Boxing has always been seen as a noble art, anyone who has ever been involved with the sport will tell you that the raining is hard but only half the story. To be a boxer you need to be totally dedicated and let boxing consume your life and you need to have nerves of steel when you step in the ring. That’s wonderful if you’ve got the fitness levels to get you to a stage where you can get on the road to being a boxer. But what about those mere mortals such as you and I who are looking for a release after a long day at work or some where to channel the frustrations of life that we encounter in our day to day lives. How can we use boxing as a way of keeping fit?

Boxing at any level is hard. Don’t be fooled into thinking that just because you are a normal guy who doesn’t want to fight at the Olympics and therefore won’t go to the extremes of the professional guys that it will be easy, it isn’t. Boxing is energy sapping, you are throwing punches and using footwork to move around a bag or opponent put these together for a two minute round and you’ll soon start to feel it.

All amateur and beginners boxing is based around a two minute round with a one minute break between rounds. This minute isn’t always used as a break. A really good way of boosting your fitness levels is to maybe to one set of twenty squat-thrusts, press-ups, burpees, crunches or star jumps. You can take a break between the rounds, or even ever other round but doing a set of these exercises will make a big difference, and you will know you’ve trained hard at the end of the session.

Within a boxing gym [http://www.nike-trainers.com/The_News/Latest_News/Boxing_Fit/] there should be maybe 10-12 different bags to work on; these will all help to develop different skills. All punch bags are not made equal.

A light bag should be used to develop fast hitting skills. The trick is to get the bag to not swing as wildly as you imagine that it would. The idea is to move around the bag as it swings, hitting it as it is on its way back to you, not going away from you. If you catch it hard and correctly as it’s on the way back to you it should be possible to stop it. You can also use the light bag to develop you movement technique, push or swing the bag away from you and from your boxing stance use your foot work to step to the side or bob and weave to avoid the bag, when the bag slows down finish the round with a flurry of fast punches for a real burn of a round.

The heavy bag is used purely for developing your punching power. Again, as the bag swings towards you try connecting with solid left and right straight shots, ensuring that your arm is straight and that you make contact with the knuckle part of the glove or you risk twisting your wrist which can be very painful.

The floor to ceiling ball is where you can be made to look very silly! This is a punch ball suspended floor to ceiling by two pieces of heavy duty elastic, as you punch the ball it whips back at you. The trick here is to anticipate where it is going to go and correctly judge a punch to it or use quick feet to get out of the way. This isn’t the most tiring round you will do but it is one of the most mentally draining. Be ready for the ball to fly back at you as it does come back at some speed and to the amusement of anyone else training it can take you off your feet. Prolonged use will improve your reactions though and it won’t be too long before you’ve got the better of it.

The teardrop bag is suspended from the ceiling and is usually quite a heavy bag, sometimes filled with maize. The teardrop bag is used to hone boxing skills such as the hook or upper-cut although you can land straight shots to it.

The body bag isn’t as brutal as it sounds, it’s basically a bag that is best described as having a figure of 8 curve to it to help you practise body sots and body hooks as well as head hooks and straight shots. This is great bag for practising your close up boxing work.

The final piece of equipment you’ll find in a gym is the speedball. This is the piece of equipment that all new-comers to boxing want to master as they’ve seen it on all the boxing movies.

The speedball develops hand to foot co-ordination and although the punches that are thrown whilst on the speedball aren’t realistically used in boxing the speedball still develops hand speed and stamina. I’ve always found the best way to perfect using a speedball is to land rolling punches slowly and build to a crescendo and get the timing of the ball by listening to the rhythm of the bag.

Don’t feel intimidated by boxing; it is a great discipline to learn. It isn’t easy to master but you can get yourself to a reasonably competent level by sticking with the training. Boxing will give you a great all over body workout, help you lose weight and keep you in good shape.

To fight successfully a boxer must employ the right boxing techniques for himself. You must follow your plan. For a start you should study your opponent and look for his weak points. And attack them relentlessly so you can get the better of him.

Of course you need to develop a full armoury of punches for yourself before you first get in the ring. The more punches you can throw effectively the harder it is for any opponent to defeat you.

This means time spent practicing. Learning and mastering the technical aspects behind an array of blows and punches. So once you figure your opponent out keep hitting him with punches that give him the most discomfort.

Obviously you must think on your feet. If your fight isn’t going to plan than you must re-think your strategy. And quickly.

Forget your opponent’s strong points – you’ll soon discover them.

One thing, never box a boxer the way he wants to box. If he is a good out fighter make him in fight. And vice versa. In other words make him fight in a way that is uncomfortable to him.

Your training and boxing skills will play a big part in your success. But your boxing brain is just as important. Figure out your opponent and take advantage of his weaknesses.

You must be confident. And display this to your opponent. Never allow any sign of weakness or pain to appear on your face. Even if you are totally exhausted. Never give him any signs of encouragement. If your opponent is in trouble and sees you are fresh he’ll become that much more dispirited.

And your victory is assured.

Joe ‘Bomber’ Barnes

Boxing rankings are important for a number of reasons. First of all, individuals are able to find out what place their favorite boxer holds in comparison to other boxers. This is good to know for the average boxing enthusiast. Then there are those who make themselves a little cash off of boxing matches. It helps them to know the rankings so that they know who is the best bet. They are certainly not going to bet thousands of dollars on a fighter who ranks of number ten when the number ten boxer is going to fight number two. If it were not for rankings, they would have to figure out these details on their own, which can be quite difficult and could result in a large loss of money.

They do say that boxing rankings are usually pretty accurate, which allows an individual to make an informed decision regarding which boxer to support, whether they are gambling or not. This allows fans to know how their boxer stands up to the rest and even allows fans to pick new boxers to support.

The gambler

Just think of how much money someone betting on a boxer would lose if it were not for boxing rankings. Sure, they could try to track down the wins and losses, but that would require extensive research. That extensive research then leave more room for error. When thee are large sums of money at stake, this can be very dangerous. It is true that a person can go by the boxing rankings and still lose the bet due to the underdog pulling out a surprise victory. However, the odds are better by abiding by boxing rankings than trying to go about the bet blind. This means that there is a lesser chance that the gambler will lose the money that they have put down on the bet.

The non-gambler

The non-gambler is one that is going to use boxing rankings strictly for the love of the sport. This is the person that lives, eats, breathes, and simply loves boxing and likes to know who is on top, especially if it is a boxer they enjoy. Then again, they may find another boxer that they wish to follow based solely on the boxing rankings. This can be both fun and rewarding because it is then that they can choose which boxers they think would be amazing to see live.

So if you find you enjoy boxing and you want to know which boxers are at the top of their game, check out the boxing rankings to find out. You may be both surprised and enlightened at who is near the top. You may even find yourself following a particular boxer. That would make you a right out fan.

Boxing is a very demanding sport that can bring great rewards to someone that gives it everything that they have and more. If you can stick with boxing, then you will learn many very important life skills that will help you to be a better person. Also you can make a great career out of boxing, and might even become rich and famous. However if the proper respect and effort is not given, then the sport can eat you up, and spit you back out again. I started my boxing career in the Junior Golden Gloves in my city. I believe that the lessons I was taught during this time have helped to shape me into the man that I have become today.

During my experience in Junior Golden Gloves, I was not the best boxer of the group, but I worked hard everyday to get better and become the best boxer that I could. Boxing kept me away from drugs, gangs, and many other bad influences that some of my friends fell into during this time. I also believe that the Golden Gloves taught me the value of determination and hard work. As a boxer you can easily see what training and hard work can do for you in life. I believe that I have carried this throughout my life, and I try to let that hard work and determination translate into other things in my life.

You should definitely try to get your kids started in boxing when they are young, because it will keep them out of trouble, and also help them learn the skills that will make them leaders for the rest of their life. Also if your child is very good then they might even be able to make boxing into a very lucrative career. Boxing will also help kids learn how to stand up for themselves, and give them confidence that they can carry with them for the rest of their lives. I really enjoyed my time in boxing, and am very appreciative of the lessons I learned while I was boxing.