May 21, 2024

Finding Your Real Boxing Style

When you first start boxing, all you focus on is the fundamentals.

But as you progress and start to get comfortable with your fundamentals, you are going to start to hear a lot about styles.

Whether it be swarmers, sluggers, counterpunchers, pressure fighters, boxers, or any other particular style,

Your first instinct is going to be to choose one of these types of styles to represent in your own sparring.

A lot of the time your style will be based on your physical build, natural abilities, and the things you are good at.

But what a lot of people won’t tell you is that...

Choosing a style in boxing is the WORST thing you can do.

Especially when you are still within 1 year of boxing.

Why You Shouldn’t Choose a Style

The moment you choose a style is the moment that you stunt your growth as a boxer,

Because the problem with styles is that they place these beliefs in your mind about how you should be boxing.

These beliefs will close your mind and make you believe that you only need to get good at 1 particular part of your game.

For example, if you like to call yourself a counterpuncher, the main thing you will want to practice is your counters.

Now counters are great for practice.

But as a “counterpuncher” you will start to neglect to practice your ability to come forward, your ability to initiate with combinations, and your ability to control the center of the ring.

These are just examples but they are all things that I have seen people neglect because...

They believed that they were a counterpuncher.

This applies to all the different styles because the moment you give your style a title is the moment you close your mind off to learning certain things.

Why You Can’t Just Get Good At One Thing

What I just said might contradict popular belief,

As a lot of people tell you the trick in boxing is to master 1 small aspect and get ridiculously good at it.

Like Bruce Lee said...

“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”

But I’m not saying you can’t get ridiculously good at 1 thing.

I’m not saying you can’t practice your counters or your pressure fighting, or your fitness over everything else.

But what I am saying is that you can’t take the one thing you are good at and use it as an excuse to be bad at everything else.

You might become one of the greatest counterpunchers in the world, but if all you do is counterpunch and one day you meet someone whose footwork is too good to counter...

You’re screwed because all you can do is counter.

So the moment someone takes away that ability, you won’t have the depth in your style to find a way around their footwork or start pressuring them to get tired and make a mistake.

Instead, you're going to sit there, take their punches, and...

LOSE.

How To Avoid Being Outclassed And Losing

To avoid being outclassed and losing you just have to keep an open mind in training.

Obviously, you also have to work hard, be consistent, and train almost every day,

But everyone in boxing does those 3 things, which means that keeping an open mind could be the thing that separates you from the competition and gives you a leg up.

“Approach everything with an open mind, with a learning mind. You will never stop learning as long as you keep the mindset that everything works, because everything does work.”

Conor McGregor

As you can see even McGregor (when he was UFC champion) said that you need to keep learning with an open mind.

But what exactly does “training with an open mind” mean?

Training With An Open Mind

Training with an open mind means you don’t count things out because you believe it won’t work.

Unfortunately, closed minds are very common in boxing, and the sport is plagued with people who have an “old-fashioned mentality.”

They believe that it is their way or no way in boxing and if you want to become good at the sport then you MUST...

Run 3 miles every morning
Spar at least 6 rounds every day
And absolutely starve yourself before every fight to move down weight divisions

Obviously, these are not the “only” ways to become a good boxer.

But the thing is that if you just thought “Yeah, those ways sound pretty stupid” then that is an example of your closed mind.

You just counted out their beliefs without even trying them.

Plus because of the coaching title of “old-fashioned,” now anytime you hear of a method that is considered “old-fashioned”...

You will instantly count it out because you associate “old-fashioned” with “not relevant.”

My point is that the trick to training with an open mind is to avoid any labels about types of styles, coaches, and other aspects of boxing.

The Trick Of Trying

Instead of giving things labels that go along with popular belief, you need to be trying new things every day,

And the truth is that some of the things you try will work out great and help you massively,

Some of those things will also suck and be considered a waste of time.

But you have to try everything out in order to find what does and doesn’t work.

Then and only then can you consider yourself open-minded and give yourself the depth to never be outclassed in a boxing match.

Disclaimer*

I use the words “do” and “don’t” work but it is crucial that you distinguish between things that “don’t work” and things that you just need to work on.

Something might be a little more challenging or it might not work right away,

But that doesn’t mean you can discount it and avoid it because...

That’s closed-minded.

This is where you need to look to the professionals and people better than you and ask yourself “Does it work for them?”

If the answer is yes then it can work for you...

You just need to practice it.

So don’t be afraid to try new things and don’t count them out if they don’t work straight away,

Instead, humble yourself and give yourself time to practice these things that will improve your ability as a fighter.

Conclusion

In conclusion, you should NEVER choose a single style of boxing because it’s the quickest way to limit your potential.

Locking yourself into one approach makes you predictable and stunts your growth by tricking you into only focusing on your strengths and neglecting your weaknesses.

The trick is to keep an open mind and continuously adapt.

Focus on mastering every aspect of your game, especially your weakest aspects to give yourself depth and become more versatile in boxing.

By training hard and staying versatile, you'll set yourself apart from the competition and never face the risk of being outclassed in a live boxing match.

With that said, we would love to know your opinion about this concept in the comment below and know…

Has your style been holding you back?

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