A boxing question

[Shotokan-kez]

Hello everyone,

Just wondering how many of us think boxing is to violent compared to other arts? What i mean by this is that boxing just seems like your getting your head bashed in. The reason i am asking this is because my friend wants to try out boxing and she wants me to go with her. I am already a shotokan practioner and i love it, i hold a black belt but boxing worries me.

Karate is controlled and when i watch a boxing bout i just see lots of split eyes and busted noses! I'm a bit concerned about this, as i am not a great fighter in the first place and really don't fancy having my head bashed in by someone twice my size.

What do you guys think, should i give it a try? Also i have heard that some boxing clubs can be quite intimidating, being a small female myself im not sure i want to be intimidated by a bunch of large sweaty men! We are going to this boxing club on Thursday...advice please

[tallgeese]

Give it a go. If it's not for you, then you can always move on.

Personally, I thought my time spent doing it was invaulable. The science of working hands, distance, and angles is very apparent in the drilling you'll do. You'll also develop some great feel for "live" fighting.

The impression you have is based on televised competitions. And certainly, there is a great deal of trauma to be had. But I think you'll find that there is much more to training than that, including most of the stuff I mentioned above.

As to the violent level, the end result of boxing should be the nearly the same as well executed ma in a sd context. You inflicting damage quickly and effectively to an opponant.

[joesteph]

A friend who'd taken boxing lessons when he was younger did a lot of cardio, learned punching combos, wore head gear in the ring, and the boxing was controlled in terms of impact. He wasn't there to hurt anybody or be hurt, and the only reason he stopped was because the friend he went with had trouble making time for it (family responsibilities).

Give it a try, Kez, and let us know how it turned out.

[bushido_man96]

I agree with tallgeese. The bouts you see on TV are usually pros fighting for a purse; so they go hard.

The training, however, will likely be much more focused, and allow you to develop your hands and footwork, and teach you how to move, duck, slip, etc. When they spar in the gym, it will likely be controlled, and not a fight to knockout. I think if you gave it a try, you would like it. I know I would.

[Shotokan-kez]

Thanks for the replies guys, i will go on thursday and see what i think. Do you think i'll end up taking boxing traits into my karate? I hope not, i wouldnt want it ruining my karate training.

[tallgeese]

It certainly won't ruin it, but if you stay with it long enough you'll find certian aspects of it will filter into your training. This is not a bad thing, it will only serve to elevate your game. Over time, you'll start utilizing the best of both in free-form situations.

However, if you do keep training on each seperatly, you should easily be able to deliniate your karate for testing and teaching and such.

[JusticeZero]

It can be a bad thing if it starts to mix up your body mechanics. They have different body frames for specific reasons, and many of the pieces are NOT compatible.

[tallgeese]

Everything has pieces that are compatable. However, you're right, not all will be. When this occurs, it's up to the user to experiment and decide which is working better for him in the situations for which he expects to use them.

If one realistically evaluates his/her needs and then spends time thouroughly learining and understanding dimetrically opposed movements from different arts, then one can elect to forgo that aspect of one and take up that of another. All while integrating the most useful aspects of each for what they are doing.

That means that not all of us will have the same goal. Hence, we won't agree on what should be scrapped and kept. Notice that this never means that one has to stop useing one art, or even that aspcet of an art altogether. One can, if they choose, continue with both as seperate non-integrated items.

[cross]

Boxing is more about hard work than anything else.... you will spend far more time skipping, hitting a bag/focus mitts, shadowboxing, doing pushups and situps, than you will getting your head punched in.

As for being "to violent", boxing is closer to the true realities of violence than alot of martial arts, when you try to hit someone in boxing, your actually trying to hit them full speed/(often) full force... and they are trying to do the same, if self defense is a goal of yours, this experience is invaluable.

[bushido_man96]

Like tg mentions, I don't think you will see bad habits crossing over, mainly because you probably do more things like in Boxing than you realize. When sparring, you likely don't pull your reaction hand back to your hip/rib, because that would leave your head open to attack. So, Boxing will play on this, and perhaps make some of your defensive actions better, as in what you do with that off-hand, slipping and ducking some techniques, etc.

So, unless you start kicking in the Boxing ring, I don't think you will have too much trouble.