Will Boxing Give me Confidence?

A huge reason why boxing is and always has been a popular sport is because of its versatility. If you want to lose weight, boxing workouts will hope you shed some spare pounds, if you want to get fit, boxing training provides a fun and interesting way to increase your cardiovascular levels. If you want to learn self defence, then boxing is the best when it comes to hand to hand combat. The list goes on really, there are so many benefits to boxing.
One of the most important benefits though, is confidence. It’s not just boxing which helps you increase your confidence, it is everything that is involved with boxing that results in you seeing a positive change to your levels of self esteem and confidence.

The real question is what would make you confident? Do you just want to lose some weight? Well losing weight whilst boxing training will mean you become more confident because you see positive changes to your body. If the issue is surrounding self esteem, then learning to defend yourself will increase your confidence because you will know that you are able to defend yourself and stand up for yourself.

There are a lot of things that go into becoming a confident person, but there are also a number of things that can trigger a lack of confidence. Not having confidence can be very debilitating, it can affect every day life and it can effect things such as social events, whether that is a family wedding you have to attend or even the gym.
I never was a confident person growing up, I was always the quiet one who sat at the back in class or would sit in the corner of the room at family gatherings. I gradually learnt to overcome this as I grew up and what gave me the most confidence was undoubtedly when I started to learn boxing. Many times I have not felt right, something has felt off but I always remember those mornings driving back from seeing my coach for a boxing training session, I would always feel more positive and ready to attack the rest of the day, life always seemed better after throwing a few punches.

It’s little wonder that the most confident man many of us have ever witnessed was the heavyweight champion of the world, Muhammad Ali. Other names who spring to mind are Sugar Ray Leonard and Naseem Hamed. These boxers showcased extreme confidence in themselves, not only in the ring but outside of the ring too. What was it about boxing that made them so confident? Boxing is also full of examples from the other end of the scale, Naseem Hameds stablemate, Johnny Nelson was a quiet child devoid of any confidence, but through boxing he was able to become a Cruiserweight champion of the world and is currently a respected pundit on Sky Sports. We have all heard of Mike Tyson, the former heavyweight champion of the world is up there with Muhammad Ali as one of the most recognisable faces in sporting history. Tyson was another child who was insecure and lacking confidence, but boxing gave him a life line that led to him eventually climbing to the top of the world. How do these quiet, shy kids grow into becoming champions who beat everyone put before them? What is it about boxing that has so often turned around the life of a child?

I don’t believe it is any one particular skill within boxing that leads to an increase in confidence, I believe the sum is greater than the parts. When you learn how to box, you don’t just learn how to punch and defend yourself, you must become fit if you are going to box, you must do a lot of hard training, whether that is your roadwork – such as going jogging or doing your boxing circuit training in class. When you become fit, when you see yourself losing weight, the way your body looks better in the mirror or the way your clothes suddenly fit you better or when you notice the same drill you did last week didn’t tire you out as much because you have increased your fitness levels, when you see and feel all of this, you will see an increase in confidence. When you put combinations together on the bag or the pads, when you recall how far you’ve come and how strong your left hook is now, it is a measurable skill, you can see improvement and this also leads to better confidence.
Perhaps you decide you want to spar, with each session you can feel yourself getting better, things are slowing down for you. That first time you land a crisp shot on your opponent, little compares to stepping out of the ring knowing you’ve given a good account of yourself. You feel like a super hero. Boxing is a bug, once that bug bites, it is with you for life.

You don’t have to have aspirations of fighting in the ring and competing in bouts, but very often a lack of confidence creates clutter and stress in our lives. Boxing provides the perfect way to channel all of that frustration and release the mental clutter in your life in an environment that is safe and friendly. The discipline you create from boxing training helps to build some routine and character in your life which will also lead to stress free situations and better confidence because when you train you are filled with positive thoughts and these positive thoughts help create a better atmosphere for you. The mentality of a fighter is very different to that of the average person, by taking up boxing you cannot help but be taken into the fighter mindset and mentality, this will also help with building confidence and being around similar like minded people, some who may be coming from the exact same circumstances as yourself. By mixing with fighters you also adopt their mindset and the way they go about life which is to never quit and always believe in yourself. Will Boxing give me confidence? It did for me and I have no doubt it can for you too!