Boxing / Kickboxing

Boxing (or pugilism) is a combat sport of prehistoric origin in which two participants of similar weight fight each other with their fists.

The practice of Pygme Pyxci (Greek bare knuckle boxing) dates back to Ancient Greece It is difficult to demonstrate a linear historical connection between the ancient Greek version of the sport and the revival of boxing in England but a documented, continual tradition of bare-fist fighting was present in Italy from AD 200 to 1800.

Specific standards for bare-fisted fighting began to form in the mid-18th century when Jack Broughton began to apply rules to make contests both safer and fairer, these rules were later adapted to give form the London Prize Ring rules. These rules dictated that a round ended when a fighter took a knee or was knocked down and failed to rise before the thirty count. There was no time limit, so the actual fight ended when a fighter could not get up before the count of ten or was unable to present himself to his opponent for the next round under his own power after thirty seconds of recovery. This was how a majority of these massive bouts ended. At the height of bare-knuckle's popularity in the mid-19th century. nightly fights lasting sixty to one hundred rounds or more were not uncommon.

By the 20th century, the practice had all but disappeared, replaced by its much more regulated descendant, modern gloved boxing governed by the Marquess of Queensberry rules.

The Marquess of Queensberry rules are a code of generally accepted rules in the sport of boxing. They were named so because the 9th Marquess of Queensberry publicly endorsed the code. They are intended for use in both professional and amateur boxing matches.

In my early twenties I decided to journey into a local boxing gym. It was in a bad part of town, a place where I had no business being. I walked up outside and there above a small window was a small faded sign which you could hardly see. It said Boxing Gym. I stood there debating whether or not to enter this new world. After what seemed like an eternity I opened the door and walked down a long narrow hallway with old brown paneling nailed haphazardly on it. At the end of the hallway was a door with a small dirty window, which you could not see through. As I approached I thought: There is still time to turn around and flee. No one knows you are here. But I kept walking right up to the door and before I knew it I opened the door. As I stepped through the door it was as though time stopped. I felt like Clint Eastwood in those old spaghetti westerns when the saloon doors flew open and everything stopped. Everyone turned around and gazed at the new stranger. The silence was deafening. I stood my ground and starred back taking in the entire gym. There were several heavy bags hanging from the dilapidated ceiling, they were old and covered in duct tape. You could tell that many a fighter had trained long and hard on them. Just past the heavy bags stood the ring. I walked over to the ring. I had never been that close to one in real life before. My heart began pounding faster and faster as I approached. It was a small ring maybe 14 –16 feet across. It was a real fighters ring. Nowhere to hide. The mat, which covered the floor, was soaked in blood of warriors of days gone past.

Along side the ropes was a spit bucket, which had not been emptied in months, and along the walls you could see rat droppings. At this point I should have run but I was intrigued.

Across the gym was the owner. He was in his late fifties a thin man with a lot of miles on him. He had been around the boxing game for his whole life and knew the sport inside and out. He was intimidating as he barked out orders to the fighters in the gym. Everyone seemed to fear him.

So now was the time of truth. Do I stay and see if I have what it takes? Or do I run out and pretend this never happened? I paused for a moment took a deep breath and walked right up to the owner. I said I’d like to join the gym in a broken trembling voice. With out batting an eye he blurted out “$15 a month at the beginning of every month. Don’t be Fuckin late with it either”

I quickly reached into my pocket grabbed the money and paid him for the next 3 months before he changed his mind and sent me packing.

I changed my clothes put on my gear and headed to the heavy bag. There I stood lightly taping the bag, moving from side to side in an attempt to look like a pro. I had worked the bags for sometime and could fake it for a while, but I had no real experience, no real ring time, and no real knowledge of the sweet science.

Then my worst nightmare came true. “Big Guy” I heard shouted from across the gym. “ Get over hear and spar with PITBULL. Pit bull? Holy shit! I thought I might die. I walked over to ring. “Dead man walking” someone shouted. I put my mouthpiece in and climbed through the ropes.

There I was an unwanted pugilist thrown right in with the toughest guy in the gym. When I stepped into the squared circle I gazed across the ring at my opponent. He was huge.

Well over 6’2 maybe 220lbs. He was chiseled and resembled a Neanderthal man. He came across the ring at me throwing punches with no abandon. Out of fear and to my surprise I moved out of the way of a barrage of punches. This enraged my opponent. He came after me with even more determination. I threw some shots, which bounced off him like bullets off of superman. Then he dropped his hands as he was looming in toward me. He left his face wide open. What an inviting target. I let loose with the hardest punch that I had ever thrown which landed with imposing force shattering his nose.

Pitbull blinked, and then he raised his glove to wipe away the blood.

Then he came at me again. And began to administer a thrashing. He went into a crouch dug shots to my rib cage. I swear I could hear them cracking. Then he unleashed a flurry to my head. I felt this bolt of lightening leave my toes. My legs were no longer steady, I had tunnel vision, I could only see him standing in front of me barring down on me for the kill. I could no longer hear the screams of the other fighters in the gym. I tried valiantly to fight back to no avail. Then my eyes turned to that bloody canvas. I thought to my self “you can’t go down. No matter what you can’t go down.”

All my senses have now been numbed. I could not feel a thing. I could see him throwing punches but I could not feel them. How much longer could I last? DING! DING! DING! Then bell rang to save me. We touched gloves and I walked to the corner. My senses soon returned to me. I had cheated death. I survived. I stood in the corner for some time. Contemplating what had just happened. I had a strange feeling in my gut. It was love. At that moment I fell in love with boxing. I wanted to learn everything there was to know about the Art of Boxing.

Thus began my journey that I have been on for 20 years. I would watch the trainers at the gym. I would watch how the interacted with the fighters listen intently to what they would say. I would go to many boxing gyms in the North East, pay for the daily training session and do the same. I would watch every fight I could both old and new over and over again until it would no longer play in the VCR. Every detail every nuance I would jot down. I would read old school boxing books on how to box and read old boxing magazines. What I soon discovered was that there were so many great stories of the trials and tribulations of these old school fighters. I was fascinated by how they trained and had an insatiable appetite to learn more.

Which brings me to the story of one of my favorite fighters of all time. Jack Dempsey. When Jack Dempsey fought for the heavyweight title against Jess Willard he weighed in at 187lbs and stood 6’ tall while his opponent Willard weighed in at 245lbs and stood 6’6 tall. Dempsey was freighted at the sight of Willard. He thought to himself “How can I beat this mountain of a man?” But two fantastic trainers Kearns and Deforest trained Dempsey in all the minute details of how to throw a punch harder and faster then he had before.

The bell sounded and the two fighters went at it. Then before the round had ended Willard went crashing to the canvas 6 times and in the third round Dempsey pummeled Willard so badly that he was unable to fight the forth round. Jack Dempsey had won the heavyweight championship by TKO.
What was it that Dempsey credited his victory to? As he put it himself “Exploding body-weight is the most important weapon in fist fighting or in boxing.” What was this exploding body-weight?

Some years later I stumbled upon the Holy Grail. A book entitled
“ Jack Dempsey Championship Fighting - Explosive Punching and Aggressive Defense”
Published in 1950.This book gave me insight to the art of boxing like I had never had before.

Years after he retired from boxing. Dempsey did an exhaustive study on the art of boxing. He thought that boxers and trainers of his day had lost the art. He thought that the new tide of so-called experts had a real lack of knowledge that they had forgotten entirely the purpose of boxing lessons. He thought that they took the fundamentals for granted. That they needed a blueprint that mapped out all the fundamentals, tactics and strategies to becoming a complete well-rounded fighter.

Dempsey spent a considerable amount of time writing down 384 pages of notes on boxing. It represented the most thorough study ever made by a prominent fighter of his own technique and the pointers he had received from others.

He spent months studying the information and separating it into different departments. He combined it, sliced it, and diced it into smaller sections and sub-sections. Then he added and took away time and time again.

I took everything from that book and performed an autopsy on everything I had read. How does this work? How can I use this? When should I use this? How often should I use this? I left no stone unturned.

I would train hours everyday perfecting the techniques.

I would videotape myself working out doing bag work, footwork, upper movement etc. I would then watch the tape and dissect it. I would go to the gym and spar thousands and thousands of rounds against every type of opponent there is. I would try out new techniques and strategies that I learned. All this in an attempt to master the sweet science I went at this relentlessly.

I was very fortunate. I had a master text. A skeletal structure laid out by one of the greatest fighters to ever step into the ring. I’ve taken that skeletal structure and fleshed it out.

The boxing training methods that I teach are “Old School” in nature.
They are a throwback to the golden days of boxing combined with modern day sport science training methods of today.

I will bring you through every step. From learning how to make a fist to the tactics and strategies champions have employed to win their fights.

I will lie out a roadmap that will undoubtedly give you the level of expertise you seek.