When Can I Start to Box?

The answer to this question is an easy one, when you feel that you are ready.  It is not meant to be sarcastic.  You will know if and when you are ready to start boxing.  Part of the equation has to be mental, do you have the discipline to stay in the activity, to make practice and work hard, and to listen to the coach and apply what they teach?  Anyone who has taught youth sports will tell you that the age at which any one child will have these qualities varies, but you seldom find them in children younger than eight- or nine-years-old.  So, that age can determine the youngest age.  Even then, I think it will be a rare youngster that has the faculties to compete at that age.  Boxing training or backyard boxing under a parent's supervision is one thing, organized competition is another.  Some youngsters can and do compete at that age, but few do!

Let's stipulate that boxing is different than other youth sports.  First, most youth sports are team sports, football, soccer, and little league baseball.  Sure, there are exceptions, some great single youth sports include tennis and swimming.  But, these do not have the element of contact.  I assert that boxing is nore physically demanding than most of these sports.  Therefore, you find that children will take up boxing when they are more physically capable of participating, sometime around middle school or high school for most kids.  I have trained under several coaches.  Most of them would not consider training a boxer for competition who was not a teenager.  Yes, they did have boxing instruction for those younger than 13, but it was strictly in-club training with very restricted contact under very close supervision. 

The picture above is from George Sullivan's "Better Boxing for Boys," that classic how-to-box guide that has been around for forty years.  This book introduced many a youngster to boxing instruction.  Reading the book, one is struck by the fact that it is not written for primary school youngsters.  There are very few boxing instruction manuals written for children and only one, Donald Silks' "Boxing for Boys" is geared to pre-teens.  Obviously, the children in the image to the right are much younger than teenagers.  I don't deny that some younsters can compete at that age.  In fact, USA Boxing structures competition for them to do so, in their own age group, matched against boxers of similar abilities.  I merely assert that the youngsters of that age who do compete are the exception rather than the rule.

I would like to hear from coaches and others in the sport of amateur boxing whether or not they agree of disagree with me.  Let me reiterate what I have said.  First, children younger than eight or nine can learn boxing movements and techniques and have fun while doing it.  At a slightly older age, perhaps ten or eleven, they have the ability to participate in closely supervised and highly structured contact drills.  However, it is a rare child that will have the physical abilities or mental attitude to be able to competitively box much before entering the teenage years.  Let me know what you think via email at oldbxr@mailcity.com

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