training. This is how an athlete will become extremely diverse, and capable of enduring through such a formidable combat sport.

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