Serious question, why is boxing today taught so primitively? I have some serious quarrels with the boxing-related instructional world and the boxing programs out there today. I’m sick and tired of students going in excited, eager to learn this beautiful craft, but end up being physically ground down. Worse yet, they get so emotionally beaten that they end up quitting.
The Importance of the Coach and Their Boxing Program
As important as it is for the student to put in the hard work, the coaching element plays a huge part. I won’t blame the victims here, but I damn sure am putting a lot of the blame on all the poser “boxing fitness instructors” and terrible teachers out there.
Those who get into boxing do it for all sorts of reasons. Some do it purely for fitness, while others dive much deeper by wanting to compete. Just because one is a more intense pursuit doesn’t mean the technical coaching shouldn’t be the same. There should be no reason a student cannot be properly taught REAL boxing in a legitimate program regardless of the situation.
Boxing is called the “sweet science” because there is real science taking place behind all of it. The techniques are all about creating efficiency and maximizing the body’s output while minimizing the effort. Yes, boxing even uses numbers and shit for all you bros out there reading this.
So, if you’re going to tell people you are training in boxing, then learn REAL boxing. How you choose to apply it doesn’t matter, but practice should always be around real boxing. Learning real boxing (that is, the sweet science behind the body mechanics that make this all work) should be a pursuit of any practitioner.
But Don’t I Have to Learn Speed and Strength?
For too long, I have seen the average (truthfully below average) ‘coach’ tell people to just punch things “harder and faster”. That is the dumbest shit I have ever heard. If a student wanting to learn how to box is told just to do things faster and harder, that solves absolutely nothing for them. These types of idiot “coaches” probably learned the same way from their linage and think that’s all it takes to box. That is surely not the case.
Do boxers have to learn how to hit fast and hard? Absolutely. Do they have to do that shit on day one? NOOOOO! They haven’t even been shown a proper foundation to build upon yet. If you’ve ever attended a boxing gym in your life and the first day was just hitting things, I’m telling you they started you off at a disadvantage. No true boxing program will start you off this way.
They SHOULD HAVE taught you how to:
- Stand correctly
- Move slowly correctly
- Perform each motion the right way
- Know when you’re doing things wrong and how to correct
That’s it! A coach should have showed you how to go from crawling, to standing, to walking, to eventually running. Instead, most just throw you onto the track and tell you to do sprints. Anyone can tell you to stand in place and hit a heavy bag. That’s dumb and ineffective for the long run, plus it really doesn’t teach you very much.
The Truth About Trial and Error
There is so much more going on behind the scenes that most ‘coaches’ assume you will just figure out through trial and error. The pursuit of 10,000 hours is real, but a good coach should speed that up for you. This is why being in a real boxing program is so important. Sure, you will learn through trial and error, but you’ll have a much harder time by not knowing what to actually strive for.
Sadly, most coaches don’t even know what to look for. The saying “you don’t know what you don’t know” is profound. Most coaches stop learning in time, whether that is from their own ego or a number of other excuses. The issue is that combat is evolving and coaches need to evolve with it. Lots of coaches can show, but few teach you how to truly understand boxing. The sad part is that just because they can do it themselves and tell you to do it, doesn’t mean they can SHOW you how to do it.
Combat Has Evolved, Why Haven’t Boxing Programs?
As I mentioned, combat has evolved tremendously over the years, especially with the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. This begs the question though – why has boxing stayed so primitive? I think a lot of coaches are stuck in their ways. In MMA, coaches were constantly looking at ways to stop “x” issue, fix another type of issue, solve the problem by taking a scientific approach to it.
However, most boxing coaches are just doing more of the same old stuff:
- Do more roadwork
- Do more rounds of sparring
- Hit the bag more
- Train harder
These are barbaric medieval training methods that have worked to an extent in the past but have not improved things in the present.
The Beauty of Training Smart
Don’t get me wrong, training hard and sparring is absolutely important, but training smart? How often are the boxing coaches you know telling you to do that? Vary rarely in my experience. After visiting numerous gyms all over the world (some with current and ex champions), I came to the conclusion very few (even famous) coaches were actually quite good at teaching.
Their methods were outdated and causing a lot of harm to their fighters. I saw countless boxers burnt out with plateaued skillsets. Even in bigger gyms, there were coaches that had a select small number of students that could do what they asked. However, the majority of the rest of the team and clientele looked like shit. At the time, I came to the conclusion that it was the athletes they were working with and not the systems of coaching they were teaching.
The illusion of an Actual Boxing Program
After working with some of these coaches, I quickly learned that very few actually had a method behind their madness. They had no system in place for progressing their students, other than a traditional boxing numeric system below, which they never really went beyond.
| Specific Punch # | Specific Punch |
| 1 | Lead Straight or ‘Jab’ |
| 2 | Rear Straight or ‘Cross’ |
| 3 | Lead Hook |
| 4 | Rear Hook |
| 5 | Lead Uppercut |
| 6 | Rear Uppercut |
The Problem with the Numeric System
Many coaches use these types of associated numbers and punches to design their curriculums. I’ve seen other wacky types of boxing numeric systems out there, but this one has always been the one that makes the most sense to me. I use this method and so do a lot of other places. Odd punches are lead side punches, even punches are rear side punches. Doesn’t matter if you’re a southpaw or orthodox fighter, its still works.
It’s a simple and great system to use for boxing but it is still limited and the issue goes far beyond employing it. Do you see any other problems with this?
If you’re new or even have experience with boxing allow me to rock your world.
THIS SYSTEM ONLY FOCUSES ON THE USE OF THE UPPER BODY.
Don’t Ignore Your Legs
As a martial arts aficionado, I recall a Joe Rogan podcast a few years back with BJJ Mastermind John Danaher.
On the podcast he speaks about an interview a few years back where “John Danaher, a Renzo Gracie blackbelt, recounted a conversation with Dean Lister where Dean said something that Danaher would never forget — “Why would you ignore half the body?” That really resonated with Danaher. It just made perfect sense. Why would you ignore the legs? From that point on, with the rigor of a nuclear physicist, John began to develop his system of leg locks from a variety of leg entanglements. Many of the moves had been around for decades. What John did so brilliantly was that he improved some of techniques, combined others, and built a progression out of them, linking them together.”
https://www.chicagomma.com/news/2020/3/27/asha-garami-finish-any-opponent-with-a-straight-ankle-lock
The Budo Boxing System is the Best Boxing Program on the Planet
This point rocked my world as a martial artist and I dove in deeper to evolve further. I taught for a long time but I never truly took the time to develop a system for the lower half of the body that is used in boxing. Until I did. I went full “Sweet Scientist” about everything I thought I knew and developed the first boxing system that goes beyond the basic numeric system I showed you above.
My system is a system that can be applied to anyone because it is that simple, that highly effective, and doesn’t change whether you are an orthodox fighter or southpaw.
If you’re serious about finding a coach and a boxing system to truly help you understand this craft and take you as far as you want to go, then stop wasting your time with ineffective boxing programs. I’ve linked my program – and before you ask, yes, personal coaching is included for the entire program.
“I KNOW BOXING – Lots of people can fight, few can teach, and even FEWER can teach as well as I can.”
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