Other sports?

[Hearnsz]

Hey everyone, I'm really into the sport of boxing and was eager to learn but I don't think it'll happen for me.
There is only 1 gym in my vicinity, I've been there and it was kinda sucky. Just alot of people in a small room with 1 heavy bag, and that's it. No one even brought gloves and there was only 1 trainer.
I got terrible eyes. I haven't checked yet if they allow contacts in am boxing here but to be honest I'd still be ****ed if my contacts pop out in the middle of a fight.
I currently got alot of time to train because it's vacation, but with college coming up soon I doubt I'll have that much time. And boxing requires alot of training I think. Most of you guys here run like an hour a day or something and then train 2 or more hours in the afternoon... I won't have the time for that.

I'm not sure if I'll give this up. It would be kinda crappy since I bought a heavy bag and boxing gloves recently to hang in my room :x
But if I do, is there any other sport you guys would recommend me? I like tough sports especially. I played rugby for a while but quit when my eyes started to get too bad. Also I didn't really like the team aspect. Some teammates are more serious about the sport than others and then conflicts exist... So are there some sports you guys have had good experiences with? Also tell me why you like them and/or why you had to quit them.

I'm not a heavy guy btw but I can run fast if I train for it. I'm also stronger than most people of my weight but I'm not going to brag about that because it could very well be that the people I hang out with and encounter are *******...

Thanks in advance.

[JayCoe]

1 heavy bag?...I have seen things like this but usually they don't call themselves boxing gyms, they're just rooms off a gym but that must suck man, sounds like it wouldn't really be worth going. Doesn't sound like a real gym.

I know people who box and wear glases, in fact I know some who are really good and wear glasses, but i'm near 100% sure that they don't wear contact lenses. I never see them put them in, i'm pretty sure they just take their glasses off. I can't imagine for a second that they'd allow contact lenses in the ring, it'd be far too dangerous for you.

Boxing requires as much time as you want to dedicate to it. I think alot of people on this forum lie about how much they do because it seems every other person does hundreds of press ups, push ups etc. a day and I doubt most of them do. Some people do alot of working out, fitness training etc and I also know people who go once a week and do it because they enjoy it and want to get fit. If you want to compete then yeah, it can take alot of effort, if you just want to box for fun, maybe spar every so often then it really depends on you. End of the day though, it's exactly like coach says "maximum effort, maximum return". Boxing training hurts, it's tiring and physically demanding as hell. If wanting to be good isn't a good enough motivator, not wanting to go through hell every training should be. But, like I said, it depends on you.

You could try other martial arts, there are alot of cool martial arts like jujitsu and ninjujitsu. Not something i'd personally care to learn, but who knows?

[Pork Chop]

I've posted this a few times, but I think it bears repeating.
In many states/jurisdictions, wearing contacts to fight is against the rules, but I know many fighters personally who wear them, and the doctors almost never check.

The unofficial rule is that if you can wear disposable contact lenses, you're in the clear- if you get one knocked out you should have at least one good eye, if both are knocked out you're just back to square one anyways; just gotta learn not to freeze if/when they come out. Disposable, soft contact lenses can not cause significant damage to the eye or significantly increase damage to the eye from a punch; this is straight from the mouth of my optometrist.

If you must wear hard contact lenses, then you are pretty much hosed/screwed. Hard contact lenses will cause cuts to your eyes if they are punched & can increase the damage to the eye from a punch. They are also not disposable, so leaving them on the ring canvas is not really an option.

If your vision is no worse than say + or - 3.00, you may want to try doing without vision aides. Much worse than that and you're really asking for trouble sparring/fighting without some sort of vision aide.

Like I said, I personally know amateur muay thai, amatuer MMA, as well as amateur & professional boxers who compete with their contacts. I wear contacts myself and have learned to absorb a punch so it doesn't land on my eye or knock my contacts out. From time to time I do lose them, but I wait until the end of the round or the end of the sparring session to worry about retrieving them. I'd rather have one good eye than none; it's almost impossible for me to see punches properly (let alone kicks) without my contacts.

[Hearnsz]

Well boxing isn't a very popular sport here in belgium and that's what they call a boxing gym here. When I came in that gym they were just skipping ropes and I think that's about all they do to be honest. When I asked what I needed for training they said "a jumping rope". No one there brang boxing gloves or headgear and I didn't see any equipment lying there... And when I came in the trainer didn't really seem to care either. The only thing he really cared about were my 3 euros...
There are better boxing gyms in belgium ofcourse but nowhere near me.

I did some juijitsu when I was a little kid but god bored after 5 years of training. Every training was the same thing and there wasn't any competetition. There was 1 tournament per year, but that wasn't even fighting. It was just demonstrating self invented moves on a partner.

And my eyes are -6 btw, one is slightly worse than the other so that also affects my depth perception a little bit when it's not corrected by contacts/glasses. Also I'm pretty sure I'm getting laser surgery when I'm 20 or something. And perhaps boxing isn't allowed with surgery I'm not sure.

Edit: the problem is there are so few popular sports in Belgium. Almost everyone here plays soccer and I find that kind of an annoying sport as everyone falls as soon as they get touched. I have already tought about wrestling as a sport but I think that's even less popular than boxing here so...

[Pork Chop]

You have to wait 1 year before competing in any contact sports after laser surgery.

My eyes were a -6, currently a -5.75 (don't know how they improved), so I know exactly where you're coming from.
I fought without wearing contacts and saw an axe kick as a round kick- which lead to me getting knocked the eff out.
I sparred boxing without wearing contacts in preparation for that fight and got caught with a ridiculous uppercut that d@mn near cracked my jaw.
I really don't recommend trying to get by without vision correction in a combat sport when your eyes are as bad as our's.

The Jiujitsu you did was Japanese JiuJitsu; Brazilian Jiujitsu is a bit more like wrestling & geared for sport. Judo's another good grappling sport. In grappling sports you're not as reliant on the eyes so they may be a good choice for you.

The boxing gym you mentioned does sound a bit questionable. Belgium does have some killer muay thai (one of the alltime greats is from there) and muay thai tends to have less facial contact than pure boxing (but when you do get hit in the head, you get hit hard) - so you may want to give that a look.

[Landon S]

I know guys on rowing teams are in great shape so that might be viable. Or join the college track team.

You dont need to run for an hour. Using myself as an example I only go for long runs twice a week, the other days I do really tough conditioning routines and anaerobic sprints once or twice a day, which end up taking 15-20 minutes on average (each) and the carry over into the ring is better than a long boring run. So you dont need a huge amount of time (while at school thats a very good thing) dedicated to anything other than the gym, or try just going to the gym for sparring and do all your fitness training at home. That is IF they even spar there.

Good luck man, whatever you do.

[sukhenkoy]

If you like the physical aspect of boxing, gymnastics might be something to consider as well. Some of the **** they do is absolutely ridiculous - I'm sure you can get into great shape from gymnastics if that's what you're looking to do with boxing.

Aside from that, you can always just do exercises at home like squats, pushups, situps, pullups, dips to stay in great shape. If you don't have access to a gym, and don't think you'll be joining a boxing gym in the future, then you can always just use the heavy bag for conditioning and not be worried about developing poor technique.

Again, it's hard to say what sport is right for you because I don't know your motivation for wanting to start up boxing in the first place, but those are suggestions. You might even be surprised to find that your college might have a boxing club on the actual campus; maybe that will work out for you. In any case, good luck with whatever you decide to pursue.