BOXING

It is known as "The Sweet Science!" The art of Boxing has a long and colorful history that spans centuries. In modern history it gained popularity in the form of Bare knuckle Boxing, leading to the London Prize rules in the 1700's. 

 

Early fighting had no written rules. There were no weight divisions or round limits, and no referee. The first English bare-knuckle champion was James Figg in 1719. The first boxing rules, were introduced by champion Jack Broughton in 1743 to protect fighters in the ring where deaths sometimes occurred. Under these rules, if a man went down and could not continue after a count of 30 seconds, the fight was over. Hitting a downed fighter and grasping below the waist were prohibited. Broughton encouraged the use of 'mufflers', a form of padded bandage or mitten, to be used in 'jousting' or sparring sessions in training, and in exhibition matches. The contestants did not have heavy leather gloves and wristwraps to protect their hands, they used a different punching technique to preserve their hands because the head was a common target to hit full out as almost all period manuals have powerful straight punches with the whole body behind them to the face (including forehead) as the basic blows. 

 

In 1867, the Marquess of Queensberry rules were drafted by John Chambers. There were twelve rules in all, and they specified that fights should be "a fair stand-up boxing match" in a 24-foot-square or similar ring. Rounds were three minutes with one-minute rest intervals between rounds. Each fighter was given a ten-second count if he were knocked down, and wrestling was banned.The introduction of gloves of "fair-size" also changed the nature of the bouts. An average pair of boxing gloves resembles a bloated pair of mittens and are laced up around the wrists. The gloves can be used to block an opponent's blows. As a result of their introduction, bouts became longer and more strategic with greater importance attached to defensive maneuvers such as slipping, bobbing, countering and angling. Because less defensive emphasis was placed on the use of the forearms and more on the gloves, the classical forearms outwards, torso leaning back stance of the bare knuckle boxer was modified to a more modern stance in which the torso is tilted forward and the hands are held closer to the face. 

 

The Marquess of Queensberry rules have been the general rules governing modern boxing since their publication in 1867. Through the years there have been slight modifications established by the different Boxing organizations and state regulators. Through the early twentieth century, it was common for fights to have unlimited rounds, ending only when one fighter quit, benefiting high-energy fighters like Jack Dempsey. Fifteen rounds remained the internationally recognized limit for championship fights for most of the twentieth century until the early 1980s, when the death of boxer Duk Koo Kim eventually prompted the World Boxing Council and other organizations sanctioning professional boxing to reduce the limit to twelve rounds.

 

Boxing is multi-faceted and it can become a combat sport, a martial art, or a highly effective seld-defense sytem depending on the practitioner. It is regarded as the most sophisticated form of striking there is. It is the perfect foundation for any fighting system. 

 

Most people are not aware of the high level of skill that many of today's boxers dispaly during their championship bouts, and only see 2 people trying to beat each other up. They expect a high intensity, action packed, rock'em sock'em spectacle and they confuse the art of boxing with a high level slug-fest. The fact is that Boxing is all about hitting and not being hit! It is a polished form of defensive and offensive tactics combined with sophisticated strategies that enhance efficiency and delivery. 

 

A variety of styles have evolved and each has their own strengths and weakenesses. Boxers develop and employ different styles according to their mind set, body type, training style, temperament, and personal attributes. Some have a brawling style, some have a counter punching style, some a defensive style. All with diffrent types of footwork and positions.

 

In our curriculum, we establish a solid foundation of the basics, then explore the diffrent styles and strategies so that the student has a good overwiew and understanding of how to face a variety of opponents.