Boxing: The American Martial Art

Whether you want to box for fitness or competition, Boxing: The AmericanMartial Art is an excellent guide to getting started. Professional boxingcoach and trainer R. Michael Onello has created a 12-week, step-by-stepboxing course that can be followed at home or in the gym.Begin with the thorough boxing conditioning program designed to tone andstrengthen your entire body, with a special emphasis on the abs, chest andarm muscles. From Lesson One, you'll learn stance and movement, defensivetactics and a simple method of wrapping your hands to protect them duringtraining. As you work through the twice-weekly lessons, you'll learn thejab, straight right, uppercut and hook, then practice them alone and incombinations to increase your punching speed, accuracy and power.The step-by-step lesson format guides you through the same drills used byprofessional boxing trainers and includes specifics like the number of reps, the type of equipment to practice on, strategic advice and key points to payattention to as you progress. Once you've got the basics down, get togetherwith a sparring partner to work on the offense-defense drills, counterpunching and putting your new skills to work in sparring practice.The lessons wrap up with advice on creating a rotating 12-week trainingschedule by introducing more advanced training concepts and variations onthe workouts. Also included is a chapter for trainers and coaches, includingsample program handouts and training advice.