Practiced since the 18th century, boxing is a combat sport that today has many followers. And this is true for both men and women. There are currently several styles of boxing: English boxing, kickboxing, muay-thai, French savate boxing … Anyway, its practice is particularly advantageous. Discover then in this article all that it is advisable to know about this dynamic and complete sport.
Good reasons for boxing
Like all sports activities, boxing is beneficial for the form and the mind. Concretely, this complete and trendy sport allows to :
- Be more alert, agile and fast
- Improve cardiovascular capacity, endurance and respiration
- Strengthen your body and tone your muscles
- To relieve stress and promote self-esteem and self-confidence
- Gain better mobility in space
- Slimming the silhouette and burning lots of calories
Watch out! Despite its undeniable health benefits, boxing is strongly discouraged for people with heart problems. In addition, there are people who have vision problems.
How to learn boxing?
In order to learn the basics of boxing correctly and to have an adequate technique, the ideal is obviously to join a club. Indeed, a boxing club has all the necessary equipment for an optimal practice of this sport. What’s more, it promises the accompaniment of a qualified coach who will be able to teach you :
- The right posture
- Guard and footwork
- The main punches (jab, cross, crochet and uppercut) and combinations
- Defensive techniques
Boxing training: how does it work?
Boxing training is essential to progress and improve your skills. It takes place in three parts: the warm-up, the main part and the stretching.
Thus, for the warm-up, it is simply necessary to do several exercises: jogging, cycling, skipping rope, stretching… The goal is of course to prepare all the body’s joints and muscles for the effort to come. In the main part of the training, it is important to work on technique while strengthening your physical condition. Here is a training diagram that you can follow for this part:
- Revision of your hitting technique (punches)
- Getting started with a striking bag or a punching bag
- Switching to the punching bag
- Carrying out muscle strengthening exercises
- Practice in the ring: sparring or shadow boxing
- Improvement of his footwork and endurance
- Completion of exercises to awaken his tonicity and explosiveness.
- Real confrontation against an opponent
Finally, boxing training, a stretching session is required. Of course, it helps to prevent sports injuries and avoid sore joints. But, at the same time, it also helps improve athletic performance.
How does a boxing match take place?
A boxing match generally takes place as follows. Three to four hours before the start of the match, the boxer goes through the weighing stage. Once his category has been determined, he undergoes a physical examination and possibly a doping control. Moreover, in order to be able to fight, he must obtain the agreement of the doctor appointed by the organizing committee.
Shortly before the start of the fight, an official checks his equipment, in particular the bandages, which must comply with the standards. Note that it is in the locker room that the boxer warms up. In addition, before the fight, the organization commission is obliged to ensure the conformity of the sides of the ring used.
At the time of the match, the two boxers go to the ring and greet the judges and the public. They then prepare themselves in their respective corners and stand in the center of the ring. There, the referee reminds them of the rules and checks one last time that their equipment is free of anything that could cause injury. Afterwards, the two boxers touch their fists as a salute. At the sound of the gong, the referee gives them the signal to fight.
A boxing match consists of several rounds separated by breaks. The number and duration of the restarts or rounds vary according to the age and status of the boxers (amateur or professional). They also differ according to the level of the competition. At the end of the fight, the judges decide the winner according to the situation:
- Number of points obtained by each boxer
- K.-O.
- Abandonment or package
- Disqualification
At what age should I start boxing?
In principle, boxing is practiced from 5-6 years old. As for the age limit, it depends on the category of boxing practiced and the physical condition of the boxer. According to the FFBoxe, educational boxing and leisure boxing are open to children and adults from 6 to 77 years old. On the other hand, professional boxing is only accessible under certain conditions. Among other things, it is open to a public aged between 18 and 35 years old. For amateur boxing, it is practiced from 13 to 39 years old.
How to participate in a boxing competition?
Before you can participate in a boxing competition, you must first have a sports book. Bearing the sticker of the current sport year, this booklet is issued by the FFBoxe for those who provide the medical certificates required for the practice of this combat sport.
It goes without saying that before registering for a boxing competition, it is also important to meet the criteria imposed by the organizers. On the day of the fight, boxers must also pass a medical examination and get the green light from the doctor. Boxers must also be dressed appropriately.
Good to know
In amateur boxing competitions (more precisely, in national championships and criteriums), boxers are required to register in the age category that corresponds to their year of birth.
