Finding a decent trainer/gym

[as646]

I did a little bit of boxing in the last couple of months of my final year at university, enough to give me just a taste of boxing, enough to get me hooked. However, whilst I've been living with my parents in very rural Wales, I don't have much of an outlet for it, so I've been making do with LOTS of roadwork and shadow boxing predominately.

I've now just found out that I've gotten a job just outside London, in Croydon, and I want to find a decent gym there. The trouble is, I really really want to get some amateur fights lined up. What do I need to look for in a gym if I want to get some really good training/prep for fights? I've been told that you should generally try and avoid the gyms that offer "group boxing sessions", and try and get a 1-to-1 trainer. Anything else I should be on the lookout for? Or how to find a decent trainer?

Edit: I'm also planning on joining the Royal Marines as an officer come next September, so ideally I'd like to be in fighting condition and with a few fights under my belt come next September

[TheAuthority]

I did a little bit of boxing in the last couple of months of my final year at university, enough to give me just a taste of boxing, enough to get me hooked. However, whilst I've been living with my parents in very rural Wales, I don't have much of an outlet for it, so I've been making do with LOTS of roadwork and shadow boxing predominately.

I've now just found out that I've gotten a job just outside London, in Croydon, and I want to find a decent gym there. The trouble is, I really really want to get some amateur fights lined up. What do I need to look for in a gym if I want to get some really good training/prep for fights? I've been told that you should generally try and avoid the gyms that offer "group boxing sessions", and try and get a 1-to-1 trainer. Anything else I should be on the lookout for? Or how to find a decent trainer?

Edit: I'm also planning on joining the Royal Marines as an officer come next September, so ideally I'd like to be in fighting condition and with a few fights under my belt come next September

London is full of top notch amateur boxing gyms.

Here's a few of the big names who produce ABA champs year after year:

Repton, West ham, Dale Youth, Finchley.

You may not get that much attention in these gyms as I hear they tend to focus on their top boxers. Not sure how much truth there is in this, but if you are serious about boxing it may be worth doing a couple of sessions at one of those gym.

However, like I said, there are loads of great gyms in London, have a look at a few, and see what you think.

I would look for:

Plenty of lads around your age / weight and experience level for sparring.
Regular sparring.
Plenty of hard fitness sessions.
A gym that is open at least 4 days per week.
A gym that has plenty of coaches.
A gym that is cheap - generally the best coaches coach because they love the sport, not to make money (although sometimes the rent on the premises can force high subs).
A gym that gets their boxers plenty of fair bouts.

Good luck with the POC / AIB. Train hard, very hard. If you need any advice regarding the RM, let me know.

[as646]

London is full of top notch amateur boxing gyms.

Here's a few of the big names who produce ABA champs year after year:

Repton, West ham, Dale Youth, Finchley.

You may not get that much attention in these gyms as I hear they tend to focus on their top boxers. Not sure how much truth there is in this, but if you are serious about boxing it may be worth doing a couple of sessions at one of those gym.

However, like I said, there are loads of great gyms in London, have a look at a few, and see what you think.

I would look for:

Plenty of lads around your age / weight and experience level for sparring.
Regular sparring.
Plenty of hard fitness sessions.
A gym that is open at least 4 days per week.
A gym that has plenty of coaches.
A gym that is cheap - generally the best coaches coach because they love the sport, not to make money (although sometimes the rent on the premises can force high subs).
A gym that gets their boxers plenty of fair bouts.

Good luck with the POC / AIB. Train hard, very hard. If you need any advice regarding the RM, let me know.

That's great, cheers. I don't suppose you could recommend any particular clubs in south London, could you?

Other than that, what is the best way to go about finding a club? Simply look on the ABA club finder, and visit every gym in person until you find a good fit?

I've been pretty lucky with regards to my POC, as one of my dad's mates is an ex-marines PTI and he's been putting me through my paces for the last couple of months. I'm pretty confident I'm at least to POC standard at the moment, but I sure as hell have no plans to let up any on my training.

[TheAuthority]

That's great, cheers. I don't suppose you could recommend any particular clubs in south London, could you?

Other than that, what is the best way to go about finding a club? Simply look on the ABA club finder, and visit every gym in person until you find a good fit?

I've been pretty lucky with regards to my POC, as one of my dad's mates is an ex-marines PTI and he's been putting me through my paces for the last couple of months. I'm pretty confident I'm at least to POC standard at the moment, but I sure as hell have no plans to let up any on my training.

I would use the ABA Club Finder and go to a few clubs. Do a couple of sessions at several clubs and then choose one based on the criteria I listed above. With boxing, you get out of it what you put in. Most coaches will be able to help you get to a good standard if you put in the time and effort. At this stage you don't need the worlds best coach, facilities or sparring partners - Just a place where you feel comfortable and enjoy going to. If things aren't going as well as you would like, you can easily move to another gym.

Having said that, other than the big names listed above, I would take a look at:

Bodyshots, Fitzroy Lodge, Lynn AC Boxing club, Earlsfield ABC.

I've never been to any of the above clubs and haven't seen much of their boxers, but I know these are fairly large clubs with good reputations. I would go down to a couple of the above clubs and have a look around / do a few sessions, and see how things are run before making a decision.

That's good. If the PTI thinks you are close to the required standard you should be fine. Good luck.