Classes

If it’s your first time, consider coming along on 15 minutes before the class starts, so one of club’s trainers can show you the club, help you put on your bandages/wraps (to support your wrists under your boxing gloves), take you through some basic moves and so on. Newcomers tell me that they find this introduction very helpful.

If you’re not new to boxing and don’t feel you need the basics over again, just show up for the timetabled start of your chosen class.

When the session starts we’ll pair you with someone else – possibly another newcomer, possibly an old hand – for a bit of technical practice. We demonstrate some (generally fairly simple) combinations of punches, then you have a go yourself, with your partner, aiming at their gloves rather than at their body.

Once we’ve warmed up and stretched out (this takes about half-an-hour) we do what you might call a boxing circuit, in pairs, in 3-minute rounds, with a minute’s break between rounds. The circuit includes skipping, shadow boxing, sit-ups with a medicine ball, punching pads and bags – and of course sparring in the ring (optional).

After about an hour, when everyone is worn out and there is sweat dripping from the ceiling, we do a final burst of cardio altogether (scissor jumps, squat thrusts, press ups and so on) and then warm down with some final stretches.

The class runs for one and a half hours