Tasiyagnunpa Livermont

While I highly enjoy mental stimulation, probably more than the average college student, I must admit that boxing with all its jabs, punches, hooks, upper-cuts and footwork effected the deepest portion of my soul.

The SDSU Boxing Club isn’t all about kicking butt though. As the head student instructor, graduate student John Madrid will tell you, boxing is a great workout. Boxing covers all of the important aspects of any workout, cardiovascular training, weight training and endurance.

I hate running in place on some HPER machine or around a track. Rather, I want to learn something, so I decided to try boxing.

Though I had trained in martial arts during high school, I was still unprepared for that familiar rush of adrenaline while I worked on simple techniques. I didn’t even have to fight somebody to remember the thrill of attack.

The cross punches, which use a technique called hip rotation, would remind anyone, who has studied almost any type of martial art or watched a lot of Jackie Chan or Chuck Norris movies, of a simple punch. Jabs are also similar to techniques used in other sport fighting disciplines; they’re thrown from the lead hand and are often part of a combination technique involving the cross punch.

The biggest challenge I found, was not switching lead feet. Boxers keep the same foot forward all the time, whether attacking or retreating or moving from side to side.

Being right-handed, that means I should keep my left foot forward in the fighting position, rather than alternating feet.

Another thing, which is hard for all beginners, not just those trying to reprogram themselves from a different discipline, is to keep your hands in front of your face, while peeking through the small space between your gloves.

In Shotokan, the style I studied, we do have our hands up, but never in front of our face, since an opponent could smack us with our own hands. It also makes it hard to see.

However, in boxing, wearing heavy boxing gloves, protect and cushion your opponent’s blows.

If you’re looking for a workout that is a lot more interesting than a cold machine, boxing may be for you. Practices are in the lower level of the Intramural building Monday through Thursday at 7:00 p.m.

The club provides all the equipment free of charge.