STATE STREET BOXING CLUB
Like all boxing gyms, this one has a certain character to it. Equal parts come from the owner, the trainer, the staff, and the people who work out here. Call it an intense casualness, befitting the seriousness of the undertaking and reflecting its location in a laid-back beach town. There is no mistaking this place for a fitness boutique, boxers train here. Unlike most boxing gyms, this one invites you in. It is clean, sun lit by floor to ceiling windows that look out on the town's main street. Lots of people stop and look in but never step through the front door. Too bad, its their loss. For while boxing goes on here, each member is allowed to chose at which level they wish to participate and when. I used to spar with some of the members, now I am content to have a structured session with the trainer, Josh.
One of the best way to judge a boxing club is to see how it handles its newest members. I had a chance to see this first hand a couple of days ago after I had finished my one-hour training session. The first thing the trainer did was to show each of the pair one of the most fundamental of prepartory rituals in boxing, putting on the hand wraps. He led the neophyte boxers through the process, explaining why it was important that hands be wrapped in the correct manner. Upon completing that task, he began the slow process by which the students will master boxing skills, starting with the "the stance." This is foundation on which are good boxers are built. Learn it wrong, and you will always be at a disadvantage. Yet, for many its like learning to walk, the stance feels awkward and our first steps using it are tentative. Usually, within a few steps, we are out of alignment. The trainer puts us back in form.
Having a mirror greatly accelerates the process of learning "the stance," its immediate feedback. You can see what your doing as your doing it. In this club, the mirrors which cover most of the walls get cleaned frequently, so you can actually see what you are doing! The trainer in the middle walks the new guys through the process, showing, watching, correcting. That will be most of today's lesson.
Other boxers get various levels of supervision, depending on their particular needs and skills. Boxing requires discipline, in part, to progress through the established workout with a minimum of supervision. Its the honor system with a purpose. The workout is posted for boxers at various places in the gym. After a couple of sessions, the boxers pick up the rhythm of the program, so many rounds of shadow boxing, first in front of the mirror, then in the ring. The workout is choreographed into three minute rounds with a minute for rest, with the cadence set by the the bell of the round timer. After a while the boxers become programmed with the sequence, it becomes second nature. So many rounds on the heavy bags, so many rounds on the speed bag. Yet, it is not a routine, these rounds are not repeated mindlessly. Each round's movements and punch combinations, directed by the trainer, are designed to develop the full range of punches in the boxer's arsenal.
The bell rings the start of the round and the club hives with activity. From the heavy bags, wap-wap-wap-wap. Repeat, wap-wap-wap-wap. Then, wap-wap-wap-wap-wap. Make it flow, watch your form.. The speed bag choruses its quick staccatto. The three minute bell rings in a deafening one-minute moment of silence.
It takes a lot of practice to learn the basics and master the nuances of the sport. The trainers bring you along at your own pace. You need more time on the focus mitts, you get more time on the focus mitts. Its structured, supervised, and safe. You aren't alone, you have a gym full of people and you get by with a little help from your friends. After a while you know everyone, no attitudes here.
What is required of you is that you give it your best effort and that you seriously train. Why would you want to do otherwise? What are your goals? Some members come in just for the conditioning, never intending to throw a punch at anything other than their reflection, a heavy bag, or focus mitt. No problem. Others want to spar, but that's after the workout. For the time being, its practice the skills needed for the sparring, that too will come in its own time. And if you do step into the ring, you will be well trained to box. You will have plenty of others to spar with, but it will be training with equals.
Sure, lots of clubs offer this type of training. This one just seems to do it a little better than most that I have haunted. And they do it six days a week, from morning to evening.
Saturday Afternoon Sparring at the Club
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Please e-mail any comments you have to me at oldbxr@mailcity.com.