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Thread: How can i get the coaches at my local boxing gym to actually teach me?

  1. #1
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    Default How can i get the coaches at my local boxing gym to actually teach me?

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    I've been lifting a while now (200kg squat, 140kg bench, etc). I just want to learn the skill of boxing, to actually be taught, but the coaches seem far more interested in getting me to vent calories doing starjumps and burpies and so on. i'm not there to just spend energy doing aerobics, i'm there to acquire a skill but everytime i bring it up they imply i'm being lazy and tell me "it will take time" even though they spend like 3 minutes actually teaching me in an hour session, sometimes not even that. I'm also worried that all the cardio will intefere with my lifting routine (currently on the texas method, and i box after the wednesday light session).
    How can i get them to actually teach me with the level of efficiency that you would? i'm worried that they won't eventually let me spar since they'll think i'm lazy or weak if i just sit out the burpies and push ups.
    Thanks in advance.

  2. #2
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    They probably don't know how. When a coach is incapable of coaching, you find another one that is.

  3. #3
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    I started boxing in my late 30's, so that meant I would never fight Amateur. I quickly learned if you're never going to be a fighter, most gyms aren't going to spend any time training you. After two gyms that just took my money, I found one that would. The only requirement was you be willing to spar on Friday nights.

  4. #4
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    When I was 18-22, I kept looking for a boxing/kickboxing teacher who actually knew how to teach instead of making me do circuit training and running for an hour. I just wanted to learn how to throw a punch, but they all just wanted me to run and hit the heavy bag for time. After five "coaches", I met a MMA fighter and kickboxer who spent time with me after our BJJ class, and he coach just like we do in lifting. He taught me to throw a punch then watch me punch and cue changes.

    There are good coaches out there, and you don't have to settle for a sub-par education. Just keep looking until you find one.
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  5. #5
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    Aug 2018
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    Go find a read boxing gym.

  6. #6
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    Jun 2016
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    I can’t stand those types of gyms. Unfortunately there’s a good amount of boxing, kickboxing and bjj gyms that spend more time on “warmups” of running, jumping jacks, push-ups, and all that bullshit than doing technique. Try to find a better gym, they are out there.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
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    Quote Originally Posted by Marshmallow View Post
    I've been lifting a while now (200kg squat, 140kg bench, etc). I just want to learn the skill of boxing, to actually be taught, but the coaches seem far more interested in getting me to vent calories doing starjumps and burpies and so on. i'm not there to just spend energy doing aerobics, i'm there to acquire a skill but everytime i bring it up they imply i'm being lazy and tell me "it will take time" even though they spend like 3 minutes actually teaching me in an hour session, sometimes not even that. I'm also worried that all the cardio will intefere with my lifting routine (currently on the texas method, and i box after the wednesday light session).
    How can i get them to actually teach me with the level of efficiency that you would? i'm worried that they won't eventually let me spar since they'll think i'm lazy or weak if i just sit out the burpies and push ups.
    Thanks in advance.
    Coach Rippetoe is correct. Get a new coach. Your problem is you found Coach Rippetoe first and he knows that deliberate practice (even if he hasn't read the books but I suspect strongly he has) is what you need to get good. I spent about 20 plus years doing martial arts the wrong way until I found the right coach. Find one even if you find one online and you get coached remotely. Some tips: look for the guy that has written books, produced dvds, and recommends books for you to read. There is probably a retired boxing Olympian somewhere that is coaching that might be properly educated about coaching so search for that.

    By the way, your description of your practice is how most coaches run practice, no matter the sport - bjj (same thing - run around doing exercise non-sense for 30 minutes or longer then show something that you rep maybe for 2-3 minutes, then roll around and beat the crap out of each other), judo (same thing), wrestling (same thing), etc.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Marshmallow View Post
    I've been lifting a while now (200kg squat, 140kg bench, etc). I just want to learn the skill of boxing, to actually be taught, but the coaches seem far more interested in getting me to vent calories doing starjumps and burpies and so on. i'm not there to just spend energy doing aerobics, i'm there to acquire a skill but everytime i bring it up they imply i'm being lazy and tell me "it will take time" even though they spend like 3 minutes actually teaching me in an hour session, sometimes not even that. I'm also worried that all the cardio will intefere with my lifting routine (currently on the texas method, and i box after the wednesday light session).
    How can i get them to actually teach me with the level of efficiency that you would? i'm worried that they won't eventually let me spar since they'll think i'm lazy or weak if i just sit out the burpies and push ups.
    Thanks in advance.
    If those are your numbers for work sets I doubt those guys have much ground to stand on calling you "weak", especially given their displayed exercise preferences. Sadly, a lot of martial arts instructors are just in love with calisthenics type shit. If the ratio of bodyweight exercise to actual boxing practice and drills is that slanted toward the bodyweight crap, it's time to move on. I'm sure there are boxing coaches out there who'd love to get a guy as strong as you to work with. I've worked out in a gym with at least one amateur fighter training there who could not put up those numbers for sure.

  9. #9
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    Dec 2015
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    Boston, MA
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    Quote Originally Posted by novicejay View Post
    Coach Rippetoe is correct. Get a new coach. Your problem is you found Coach Rippetoe first and he knows that deliberate practice (even if he hasn't read the books but I suspect strongly he has) is what you need to get good.
    Well done. Two thumbs up for the deliberate practice reference and how it applies to skill acquisition.
    It's generally way we get stronger using the SS model.

    Maybe a motivated forum reader can draft an article for SS about the original academic research which created the deliberate practice theory and the resulting books which popularized it. Maybe wrap up with a tidy conclusion about how the deliberate practice research seems to support the effectiveness SS programming (i.e. a plan, a program, a training schedule, detailed review of results, close coaching, no useless variety just for the sake of variety, and eliminating wasted effort and time to get stronger).

    Rip has written widely on it all, the exercise vs training, etc. but it would be a fun article to read. Anyone? Bueller?

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  10. #10
    Join Date
    May 2020
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    As others have said, get another coach. I schedule 1/2 hour lessons with my boxing coach and we only work on technique. I warmup and wrap my hands before the lesson and warm down on my own. Between bag and pad work, I normally train for seven rounds in one-half hour.

    On the occasions I hire a personal trainer, I utilize the same approach. The 1/2 hour session starts in the middle of my lifting workout and is focused on form. I also record the sets that I completed before the session started which I ask the coach to review while I'm resting.

    Unlike a lot of people where I workout, I tip my coaches very well.

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