Sharla, boxing gyms in our area?

[SH0RTY]

sharla can you help me....

i am interested in taking up learning boxing. I live 10minutes north of the city of Adelaide.

I have zero experience. I would love to eventually fight, and really want to join a club where i will have opportunity to spar.

I am Female, 23 years old, 50kg,

what gym would you suggest?

my main thing is i eventually want to fight so i want to join a gym that can get me fights.... so can you also tell me.....
do you think my chances of finding fights would increase if i did muay thai instead? I have a much greater love for the sport of boxing, but i would be willing to try muay thai if thats what i have to do to get fights.

[Sharla]

It's hard to get matches at your weight but I'm not sure how many women there are in Muay Thai in SA at the moment.

Possibly more. Check it out perhaps.

One thing I'd say is don't commit to any boxing or kickboxing gym too soon and just remember no coach is going to say that they are crap or they throw their fighters in too soon etc.

Honestly in Muay Thai I'd go for the gyms which have the highest success rate - I think Flinders Uni and another gym (sorry I forget the name) down in the same direction maybe Brighton or a bit past there might be your best option.

Why do you want to fight though? How do you know you want to fight before you have a gym and know what the training is like etc?

I'd give yourself time just with training and skills goals before you worry about that. A good coach will make you learnt he basicas for a pretty long time before you fight. In my opinion that's the way it should be.

I think the ones who throw you in too quickly underestimate how much there is to learn and develop and don't know how to coach you properly.

To be fair I doubt there are many really great boxing coaches out there - it's such a difficult thing with so many elements I'd say most people probably peak being only about a 10th as good as they could be with a really good all round coach - especially in places like SA where the histroy and background is not as strong as say in the UK.

Last I heard there were very few girls close to you weight in boxing in SA so if you want to box you will need to be in a club which will travel especially if you want more than one bout.

I don't know if Don McKay from Northside is still coaching but last thing I knew he's probably one of the best but he's very firm.

Firm would be an understatement and since I've only caught up with him occasionally at coaching clinics and state training etc I don't really know what he'd be like to train with long term.

He knows his stuff (unlike many in SA) and I think he will always help people who train really hard to compete.

Unlike so many of the other coaches still in the business in SA he has had more than a couple of bouts - a more decent history in boxing so basically I give him more cred for knowing what he's actually asking of his fighters.

I'd also say politically there isn't so many coaches who get along in SA and it's all a bit of a mess. If boxing is what you really want then if you have any aspirations to move interstate or overseas in the next year or two I'd wait. Boxing in SA as it is - waaay too limited in many aspects and you're likely to just wind up frustrated.

If you choose to stay in Adelaide I'd recommend the Adelaide uni Judo club. I went there for a semester and really found it offered everything I felt was lacking in Boxing SA as for as coaching and opportunities etc. If I had my time again I'd probably be in Judo instead of boxing.

As much as I loved boxing Judo is probably more relevant for small women self defence wise too. We don't get king hit by some drunk at the pub we get grabbed and pushed to the ground.

We need to know how to defend against people choking us and trying to force our legs apart which you won't learn at boxing but you will in judo.

We are too light to only be armed with our own body-weight for most things as in boxing but we'd be much better off using our opponent's weight against them which is much easier to do in Judo.

You'll find more training partners the right size for you in the Adelaide Uni Judo Club. It has a really friendly atmosphere and is more forward thinking than boxing or Muay Thai club in Adelaide.

You'll be able to participate more as a beginner than you could in boxing and be treated the same way as the most experienced club member. You'll do more partner-work and drills and progress in a way which allows you to experience a lot more, more safely before you do anything too combative.

As long as you know how to tap out and how to fall properly you'll be able to get 'beaten' by heavier people over and again in training without sacrificing your brain cells.

As small people our heads move a long way in sparring when hit by heavier people. The weight in the fist of a bigger guy can throw you head back really easily.

To be honest most times I was hit I didn't feel a sting or like it hurt. It's very easy to ignore a blunt impact in some ways but that's really bad because any time your head is throw back you brain is thrown around inside your skull and impacting against it. You don't get new brain cells so any damage is never reversed.

I believe if I stayed in boxing learning at the rate I was with the coaches available I would have ended up with some form of brain injury before I progressed any further. It got to the point where trial and error was the only thing I had.

Past a certain point my only feedback was whether or not I got hit in sparring but you need a much smarter way to learn safely in boxing - especially as the smaller person which you always will be -over the long term.

You don't have that worry about that in Judo. The Adelaide uni club is much friendlier than any boxing gym perhaps because there is less of a division between the beginners and the more experienced people.

It's very reasonably priced since it's made for students and close to the city. If you really want my honest opinion I think that'd be your best option here.