Just Beggining, and getting comfortable with my style

Hey everyone. Ive been training around the house with friends and what not and Im just a beginner. Everything ive read about defense is the good ol' earmuffs, hands against side of head classis style. But when I use that I feel stiff as a board, a lot less fluent.

Ive been keeping my left hand almost under my chin, and my right across my chest. My head is almost tottally exposed but I can move more freely that way on my feet it seems. Anyway, ive been looking to get into a gym soon here, should I just play it safe with the ear muffs? or is it normal to just stick with what im using? Also how much will a gym cost me? Im a college student and im not going to have a whole lot to spend on a gym.

Thanks.

Most gyms advocate the hands up high defense, and they'll call you out if you drop your hands for any reason. I believe having the hands held low is great for a lot of reasons, but if you don't know how to think on your feet or defend you're gonna be s.o.l. It's best to get the fundamentals down first, your stance, how you move and then you can add on to that. You should become deliberate as there should be always be a valid reason behind what you're doing.

As for gym costs it varies. The place that I've been going to for a while was just 5 bucks a month and as it turned out the gas bill was more than the dues. :D Some places are outrageously expensive. You need to find out what kind of place it is before you decide to put down any money.

If you find out that you don't have the means to go to a gym, you can buy yourself a heavy bag, and a mirror. You can come around here for reference or if you have any questions.

Hiya Flip::)

As I tell all of my fighters, your style will develop, and it will be unique. It is up to the trainers to work with thstyles that develop. My advice would be to realx, keep your elbows dropped naturally to their sides, chin naturally tucked and if youcan peer over the top of your lead hand, which will be your left if you are orthodox (right handed), or your right if you are unorthodox(left handed, or south paw). You power hand, which will be behind your lead hand should rest comfortably an inch or so away from your right cheek. Your feet should be shoulder width apart, at all times, knees slightly bent. From this point on, your style will emerge::)

The big problem with the ear-muff defense is that ensures that you will continue to take punches. Think about it for a second: you put both hands up against your head and either put your weight on your front foot or lay on the ropes. Your opponent is now free to whale away with impunity because you cannot punch back from that position. When he finishes- gets tired of- punching he can step back, take a breath and start again. See the Calzaghe/Lacy fight.
While on the subject of defense, let me address my pet peeve of the moment. That would be the "high and tight" position of the left hand as a defense against the right hand. You cannot throw a jab from there, not a proper left jab. What you can do is 'drop' your jab (as opposed to properly throwing it from the shoulder), at which point you get hit with a right. Also, keeping your hand and arm in that position requires muscular tension- especially if you have some guy yelling to keep it up there "strong", to block a punch- and this in short order will cause you to tire, drop your hands and get hit with a right hand. Last, you then have your vision blocked by your own left glove so you can't see the right hand coming, and isn't the punch you don't see the one that KO's you?
These days, using the left shoulder to block the right hand is treated like some type of magical thing that only some special boxers can do, that you have to climb some mountain to learn. It used to be the very first thing you learned about avoiding the right hand. Back when universities had boxing teams many of them published instructional books and you can still find them, and see if I'm right about that. Watch old fights. Nobody walked around the ring with their hands over their eyes.

I've noticed all of these things that you've mentioned as well. When you assume the hands held high guard you're then commited to blocking punches and your options thus become very limited. Since you're commited to blocking punches you can't do anything without exposing yourself. You can't feint, parry, or throw a good proper punch without being countered in return. Ultimately all this allows you to do is absorb your opponent's punches, which is essentially riding out the storm until your opponent gives you a chance to do something.

A lot of people say that this is a solid defense, or a complete defense, but it's completely passive. Who's going to dictate the action, the guy who's commited to blocking and looking for an opening or the guy who can take any course of action?

I noticed that some guys that use this stance will have the tendency to drop their hand before throwing punch which telegraphs their intentions, and leaves them open for a counter.