Plenty of people HAVE learned to box the way you are starting out, perhaps Jack Dempsey is one of the best known and most successful who did it this way.

But I believe that most people would tell you this is both dangerous and not likely to be the best path.

How old are you? Who is supervising your 'bouts'?

At my gym it takes some significant time to get to spar. I have been there almost seven months, and I MIGHT get to actually spare this month or next. (Sure there are people who could have done this faster even in my gym but I have been attending training almost every day as well.)

There are two major reasons that Coach (and other coaches) don't let beginners spar too early:


  1. Avoiding getting people seriously injured
  2. Avoiding making bad habits and lack of technique permanent

There are also the issues of new boxers getting discouraged and quitting because they are getting beaten since they have no comparable skills to their sparring mates, or failing to improve because they have no concept of what they are doing wrong (or right.)

Even for the guys who spar regularly (in my gym) they are training several days for each day they spar.

Money is a real problem if you cannot afford lessons, but do consider looking for ANY opportunity to find a real coach/trainer who will help you learn to actually do it right.

Where (generally) are you located?

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HerbM