The Boxing Chronicles
This week I compile and share snippets from the legendary Boxing Chronicles which began in 2015. Enjoy.
Last year I took up boxing and it is one of the best decisions I have made. Boxing has taught me discipline and focus; you come to understand pain and how to work through pain.
At this point I am yet to start real boxing, which is actual full sparring and bouts. The sparring we do is up to shoulder level only. Still, boxing training is difficult, especially for me who is still building.
I spent almost two years of sporadic training at best; two years of a struggle to get to a training moment: enough time, favourable location, sufficient finances and food.
My body is still building for the level of training that I want to do, I try to do and aim to achieve each time I reach the gym. I push myself harder than most, I feel.
I go to the gym every day, Monday to Friday. So, taking all this into account, it makes sense that my body would struggle. I only started this full-time, consistent programme at the end of April.
It is not a fast process; not two months, not three, especially because this year has continued to be a struggle. I am on a week’s break after a six-week run. I am about to embark on the next stage; an eight-week go. At this point that is how I envisage I will go: eight weeks, then a week’s break.
That’s the preamble, the background.
(01 May 2015)
Boxing, the Teacher (07 June 2015)
Boxing teaches you a lot: calmness, focus, discipline and toughness. It also teaches you respect; respecting yourself, respecting others, respecting time and respecting your craft.
In the end, that is the goal of any man: to reach calmness in your mind and spirit; to remain focused even amid distractions and the toughest times; to have the discipline to maintain the correct lifestyle, and to possess the toughness to deal with any challenge.
To become a fighter, therefore, is as much a quest to control your mind as it is a mission to attain absolute physical prowess.
The mind controls everything. It controls the body and the most composed, tranquil fighter will always prevail.
Perhaps, this is as true in the ring as it is in life.
Fitness… and Brains (15 June 2015)
Watching Floyd Mayweather box and using him as an example is probably not very wise. He makes boxing look easy and almost safe. Mayweather makes it seem as though you don’t get hit a lot.
That being said, I do believe his style of boxing is the way to go. Getting hit is unavoidable, yes. You will get hit, especially against quick, highly-skilled fighters. All the same, I feel most guys either forget, are not taught or simply don’t embrace the basic principle of boxing: hit and don’t get hit.
There are techniques and tactics to help you hit and not get hit: controlling distance, jabbing, movement and basic ring general-ship.
Ability to control distance and the effectiveness of your jab, I feel, are the most important aspects in boxing apart from your ability to take a punch. I would list boxing’s requirements as this:
- Supreme fitness
- Ability to take a punch
- A good jab
- Ability to control distance
Progress (20 October 2015)
Progress is a way of life. This is a quote that is in my head. Fitness is your lifestyle, what you do on an everyday basis. It is your discipline, your continual sticking to the principles. It doesn’t end. It is an everyday thing. It doesn’t end when you leave the gym or when the game is finished.
