To a point, all students receive the same training. They all learn to stand and move properly, to hold their hands and punch properly, to execute defense correctly and combine defensive and offensive maneuvers. All students learn to shadow box, hit the heavy bag, speedbag, double-end bag, and punch mitts. And all students learn to skip rope.

The separation begins with the transition into contact drills and sparring. No one is required to participate in contact work. However, if actually learning to box or kickbox is your goal, whether you mean to compete or just spar in the gym, then contact is obviously inevitable.

The preparation to fight begins with simple defensive drills, moving into more complicated counter punching drills, graduating finally into free-sparring in the ring. The student who wants to "get in there and see what he (she)'s made of" is not encouraged. Nothing is gained by entering the ring before you are ready. In fact, the opposite is true. Sparring too soon may set in bad habits that can take months to retrain.

Our goal is to teach the sport of boxing, and that means a rigorous step by step process, resulting in a solid foundation on which more sophisticated skills can then be built. Don't come to the gym expecting ten easy lessons to fighting proficiency. Learning to box is a commitment that requires patience, discipline, concentration, and a love of training.