im keen to meet a coach in Sydney, pref boxing coach, but want to improve my ground fight to ..anyone even remotely close ,, let me know.. wnat to be come very good
G'day Ed
I like this idea.
I trained at a small gym in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia for about 5-6 years. It's where I learned how to box.
Boxing was something I was always drawn to. I mean this literally - I had been drawing cartoons of boxers in combat in ink and pencil since I was a young teenager. This was the main outlet for my sexual urges. I still have one or two of these drawings in my profile Gallery. I would draw as realistically as I could with my limited talent and kept wondering if I'd truly captured the dynamics and techniques of the punches I was trying to depict. I knew that actually taking up boxing would be the only way I'd know, but I'd grown up diffident, cautious and risk-averse and could not imagine myself walking into an old-school boxing gym and boldly asking some grizzled, surly trainer if I could join.
Soon after I moved from my home town of Adelaide to Ballarat to work as a school teacher, I joined a regular weights gym where they had trainers on hand to consult with clients who wanted advice on correct lifting technique, programs, etc. One of these guys, a real Aussie "larrikin" type, whom I quite liked, told me one day he was going to start taking boxing classes with a view to getting a second job in the security industry and told me where and when the classes would be held - the following Tuesday night at O'Brien's Boxing and Kickboxing Gym. This was my chance to do something I'd burned to do, but feared to do.
In the end, hot larrikin was a no-show, but Paul the boxing trainer, also a bit of a larrikin himself, endowed with a wicked grin and a wealth of skill and knowledge, welcomed me to his class.
It's hard to recall specific details of that class but it would have started with everyone warming up on jump ropes, with Paul showing me some tricks to make it easier (lift your feet only just enough to get the rope under it; tie knots in the rope to adjust the length to your height), then dynamic range-of-movement stretches, knee lifts, jogging and sprinting in place, etc. Paul would then demonstrate the first punch-and-movement combination to the class with an experienced student, make sure we all got it, start us up in pairs and circulate to see how we were going. Beginners like me would get plenty of his attention and support. The pairs would work for a timed 3-minute round, then Paul would have us either do various crunches or push-ups in the 1-minute rest period. Then the students would exchange the mitt-holding and punching role and work again for another 3 minutes, after which Paul would teach another combination.
In this way the hour would fly by. The last round would usually be some cool-down activity, which would not necessarily be easy - for example, practicing the combinations facing the mirror while holding hand weights.
I finished the class heaving, drenched in sweat and grinning from ear to ear. "See you Thursday night?" Paul asked, with his wicked grin.
That same grin persuaded me to join the Saturday sparring class after about 2 months of classes when he deemed me ready to step into the ring. I didn't feel ready, especially when I was getting pounded, but my first sparring partner Jeff knew how to work with a novice opponent, as did almost all of Paul's trainees. Jeff, a PE teacher and (later) a multiple middleweight champion in Masters Boxing, and I went on to become good mates and sparred regularly, sometimes chatting amiably about work while exchanging mouthpiece-rattling punches mid-round. The other regulars were also great sparring partners, working me very hard but respecting my limitations until my endurance and skills had improved. They appreciated my willingness to spar with them at open training sessions when they would ask around who was up for doing a few rounds.
Sparring Paul, of course, was the most instructive experience of all. His heroes were Muhammad Ali and former world heavyweight kickboxing champion Stan "The Man" Longinides. He moved around the ring with all their graceful fluidity and struck with all their precision, speed, volume and power. For me, he held back just enough power to let me know I'd made yet another defensive error. He'd pause sometimes at these points to briefly discuss what had gone wrong, what effective defensive options I had for that particular scenario, and then we'd resume.
For the first time in my life, I had taken on something truly daunting, and I was learning something and getting a little better every time I did it.
So that is how my life changed 15 years ago.
When Harborfighter first visited me in Ballarat, I took him to O'Briens gym, where he and Paul trained, sparred and traded training and instruction know-how over many sessions. Since that time Harbor and I have been teaching boxing classes and given personal training in boxing, inspired by what we've learned from Paul.
Thanks for opening up this discussion thread, Ed. I will let my boxing mates on this site know, and look forward to reading what others have to relate about the fight disciplines they learn, or teach, or both.
Keep 'em up
Rob
I have started this group in the hope that, in a fighting site in which there are 14117 profiles from the top 10 countries alone, there are at least the 20 martial arts people in regular training required to sustain this group.
Please tell your friends and let's beef up the fighting side of this site.
Jake Fighter (4 )
08/11/2018 15:42im keen to meet a coach in Sydney, pref boxing coach, but want to improve my ground fight to ..anyone even remotely close ,, let me know.. wnat to be come very good
Ironbull (96)
03/11/2018 20:08Thanks Rob.
I write this as my coach goes up for The South East heavyweight title. It feels like a real community
AussieBoxer (44 )
03/11/2018 21:25(em resposta à...)
Best of luck to him! Let me know how he goes. Exciting times when the Big Boys get in the ring and let their hands go!
AussieBoxer (44 )
02/11/2018 22:31G'day Ed
I like this idea.
I trained at a small gym in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia for about 5-6 years. It's where I learned how to box.
Boxing was something I was always drawn to. I mean this literally - I had been drawing cartoons of boxers in combat in ink and pencil since I was a young teenager. This was the main outlet for my sexual urges. I still have one or two of these drawings in my profile Gallery. I would draw as realistically as I could with my limited talent and kept wondering if I'd truly captured the dynamics and techniques of the punches I was trying to depict. I knew that actually taking up boxing would be the only way I'd know, but I'd grown up diffident, cautious and risk-averse and could not imagine myself walking into an old-school boxing gym and boldly asking some grizzled, surly trainer if I could join.
Soon after I moved from my home town of Adelaide to Ballarat to work as a school teacher, I joined a regular weights gym where they had trainers on hand to consult with clients who wanted advice on correct lifting technique, programs, etc. One of these guys, a real Aussie "larrikin" type, whom I quite liked, told me one day he was going to start taking boxing classes with a view to getting a second job in the security industry and told me where and when the classes would be held - the following Tuesday night at O'Brien's Boxing and Kickboxing Gym. This was my chance to do something I'd burned to do, but feared to do.
In the end, hot larrikin was a no-show, but Paul the boxing trainer, also a bit of a larrikin himself, endowed with a wicked grin and a wealth of skill and knowledge, welcomed me to his class.
It's hard to recall specific details of that class but it would have started with everyone warming up on jump ropes, with Paul showing me some tricks to make it easier (lift your feet only just enough to get the rope under it; tie knots in the rope to adjust the length to your height), then dynamic range-of-movement stretches, knee lifts, jogging and sprinting in place, etc. Paul would then demonstrate the first punch-and-movement combination to the class with an experienced student, make sure we all got it, start us up in pairs and circulate to see how we were going. Beginners like me would get plenty of his attention and support. The pairs would work for a timed 3-minute round, then Paul would have us either do various crunches or push-ups in the 1-minute rest period. Then the students would exchange the mitt-holding and punching role and work again for another 3 minutes, after which Paul would teach another combination.
In this way the hour would fly by. The last round would usually be some cool-down activity, which would not necessarily be easy - for example, practicing the combinations facing the mirror while holding hand weights.
I finished the class heaving, drenched in sweat and grinning from ear to ear. "See you Thursday night?" Paul asked, with his wicked grin.
That same grin persuaded me to join the Saturday sparring class after about 2 months of classes when he deemed me ready to step into the ring. I didn't feel ready, especially when I was getting pounded, but my first sparring partner Jeff knew how to work with a novice opponent, as did almost all of Paul's trainees. Jeff, a PE teacher and (later) a multiple middleweight champion in Masters Boxing, and I went on to become good mates and sparred regularly, sometimes chatting amiably about work while exchanging mouthpiece-rattling punches mid-round. The other regulars were also great sparring partners, working me very hard but respecting my limitations until my endurance and skills had improved. They appreciated my willingness to spar with them at open training sessions when they would ask around who was up for doing a few rounds.
Sparring Paul, of course, was the most instructive experience of all. His heroes were Muhammad Ali and former world heavyweight kickboxing champion Stan "The Man" Longinides. He moved around the ring with all their graceful fluidity and struck with all their precision, speed, volume and power. For me, he held back just enough power to let me know I'd made yet another defensive error. He'd pause sometimes at these points to briefly discuss what had gone wrong, what effective defensive options I had for that particular scenario, and then we'd resume.
For the first time in my life, I had taken on something truly daunting, and I was learning something and getting a little better every time I did it.
So that is how my life changed 15 years ago.
When Harborfighter first visited me in Ballarat, I took him to O'Briens gym, where he and Paul trained, sparred and traded training and instruction know-how over many sessions. Since that time Harbor and I have been teaching boxing classes and given personal training in boxing, inspired by what we've learned from Paul.
Thanks for opening up this discussion thread, Ed. I will let my boxing mates on this site know, and look forward to reading what others have to relate about the fight disciplines they learn, or teach, or both.
Keep 'em up
Rob
Ironbull (96)
02/11/2018 18:00I have started this group in the hope that, in a fighting site in which there are 14117 profiles from the top 10 countries alone, there are at least the 20 martial arts people in regular training required to sustain this group.
Please tell your friends and let's beef up the fighting side of this site.
Cheers
Ed