Is boxing toughness an experience thing?

[torqueboxer]

First off, I have been training in a boxing gym for the past three months. I love it, my hand speed and power has been increasing by the week. I have been learning the basic combos and footwork(usually 10-12 rounds) per workout just on foot work.

I have done MMA before and sparred every workout during my MMA training. I no longer do the MMA due to the fact that I dislocated my knee and cant afford to have it injured again.
When sparring with MMA the punching was controled and was not the sole striking we did. All of our sparring was done with bag gloves so careful attention was paid to not hit the face with full force blows( same style fighting as on "The Ultimate Fighter"). All the ground fighting was done at full force and speed.

Now that im starting to box once my skills get a little better Im sure that I will be sparring in the ring. So my question is will I be able to take full force head shots better as I get used to the contact or is it just "you are as tough as you are". Basically as I get used to taking head shots over time will I be more able to recover and not have a headache afterwards? I don't plan on giving up but I am curious if I will get "caloused" to the hits?

Thanks for the help!!

 

[Mojo604]

Sounds like ou got good training goin on there...
I did lots of boxing training this past spring and summer, and only had a few sparring sessions. Nothing hardcore though. I did this just for fun, love the sport.

As to toughness, yes- taking shots even light ones will condition you to take hits better.
It wont improve your chin, but what it will do is let you know what to expect after getting hit. Allow you to guage your bodys reactions to being hit- so you will know what hits you can walk-through- and which ones to avoid .
Most importantly- how to react, and how to avoid getting hit flush-
to learn to take out some of the force of punches with subtle movements (learned over time in sparring).
A fighter's "chin" is something their born with. Some guys will just be able to take massive shots and not go down, some will go down after even light shots.

Best advice to avoid getting rocked is-
-See the punch coming- If you can see it coming, you know to expect it and your bodily insticts will kick in and react. (ex. neck/jaw/upperbody tenses up)
-Biting down on the mouth piece when you are anticipating a hit also helps.
-Keeping your chin down- pointing tot he ground

some basic stuff. i gtg

 

[Nightwing]

Originally posted by torqueboxer
So my question is will I be able to take full force head shots better as I get used to the contact or is it just "you are as tough as you are". Basically as I get used to taking head shots over time will I be more able to recover and not have a headache afterwards? I don't plan on giving up but I am curious if I will get "caloused" to the hits?

Thanks for the help!!

I think as you get used to the contact, you'll be better at defending yourself and countering as well as being able take a hit.

 

[torqueboxer]

Thanks for the replys guys. I dont think I have a "glass jaw" LOL. But, I will only find out once I get in there and have one of the guys kick my butt. Im one of the biggest guys at my gym, most of the others are very slim and trim(125-170) but watchinng them train I can see the incredible hand speed. Unlike the MMA I can't really use my strength to my advantage against these speedy little guys. LOL. I'm excited to move on to the more advanced combos and start to work on my blocking.

The one trainer who sort of took me under his wing has told me that "I have heavy hands". And "once you learn something you gonna be a dangerous mo-fo"<his words> LOL. I think I enjoy the boxing way more than the MMA, I'll have to let you guys know how my first session goes.

Thanks.

 

[Bile]

hardly think that you will get better at receiving hits in the head, it's better not to receive them at all.besides, it's seriously bad for your brain to getting hitted in your head too much, but i'm sure you already know that.

here's some tips from another martial arts bud:

flow:

in all kinds of martial arts it's always bout how good your footwork is. make sure you stretch the muscles in your legs enought, that will improve your footwork(especially your explosivity and accuracy), and your footwork will directly improve your flow when boxing.

I think block's are interesting, bout every sport that I have tried have had different blocks, what are boxing blocks like?

 

[CLOONEY]

As far as taking shots and being able to keep going, it comes down to "heart" as we call it in boxing. Your will power and courage.

However, as far as being knocked out, it is simply genetic. Some fighters can take hundreds of flush punches and remain on their feet. Others can be hit with only a decent shot, and be lights out!

 

[Mojo604]

Looks like my post cevered it all .

 

[MindOverMatter]

haha I don't know why, but for some reason Clooney, I always picture you as that old man from rocky movies.

 

[CLOONEY]

Originally posted by MindOverMatter
haha I don't know why, but for some reason Clooney, I always picture you as that old man from rocky movies.

hahahahaha. Man, I am still just a grasshopper! Many things to learn yet! But yes, on boxing, my knowledge is up there with an old man! haha, an old man who loves his boxing of course!

 

[Mojo604]

Hey Clooney, what sites do you goto for your Boxing news?

If you dont already, I always goto www.eastsideboxing.com its got a pretty cool forum, lots of info about working out too. boxingscene.com is good too

 

[CLOONEY]

Secondsout.com has some good training techniques written by the best in the business. Some interesting reading there that 99% of your local/regional coaches will not inform you about boxing and conditioning/strength training you need for it.

Boxrec, for all my information regarding records etc. Can sometimes be very very useful.

Boxingtalk.com for the forum, and for all of the latest interviews.

Fightnews.com for all the latest and most uptodate results.

 

[Reyaj]

What about maxboxing.com?

 

[Mojo604]

I visit pretty much all the site mentioned here lol

 

[torqueboxer]

Well they put me in the ring last night with a young kid that trains there. I was nervous for two reasons. First I didn't want to get my butt handed to me by a kid...LOL And second I didn't want to accidently hurt him due to my inexperience.

Before we started I talked to my sparring parter( 5'7" 155lbs...Me 6' 230) and I told him to keep me aware of how much power I should use while we trained. I started very soft and increased untill he told me "good".

I did pretty well against him, but, it was tough boxing when I was trying to hold back. He pretty much used me like a human punching bag...LOL

I covered up and worked my defense and added a few combos as I got more comfortable. I got a little excited and opened up on his guard with a nice( If I may say so...LOL) 1-1-2 combo. The straight right knocked him to the ground. I quickly apologised and helped him up. The trainer watching us praised me for the nice combo and gave me a tip on keeping in better control.

I did have a headache afterwards but my body wasn't sore. Now I just have to work my way up to full sized opponents. LOL

 

[criminallawyer]

Unless you're Floyd, you're going to get hit. And probably hit really hard. Just know that just like traffic is part of driving, getting hit is part of boxing. He's hurt too. He's tired, just like you. Fighting through the pain is what seperates men from boys, and champs from "could-a-beens". It's what makes it probably the hardest sport, and it's what makes the feel of that championship belt around your waist feel all the more wonderful. You can reflect (as you're being carried around the ring on your trainers' shoulders) on all the pain and sweat you endured to get to this moment.
"Give me two more rounds. . .and you can rest all day tomorrow". . . . that's what Buddy McGirt told Arturo Gatti in the corner during the first Micky Ward fight. It motivated him to gut out a great performance, making the first clash between these two legends the best one. . .even though Ward squeaked out a sliver of a split decision.
Pain makes this sport hard. And that's what also makes it great.

 

[picard]

First off, I have been training in a boxing gym for the past three months. I love it, my hand speed and power has been increasing by the week. I have been learning the basic combos and footwork(usually 10-12 rounds) per workout just on foot work.

I have done MMA before and sparred every workout during my MMA training. I no longer do the MMA due to the fact that I dislocated my knee and cant afford to have it injured again.
When sparring with MMA the punching was controled and was not the sole striking we did. All of our sparring was done with bag gloves so careful attention was paid to not hit the face with full force blows( same style fighting as on "The Ultimate Fighter"). All the ground fighting was done at full force and speed.

Now that im starting to box once my skills get a little better Im sure that I will be sparring in the ring. So my question is will I be able to take full force head shots better as I get used to the contact or is it just "you are as tough as you are". Basically as I get used to taking head shots over time will I be more able to recover and not have a headache afterwards? I don't plan on giving up but I am curious if I will get "caloused" to the hits?

Thanks for the help!!

boxing cause head injury that isn't detected for months later. Mohammed Ali had serious brain injury due to long career of boxing.

It is safer to practice Judo or Karate. if your head get hit by any object, it suffer damages that aren't easily detectable by CAT scan.

 

[Febreze]

Thought i might weigh in as I had an amateur boxing career for 5 years.

While it is true that some people are born with a better chin than others, a lot of it is a state of mind. The more nervous, tense, and scared to be hurt you are, the more likley it is you will eventually be put away. You have to develop a confidence in yourself and have a frame of mind that you cannot be knocked out. I had a 12-0 record and i can honestly say, i was only ever hurt one time (my first fight, very nervous, tense and afraid of the unknown). But after that i never really got hurt, never got knocked out or wobbled, and every fight you have will build your confidence even more. Now this isnt a tough guy thing, it was just my state of mind, my feeling of invincibility in there, and having a head like a brick never hurt. Now this does NOT mean you neglect defense and rely on getting him. You should make defense your TOP priority.

What a lot of people do not know is the more you get hit, the more trauma your brain experiences, the more likley it is you will be knocked out or suffer brain damage in the future. Surem you can get conditioned to punches, but the reality is once you have a bit of experience pain isnt going to be much a deterrent anymore anyways, so the best thing you can do to keep a good chin is, ironically, get hit as little as possible.

 

[Da Realist]

Basically, you learn to think through the pain instead of just reacting. Never did boxing, but I did karate where we sparred every pratice and used only shin guards and small gloves. When you got kicked on the head, it didn't make you tougher; it made you learn to block and be more aware of what's going on. I have a feeling boxing is just the same except you can only use hands.