Boxing is one of the oldest and most efficient martial arts in the world. It is a combat sport that involves two people forcefully striking each other using their fists to score points. Despite its long period of existence, what is the purpose of boxing?
The purpose of boxing is to teach people how to take down their opponents during a fight. It teaches effective and practical techniques that employ the use of forceful strikes of the hand, such as the hook and uppercut. Likewise, it makes you a solid fighter by forcing you to get hit all the time.
Hand combat has been a part of human history since prehistoric times, but due to lack of writing, it is difficult to distinguish the rules of boxing in ancient times. It has evolved in distinctive ways in various cultures and geographical areas to bring about various forms of modern boxing with different purposes, such as bare-knuckle boxing.
Before diving in, if you want to learn why boxing was created and who invented it, follow the link to an article of mine on these topics.
What is the goal of boxing?
Boxing just like other martial arts has a training regime that aims to get the student to a particular goal. So what is the goal of boxing?
The goal of boxing is to knock down the opponent unconscious or for 10 seconds. Also, scoring maximum points by landing well-grounded punches on the opponent. Additionally, back when it was first created, in 3000 BC, its sole purpose was to solve conflicts between people.
Its basic goal involves the boxers using a combination of techniques to knock down a counterpart, with close supervision from a commission and a set of judges. It is a match between two people of the same weight class.
The two boxers position themselves on opposite sides of a 24 square foot (2.23 square meters) boxing ring. A ring official rings a bell to symbolize the beginning of each round, after which they get to meet their teammates at the end of the round.
The boxers fight for a series of rounds at one-three minute intervals and get one-minute breaks after intense fighting. A ring official hits a wooden table placed by the ringside to signify the round has only 10 seconds left.
The referee declares a boxer the winner if their opponent is badly injured or unconscious and cannot stand after 10 counts. The judges declare one a winner through scoring only in cases with no knockouts and disqualifications.
A set of rules known as the Marquess of Queensberry govern matches in modern boxing.
Follow the link to learn about 7 easy-to-fix mistakes to avoid in boxing training. Fixing those will allow you to progress faster in your training.
What does boxing teach?
As a beginner in boxing, one might find it hard to go for training consistently without a clue of what they will learn. Therefore, knowing what one will learn is a motivating factor to keep training.
Boxing teaches effective and practical self-defense techniques of punching, footwork, dodging, and blocking. It teaches the virtues of self-discipline, confidence, resilience, and perseverance. Likewise, it teaches you how to get hit without even blinking your eyes, as you’ll get punched in every session.
It trains on a variety of attacking and defensive techniques that are efficient in a self-defense situation. Students in boxing learn four basics of attacking punches namely; jab, uppercut, hook and cross. It teaches stances to emphasize punches and offer stability, such as the upright stance, full crouch, and semi-crouch.
Boxing students learn various defensive maneuvers such as clinching, bobbing, slipping, blocking, and cover-ups. A combination of these actions and movements makes the student an adamant opponent during a street fight.
Students learn how to concentrate and focus during training, to execute the techniques effectively. Boxing involves intense body workouts, therefore students learn endurance.
It teaches students perseverance and resilience, as boxing rounds last for two to three minutes. By training regularly, students learn self-discipline and gain confidence in their fighting skills.
A study conducted in 2012 by Trevor Moyah of MacEwan University on youth in Northern British Columbia shows that boxing teaches young people life skills that are influential in their identity formation and goal achievement. (Source)
Why was boxing created?
Sumerian artifacts found in Iraq, Assyria, and Babylonia during the Bronze Age are the first evidence of boxing in ancient times. So, why was the sport created?
People created boxing as a form of entertainment for ancient Greek society. Later, it was included in the Olympics as a sport. Evidence from ancient times shows that winners of these tournaments won prize rewards such as livestock and gold. Prize fighting led to its practice in London.
Boxers in Ancient Greece fought in open spaces and not closed quarters. Matches did not include division into individual rounds. This forced the competitors to fight to protect themselves and not with skill.
Boxers in the Roman Empire wore thongs on their fists that sometimes had metal spikes. They were involved in bloody and gruesome boxing, often leading to the death of the losing opponent. The Romans invented a circular ring.
Bare-knuckle fighting began in London when the Duke organized a fight between his butler and butcher for the enjoyment and amusement of his guests. People in London then fought for jewels and money.
The Englishmen of London had no limitation of rounds, referees, weight divisions, and rules when practicing it. To safeguard the wellness and health of boxers, Jack Broughton formulated a set of boxing rules.
What is the original purpose of boxing?
The goal of boxing has changed to suit the evolution of boxing over the years. Modern boxing is a sport and a self-defense martial art, while in the olden days it was partially a sport and a source of entertainment. Hence, what is the original goal of boxing?
The original goal of boxing was for the two boxers to fight continuously until one accepted defeat or could not continue fighting. This often led to deaths and boxers sustaining bad injuries. As time went on, more people began learning to box for the purpose of learning self-defense.
Two boxers fought until one acknowledged defeat or could not continue with combat. The matches did not have weight classes and rounds. This meant that boxers fought against opponents of different sizes and weights, regardless of their individual size.
Among the Greeks, any man who wanted to participate in boxing was welcome regardless of their physique, strength, and muscle mass. The competitors compete against each other after unsystematic drawings.
In the event of the match lasting too long, the boxers had to fight defenselessly against each other. Judges gave strokes by the whip to any competitor who did not comply.
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What is the concept of boxing?
Every martial art has a foundation on which it bases its training that makes it unique to itself.
Boxing bases its concept on hand-to-hand combat. It involves two opponents throwing a combination of punches and strikes towards each other until one wins by scoring or knocking out the opponent. Additionally, its original purpose is to teach people how to fight fiercely.
A boxing match involves a pre-established number of 9-12 rounds that differ according to the particular match. Each round takes up a preset amount of time, usually three minutes. Between each round, a one-minute break exists where the boxers each go to their assigned corners and talk to their coach and staff.
Boxing matches include up to three judges giving points to the boxers in terms of their hugging, defense, knockdowns, punches, and elbows that connect.
The referee governs and judges the behavior of the competitors, rules on fouls and counts knocked down fighters. He or she can disqualify a boxer, give warnings, and deduct points for each foul committed.
In the event of a match that passes the preset number of rounds and goes the distance, the judges declare the boxer with the higher number of points the winner.
The rules of boxing do not allow hitting below the belt, pushing, splitting, holding, and tripping.
Final words
Boxing is one of the most followed martial arts in the world. It has many mental and physical advantages to anyone practicing it.
The martial art mainly involves hand-striking techniques and its objective is to knock down the opponent until the referee counts to 10. It teaches effective self-defense skills and virtues of discipline, resilience, endurance, and confidence.
Take up a boxing class today and witness it improve your way of living.
If you enjoyed reading this article and want to learn more, follow the link to learn about the rules of boxing. Knowing these—is vital if you want to pick up or have already picked up the art of punching.