Sparring is radically different. Someone is trying to punch you in the face, and when you’re new to it, this can be not only terrifyingly alien, it can be downright demoralizing.

Here’s an email I received recently about exactly that:

I love The Glowing Edge, and it has been an invaluable resource to me as I begin to take the sport more seriously. I wanted to write to get your take on beginning to spar.

I have been going to a boxing gym for two years. The structure of the gym is mostly boxing-for-fitness classes. There’s only one other woman at the gym who spars and I finally had my first experience sparring with her.

I only went three rounds and I was rattled. It’s much more intimidating than I thought. I don’t know this fighter well. I didn’t feel comfortable asking her to ease up, I was worried that it would embarrass my coach and even though I’ve been going at it so hard in classes and training, all of a sudden I felt like there had been a gap in my education.

1. What can I do to move forward from a first night of sparring that felt sort of demoralizing?
2. Am I just being a whiny dumbass?

I don’t want to be one of those types who only shows up to sparring once or twice and then fades out. But I don’t know how to approach my coach about this. I also don’t want to go back to just doing classes for fun.

Hey, sparring sister. I know EXACTLY the stage you are in and NO you are not a whiny dumbass. This is 100% normal, and many of us have this same experience. More in a sec. First let me say this…

Sparring takes some getting used to

It really does. It’s a whole different game than pad work, drills, everything. That you went 3 rounds as a newbie is damned impressive. It’s some scary shit, right?

You had your first sparring experience with someone you didn’t really know, and I get that you wanted to not disappoint your coach. Sounds like she kinda overwhelmed you.

Here’s what the BEST sparring partners do for you

The best sparring partners hold themselves TO or JUST ABOVE your level so that you can get some good work without getting hurt or demoralized.

Sure, you may be bruised and headachy, but not so much that you’re like, “I don’t know if I want to do this again.”

The best coaches make sure this happens. But not everybody gets this kind of attention. Just a fact of gym life.

This is why you might not get much help when you’re new to sparring…

Boxing gyms do not survive because pro fighters train there. They don’t make money because someone wants to learn to compete in the amateurs, either. The trainers and coaches are not always even boxers themselves.

Boxing gyms survive financially because people want to get fit, not hit.

That’s just how it is. That’s where the money is, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

However, that means you have to take some initiative if you want to get your higher-level training and sparring work. SO. Here are a few tips for that.

The process of finding and getting to know sparring partners takes time and balls (ovaries?). If your gym doesn’t always give newbies excellent sparring partners who know how to do this, you gotta start building your own sparring program…

How to build YOUR OWN sparring program at ANY gym

1. Get to know some sparring partners.

Good sparring partners are SOLID GOLD to have. So make sparring friends. Travel to multiple gyms if you have to. Trade phone numbers. Friend them on Facebook.

The more you actually know other boxers as friends, the more comfortable you will be talking to them in the ring, letting them know what you need, helping them adjust to you.

Guys are fine for this. Just because you’re female doesn’t mean you have to only spar women. (That is such a bullshit attitude and I see it now and then from coaches.)

In fact, befriend some big guys. Charm them. Ask them for their opinion, for tips on certain moves. They are men, they love this shit. I’m telling you, this works every time. Hello men? Am I wrong? No I am not.

Let them feel like they are “mentoring” you — because guess what? They actually are.

Then when they’re getting in the ring, ask for their “warm up” rounds. In other words, you’re making it clear that their “warm up” is your “training.” They stop feeling pansy-ass working with a “girl” and start feeling all helpful to a woman.

I know, cheesy manipulation tactics.

But it really does work. Women have to be sneaky-asses sometimes in pursuit of bigger goals.

There will come a day when your rounds are nobody else’s warm ups, and when you’ll shine in the ring. You will be the one all the new people ask for help.

2. Don’t wait until “sparring night.”

Hijack the process and make your own timeline.

I told you this would take balls. Stop being so damn polite!

The more you can pass off your sparring as “just working on some tactics with so-and-so” the more pressure you take off everyone involved, including any coach who might be nearby.

FAKE it till you make it. Pretend it’s all very casual — force it to be. Believe me, that helps SO much.

3. Be consistent.

Keep at it. The longer you go without sparring, the scarier it gets.

I’m still boxing while I stare 50 in the face, and loving every day of it. I love when sparring is magic, and I even love the days when I get my ass kicked (the good kind of ass kicking, not the demoralizing kind).

There’s so much joy and empowerment in this sport; I really hope you’ll stick with it!

Let yourself be a newbie for a few years

You are brand-freaking-new at this. I know it doesn’t seem that way, but boxing takes FOR EVER to get good at.

You’re going to get better at dealing with the punches. You’re going to get better at moving your head and feet. You’ll learn to control the ring.

And you’re going to get to know more and more people in the boxing world the longer you stick with this. This may be the biggest, most life-encompassing challenge you’ve ever faced on a daily basis.

It’s totally worth it.

Photo Credit: kate.gardiner via Compfight cc

1. It’s not called a fight (Although I call it that sometimes.)

Only professional fights are called fights. In order to distinguish between pro and amateur events, the amateur events are called bouts or matches. You might hear me say it here on my personal private little cave, but when I’m in my black and whites you’ll never hear me slip.

I might accidentally say it, but then you’ll look the other way and pretend it didn’t even happen. That way I won’t be horribly embarrassed.

2. Referees CAN talk to boxers during the match

Before 2014, refs were limited to simple hand signals. I can remember infractions being called at least once or twice during matches I had, and I had no idea what offense had actually occurred. Most of the time in a boxing round, the ref is sort of invisible; you’re not really thinking about or paying attention to her.

But because amateurs are learning in the ring, the new rules allow refs to say what the infractions are, and even to coach a little bit during the round. Refs can state and explain an infraction, and even simple warnings (“Watch the holding,” or “Keep that head up”) are perfectly acceptable.

3. Most punches don’t count (And here’s why…)

Most people still think that whoever lands the most punches automatically wins, or should win.

Wrong again Beavis.

Amateur bouts (Hah! See how I didn’t call them “fights”? Sometimes I’m awesome like that.) are judged on five metrics:

• Number of quality blows landed on the target area
• Domination of the bout
• Competitiveness
• Technique and tactics superiority
• Non-infringement of rules

So punching is just ONE part of the picture, and furthermore, for a punch to be counted, it must:

• Land in the legal target area (above the waist, front side of the body)
• With the knuckle part of the closed boxing glove (no slaps)
• With the weight of the shoulder or hip behind the punch
• Land without being blocked or guarded by the defender

So none of the punches in the clip below actually count. FYI.

Many people who watch amateur boxing only consider punches thrown, and don’t judge the quality, accuracy, or effectiveness of the shots. The shot must be thrown, land — with weight behind it — in the right place with the right part of the glove, and not be opposed. Boom.

4. A standing 8-count is not an automatic scoring deduction

You see 8-counts in nearly every amateur match. The referee gives these in order to evaluate whether a boxer is fit to continue. We need to look and make sure they’re okay.

And sometimes we aren’t sure because amateurs don’t always know what they’re doing. They have sloppy form (chin up), or they don’t block well, or they slip or trip and fall down, not because they’re in danger, but because they’re new.

Most boxers are allowed a total of three 8-counts in any one round, and a maximum of 4 in the match. (Slightly different rules for Elite Men — no limits in a round, and for Masters over the age of fifty, where it’s 2 per round and 3 total.)

So an 8-count is a fairly normal occurrence, and not something to wig out about. The judges won’t actually take it into consideration UNLESS is really IS being given because the other boxer is dominating, or has landed an extremely serious blow.

But most of the time, that’s not the case.

5. Mouthguards with red coloring are not allowed

Let me see if I can explain this one:

(Refs can’t see any blood if there’s red.)

6. You can’t wear clothes that are all one color

Have you ever noticed that most boxing trunks have a contrasting waistband? That’s so that a low blow can be clearly seen. If a boxer is wearing black trunks with a black tank top, there’s no clear delineation for a ref to call a low blow, or for the judges to mark a clean and legal shot.

Before the 2014 rule change, you would see coaches wrapping duct tape around their boxers’ trunks to make an impromptu waistline. That’s not allowed any more. See next rule.

7. No tape is allowed on gear or clothing

This is one of the new rules that came in during 2014, and the reasoning behind it is so that boxers can have decent, functional gear and clothing. Before this year you would see tape of every kind fixing problems of every kind. Shoe soles taped together. Laces taped to shoes (so they don’t fly around or come undone), gloves taped on. The rear of a jersey, taped to make it fit a smaller boxer better.

Since getting rid of tape means upgrading equipment, and because boxing serves so many young people who simply don’t have the means to acquire new equipment, at the lowest levels of competition you’ll see some tape infractions ignored by officials when it’s supporting safety. Laces to headgear might be taped to the gear (so it doesn’t pop someone in the eye). Old, worn glove laces, same thing.

But that may not last, now that it’s part of the official rules. These guys below? Not allowed in the ring.

8. You must weigh in clean-shaven

Therefore the ewok above is DISQUALIFIED. Catbeards and dogbeards also not allowed. Get these jokers outta here.

UPDATE: The requirement that Master athletes (35 and older) be clean shaven at weigh-ins has been changed to allow moustaches and neatly trimmed beards of less than two (2) inches in length.

So. How’d you do?

Feel free to leave me a comment with questions about rules and regs, or contribute your own additions to the conversation.

And you can download the most recent copy of USA Boxing’s Technical Rulebook and Competition Rulebook at these links. Which I know you will. Because it’s such scintillating reading.

Top photo by West_Point on Flickr 

How many rounds of sparring should you have before you enter your first amateur boxing competition?

I love this question, and coaches enjoy arguing about it. We’re naturally argumentative. We’ll punch you, if needed.

Seriously. If you make the transition from boxing fitness to sparring, you’re almost always going to be asking yourself the question “Should I compete?” And if you decide to compete, how do you know when you’re ready? Is there a physical bar? Is it about conditioning, or skills? Or is it primarily mental? A mix of both?

One view: Get in quickly (6 weeks)

In fact, one of my fellow officials and a boxing trainer for many years is putting his guys in the competition ring a bare 6 weeks after they begin working in the gym. For him, it’s all about mindset and having an attitude of learning; he expects his boys (who are mostly military, and definitely already in condition) to bank competition experience by going to and getting matches at as many sanctioned events as possible.

That seems nuts to me.

But I’m just a girl. However, I will punch you, if needed.

Actually, I think it’s legit, in his case. Here’s why.

1. His boxers are already in great condition.

Boot camp will do that for you, jack.

2. His boxers have a strong “do what your leader tells you” mentality.

Jim never listens to Spock. Fortunately for Jim, Spock will still pull his ass outta the fire when necessary. I wish Spock would punch Jim once in a while. It would make him feel better.

These military guys are listening hard to their coach’s voice, and carrying out the commands they’re given. Very valuable skill in boxing.

They may also already have a good idea that boxing will be rough, and are okay with that.

It takes a while to get used to being punched in the face, and it’s possible that military dudes have an edge here.

3. His boxers have the best chance of getting matches.

All his boxers are guys. It’s much harder for women to get matches because there is a smaller pool to draw from. You may travel to five or ten events before you finally luck into a match, which is why it’s so much better to try and find pre-matches.

My view: Get 100 rounds of sparring (4-5 months)

Let’s say you spar once a week at your gym. You probably get at least 5 rounds each time you spar, even if they aren’t all in a row at first. At that rate, you should have a pretty good idea of a) what it’s going to be like in an actual bout, and b) what kind of shape you need to be in by the time you get 100 rounds.

In 5 months at the most — but probably closer to 3 or 4 months, since you’ll do more rounds each week, you’re going to be ready to Do The Thing.

“Are you ready to compete?” checklist

Your coach will actually help you figure out whether you’re ready, but here’s my basic checklist. It’s not complicated.

1. Do you know the basics of technique? Can you protect yourself even if you’re dead tired?

2. Do you have the stamina to box 3 to 5 rounds in a row?

3. Are you reasonably used to hitting someone hard, and being punched in the face?

4. Do you have a coach you trust to take care of you and act in your best interest?

Mini-rant about the rules

I would say something about “know the damn rules” since I’m a ref and all, but honestly, your COACH should know the damn rules and teach you. I have some crazy stories, dude. Buy me a vodka tonic and I’ll share them, with names and photos. Okay not the photos.

But you can take matters into your own hands and learn the actual rules of boxing (guess what? You’re judged on a LOT more than punches) by downloading the two USA Boxing rulebooks: Technical and Competition.

Your turn, badasses

So, what do you think? Is 100 rounds of sparring enough to get you ready? Let’s argue and punch each other in the face. C’mon, it’ll be fun.

Both sparring photos by destinationdiy on Flickr

When you compete under the USA Boxing sanction, the rules on what you can use to wrap your hands, and how you must wrap them, are very specific.

Ringside did a particularly good video on this, and it’s well worth watching the entire 16 minute video (and there’s a funny treat at the end).

It’s worth mentioning that they got the rules wrong about one thing. According to the most recent Competition Rulebook, which took effect in January of 2014, boxers are allowed a maximum of 8 feet of tape per hand, not 6 feet as the video mentions. However, you can use 6 feet and still be within the rules.

RIngside Gauze Kit Wrapping Instructions from Ringside on Vimeo.

The excellent innovations in this style

One of the frequently-mentioned things about wrapping for boxing competition is the fact that people used to twist tape to run as this coach twists and uses the gauze. That’s how I’ve been wrapped in the past, too.

I think this method is actually better, because you can tie the anchors on.

In addition, I’ve never used the knuckle rolls, just a really thick wad across the back of the hand. The rolls make MUCH more sense.

Three main things to know

First, you can tape between, but not across the knuckles. Can’t do it. If you use tape across the knuckles, Chuck Norris is forced to hand-feed a baby platypus, and he’s scared of those little guys. Cause you know, the males are poisonous.

Second, you want your padding to stay high across your knuckles, not get dragged onto the back of your hand once you glove up.  This method should ensure that the padding stays where you want it.

Tape securely up under that row of rolls to keep it up there.

Third, the rules allow plenty of gauze and tape. The rules allow for 49 feet of two-inch-wide gauze and 16 feet of one-inch-wide tape.

The standard rolls of boxing gauze are typically ten yards, or 30 feet long, so allow yourself about a roll and a half total. And you won’t actually need all that. So you can make some little mummy crafts from Pinterest with the extra. Yay!

And you don’t need to worry about this

This is an excellent video, but this coach is all “You MUST wrap away from the thumb, etc.” Don’t worry too much about that. Some of this is about personal style and preference. According to the rules, you can wrap any way you like, so long as you use the right amount of tape and gauze and don’t tape over your knuckles.

Did you know?

You can also wrap for competition using valpeau now, which I always thought was the stuff we used to call “Ace bandages.” The rules simply state “stretchy cotton with a velcro closure,” and you can use 14.76 feet of two-and-a-quarter inch width. Most standard boxing hand wraps qualify.

Last word…

Looks like you’re set! I’ll tell Chuck Norris somebody else will feed the baby platypuses. Platypi.

Whatever, let’s box.

Photo Credit: redteam via Compfight cc

If all you ever do is show up to enjoy a local fight night it might look smooth, from the outside. But it absolutely isn’t. For the 4 to 6 hours prior to the doors opening at the average amateur boxing evening, there is more anarchy and disarray than a high school cafeteria lunch period on homecoming Friday with no teachers. (Sorry, did I just give you a flashback?)

Here’s why.

The Promoter: When an amateur boxing event is announced

When an upcoming boxing event is first publicized, the promoter – who is the one responsible for creating, hosting, paying for, and running the event – gets flooded with phone calls and emails.

Boxing coaches, as well as individual boxers, will call the promoter to try and get a match on that card. Typically your coach will tell the promoter your age, weight, and experience level (how many fights, or how many years in the gym).

Here’s what nearly every promoter will say in return: “Oh yeah, I think we’ll have someone there for your fighter.” And they’re not lying – they’ve been on the phone non-stop since the event was announced, trying to get some preliminary matching ideas into place. The promoter is also handling seven zillion other critical details, many of which can wreck an event and cost the promoter all the money that’s been invested if they aren’t handled correctly.

This is where the ugly can start to grow.

The Coaches: Trying to find out if they can get matches

Amateur boxing coaches put in lots of overtime hours – often unpaid – in order to take their fighters to events. They may drive a van full of people several hours to get to weigh-ins, which may be taking place the night before the actual event. Depending on how far away the event is, they have have to field out-of-pocket expenses for food and hotel, sometimes paying for their boxers as well. Even if they bring up boxers for weigh-ins the day of the event, typically those weigh-ins will be held 5 or 6 hours in advance of the start time.

So if you commit to taking a boxer, putting in all those hours and expenses, and the promoter TOLD you there would be a match for your fighter… That’s what you expect.

But the key mistake most people make in this scenario is this one:

The promoter is NOT the one making the matches in a sanctioned amateur boxing event.

That’s the job of the sanctioning commission. Those are the people who are tasked with seeing that an amateur event is run safely and according to the rules. A promoter must pay to have an event sanctioned, and must follow a sizable set of rules and guidelines, including things like providing a regulation ring, certified medical personnel, and so on.

But that’s only the beginning. Here’s how it gets even worse…

Getting to weigh-ins

By the time you get to weigh-ins on the day of or day before an event, a LOT may have changed.

Boxers who expected to compete have been injured, or can’t get to the event, or were unable to get to the weight they planned.

So any preliminary matches that were considered may no longer be remotely workable. It’s after the weigh-ins, and before the medicals, that the real match-making begins.

The Match-making: after weigh-ins

This is when the matches actually start coming together. At this point all necessary documents, including passbooks, weights, and so on, are in the hands of the officials, and it can be one biggie-sized paperwork crazyhouse.

Most of the craziness comes from the constant ebb and flow of eager, anxious, curious boxers and coaches who have a thousand questions as well as last-minute information that they want to communicate with the officials. Everything from “I’ve lost my passbook” to “We brought an extra boxer” to “Where’s the bathroom” to “How soon will we know if my boxer got a match?”

There are a thousand hitches that can keep a match from being made. Boxers’ passbooks must be in order and up to date, they can’t be boxing after too recent an injury, and weights and ages and experience levels are all brought into account as the first run of official matches is made by the sanctioning commission.

Sometimes the officials are working in a tiny space with no heat, air, or (sometimes) even a table to lay everything out on. They may not have an electrical outlet or a way to set up a computer and printer to create bouts on. There are hundreds of documents floating around. There’s a rushed feeling, because the process takes a fair amount of time. Coaches and boxers are constantly in and out of the space.

As the matches are being made, changes happen. Someone shows up late to the weigh-ins, but drove six hours to get there, so a fresh batch of boxers may be added back into the mix. Someone comes down sick between weigh-ins and medicals, and pulls out. And sometimes coaches get wind of who an opponent might be, and they’ll pull their boxer out of the mix (which can get the boxer banned for an extended period of time, by the way).

And like many certified officials in amateur sports, the sanction commission – the ones making order in all the chaos for hour after hour on a given Saturday – are all volunteers.

After medicals

Typically medicals happen shortly before the event begins. Once in a while, this process causes further changes to the bout sheets. Most of the time the officials won’t print and distribute a bout sheet until after medicals, because there are almost always last-minute changes.

That’s why you will sometimes see more than one version of a bout sheet floating around at an event; they can’t always successfully be recovered before the new version is issued.

This is also why many boxing events start late. (Hey! Now you know!)

The human factor

Once bouts are made, there are sometimes a handful of coaches angry or upset because their boxer didn’t get matched, or they don’t like the match that was made and would like to put forward their own ideas about who should be allowed to compete against whom. This can be the very worst part of the entire thing. And it happens with some regularity. But somehow, some way, the officials make a path through it all and the event comes off, frustrated coaches or no.

And there may still be some typos on bout sheets, and the event may not start on time, and the announcer may have no idea how to pronounce everyone’s names, and the people in charge of the event may look like they’re scrambling (because they are).

Which, once you know how the entire process works, makes some sense. It’s a crazy scene, moving at top speed, containing a whirlwind of documents, people, and emotions. Sometimes I’m shocked when a bout sheet comes out perfect, and the event starts and runs completely on time. It does happen… Mostly not, but sometimes.

I’m a newbie

Even though I’ve been boxing now for about eight years, I’m writing this after my first year of service as a USA Boxing certified official. That’s me in the photos above. I’ve officiated at 10 events this year, judged about 90 bouts, refereed about 40 matches. I’m fortunate because most of the rest of the officials I work with have twenty or thirty years of service already. There isn’t anything they haven’t seen, smiled at, and made it on through. I’ve learned SO much from all of them.

And out of all the things that have made an impression on me this year, two are biggest. The first is how much I love officiating in the ring. The second is how incredibly complex the match-making process is, and how hard promoters and officials work to make matches come safely together, according to the rules, as the day of an event progresses.

Are you still here?

If you made it through all that, fist bump! You are your own kind of badass. You’re weird, like me, because you’re actually curious about how all this mess goes down. And if you have questions, I may have answers, although I may also simply know someone much smarter and more experienced than me who can answer for us both. Leave me a comment!

And finally I wrote it all down, since that’s infinitely preferable to madly scrambling around at the last minute, trying to remember what all our boxing team will need once they get to the competitive arena.

Btw, I searched the internet and didn’t find ANYTHING to help you pack your competition bag, so if you happen so see something, please link it in the comments. Just the fact that I couldn’t find anything made me wonder if I was missing something…

Of course, this will be the ONLY post on the subject to include toilet paper, sparkly elves, chainsaws, and Nicki Minaj. Read on.

Here’s what we typically pack

2 pairs of clean 10 oz boxing gloves in good shape (and toilet paper)

Typically gloves will be provided at the event, but this doesn’t always happen at the local level. DON’T count on anybody else having all the stuff you might expect to be available when you’re at the lowest (and most ordinary and frequent) level of competition!

Picture you, the coach, with no fecking BOXING GLOVES when it comes time to field your boxer. Right, not a good picture.

Always bring EVERYTHING. Everything, my friend.

This is why I always bring toilet paper to boxing events. I am not joking. I have even sent someone out to buy a 12-pack because the women’s room (which apparently no one expected to be in use) had ZERO tp. This is not a happy thing for nervous females who can keep producing fluid ounces, right up to the bell. Or female refs who are there for 8-hour stretches, drinking endless bottles of water. And we just don’t do the drip dry method, sorry.

I think we’re all on board here.

And if you have more than one boxer competing, you’ll need two pairs of boxing gloves, in case there are two rings running, or your boxers are competing back-to-back.

2 USA Boxing-certified headgear (and scrunchies)

Make sure you have sizes that you already know fit your boxers. Many boxers have their own headgear, but the majority of young people at my gym (which serves at-risk, and gang-related youth) do not.

A moment for a rant.

If your boxers have those gorgeous long braids, or a massive head full of waist-length dreads, you gotta secure that shit. Cannot have it flinging about. Really, this is in the rules. Bring a bunch of scrunchies (LOVE these for the guys, they’ll never forget again), one of those do-rags, or a bandanna or something. The hair has to be tied up and contained.

2 groin protectors/cups or “no fouls” (and a funny story)

Did you know women can actually wear a no foul? See the image above. There’s a separate shape for the women, thank the good baby Elvis and all his sparkly elves, but the guys are actually required to wear some kind of protection.

One of the guys I ref with makes it a habit of rapping lightly against the cup to check the guys in the ring before the bell. I have to stifle a (very unprofessional) snicker when he does it. The guys are always fine with it though. They’re all Yeah, I got big tough junk. I’m a MAN.

And no, to answer your next question, I do not check this way, hah. I ask. But I don’t say, Hey do you have tough junk? Everything good in the trunk, dude? I say, like the prim nerd I am, “You wearing a cup?”

In fact, I’m so habituated to (politely) asking that I accidentally asked one of the women who was about to box in my ring. Fortunately she did not take a swing at me.

Again, make sure they fit before you go. Well, let the guys handle that part. Unless it’s a no-foul, and in that case you can check the fit. Who knew boxing was so dicey?

Gauze, tape, and medical safety scissors (no chainsaws)

I can remember being at one event (I think I was actually the one competing) and NOBODY had any scissors. Y’all, that tape just does not tear by hand. Or by teeth. And most places will not let you bring chainsaws into the arena. You can’t hear the bell over the roar of those damn things. (Plus there’s the exhaust fumes.)

Anyway you’ll also need the scissors (get the crooked medical kind) to cut off all the gauze and tape after your boxers’ matches, too.

You can get all the info about how much gauze and tape is allowed by downloading the Boxing Competition Rulebook.

2 new, unmolded mouthguards

Sigh. If you work with teenagers, you will understand this part. Somewhere in the universe, there are thousands of mouthguards that have sneaked off to dally with unmated socks. Someday an explorer will uncover the cache and boy will it stink. They better cover that shit back up, stat.

Take two shiny new mouthguards to have on hand for when one of your people says, Ohmygawd ohmygawd I forgot my mouthguard can I borrow yours?

That’s nasty, and besides, it has to be molded. This can be done at a competition if you can find a microwave to heat the water. You may have to drive to the nearest mini-mart or gas station. I’ve done it.

Btw, no pink or red on mouthguards. Officials can’t see blood if it’s pink or red. It’s in the rules, and I’ve had to say it to boxers waiting for the bell. And I’ve seen coaches do all three options: pull their fighter, unwrap a brand new unmolded mouthguard and shove it in a boxer’s mouth, and borrow someone else’s.

I do not share my toothbrush and I do not share mouthguards. It’s a personal thing.

Spare jersey and shorts (and socks and underwear)

No, you must say to your boxers, you may (emphatically) NOT wear that shirt with the mustached Elmo saying “This might tickle.” Ditto for “Drink til you want me.” Or any of the Nicki Minaj tees.

Well, they wear ’em to school, why would they think it might be different at the boxing competition? Your bad!

You can’t count on your boxer knowing these things as if by magic. So be prepared, like a boy scout. Actually like a boy scout leader. Or any normal adult who deals with teenagers, I guess.

Water bottles, power bars, and a towel

You MUST have the towel (to “throw in” and stop a bout, if necessary) if you’re working a corner. The water bottles must be clear. And the power bars are because everyone who boxes is perpetually ravenous, and there’s just not going to be time to hunt, shoot, and dress a deer while you’re there. No place for a campfire, either.

Extras: Mitts, Vaseline, rubber gloves

The punching mitts are for warming your boxer up, the Vaseline may be applied lightly to their faces before the bout (and also prevents cracked, bloody lips during winter), and the rubber gloves are for coaches who are being careful about all the bodily fluids we inevitably encounter at a boxing arena.

And I’m not even talking about that Ladies’ Restroom.

And DON’T FORGET the passbooks!

Especially if you drove 3 hours in a smelly van full of anxious boxers to get to the event. Nobody can box at a sanctioned amateur event without an up-to-date passbook. Period.

What did I miss?

If you have other stuff you typically pack, leave me a comment and let me know.

CC image by Scott on Flickr 

The photo above is the view just before you turn around and climb Bluff Mountain at mile marker 243.4. It’s very pastoral (and includes cows) until you get to the top, then the trail divebombs maniacally down the switchbacks of Alligator Back (which took us 15 minutes to get down, and an hour to climb back up on the return trip) and travels along a tiny, treacherous deer path cut into the sheer side of the next mountain for a couple of miles. Awesome hike.

We camped at the Doughton Recreation Area, located at mile markers 238-244, and we highly recommend it. There are very few people, it’s quiet and pretty, and there are over 30 miles of excellent hiking trails (from easy to strenuous), as well as old cabins and other marks of early settlers, within the park area.

Be aware that the tiny lodge and restaurant at Doughton have been closed for years. The closest “town” (and I use that term loosely) is about a 30 minute drive away. The only gas we could find was 20 minutes away in Laurel Springs at an ancient place called Mabe’s, and the only other signs of life there were a few homes, a post office, a fire station, and a Christmas tree farm. Mabe’s had the best frosty Coke Zero and fun size Hershey Bar I ever enjoyed in the middle of a hot, muggy day, and the guy filled my tank for me after directing me to the cool, dim corner of his maze-like general store where I could find a box of garbage bags to keep things dry… But I digress.

Here’s a list of our collective wisdom from this trip and others we’ve made on the Blue Ridge.

1. Warm and dry are important.

It rains just about every day on the Blue Ridge Parkway (see the rain coming in on the photo at the top? Cool, huh?). Everything is lush and green and wet. Sometimes it’s wet and slippery. Sometimes it’s freezing cold and wet (even in high summer).

Foggy, misty, drizzling, stormy, drenched, sodden… Add to that lots of waterfalls, creeks, and other water features that you’ll be in and around.

No matter what, you will probably get wet on the BRP.

To be as happy as possible while camping for a week or two in all this wet lushness, you’ll need to figure out how to get warm and dry at the end of the day. Read on.

2. If you want it to stay dry, put it in a plastic bag.

During one of our BRP vacations after being rained on one day too many, we made a trip into a town so we could use the coin-op laundry to dry all our stuff. A couple hours (and lots of quarters) later, we packed it all back into the car, and didn’t realize the still-soaking wet tent would RE-SOAK everything by the time we got back up on the Blue Ridge. Argh. Now we put EVERYTHING in a plastic bag.

After you wake up, put your bedding in a plastic trash bag. Put all your clothes in a plastic trash bag inside your duffel. Put all the stuff in your pack inside a plastic trash bag. You can never have too many plastic trash bags.

3. You can never have too many bandanas.

A bandana under your cap makes a great “gnat hat” to flap insects away, and if you soak it in a stream and hang it around your neck it will cool you off as it dries. Bandanas dry faster than any other item.

Don’t take full-size bath towels; use hand towels, dish towels, or bandanas instead. Because it’s sucky to try to dry off with a cold, wet, smelly slab o’ nasty. Use bandanas for towels, washcloths, napkins, padding, and everything else you can. Bandanas rule.

4. The scary noises you hear in the night are MOST likely to be…

And I’ve listed these in order of actual probability:

a. Mouse
b. Mouse
c. Mouse
d. Raccoon
e. Bear
f. Puma

Of course, your middle-of-the-night, this-tent-is-flimsy, I’m-far-from-home brain believes differently…

Last year I was absolutely, 100% certain that our site was being stealthily scoped out by a mountain lion in the middle of the night.  Possibly a pack of them. I know they don’t hunt in packs. It didn’t matter. What use is logic when you are about to be mauled? I kept myself awake for hours, frozen in fear and visualizing scenarios that rival anything I’ve ever seen in Game of Thrones. The next morning I told the rangers, and they were polite to me. Like you’re polite to a weird uncle, or a special needs child.

However…

5. Use the bear bins or keep “attractants” in your car.

Do this at night and any time you are away from your campsite. This includes your cans of beer. Bears love beers as much as they love those marshmallows and Hershey Bars you brought for s’mores.

Last year we saw a huge bear on the mountain where we were hiking. We got off that mountain pretty quickly, but I’ve since learned that most of the time, if you leave them alone and steer well clear, they don’t want to bother with you anyway.

Bears and snakes are not naturally aggressive. But you WILL see them and you are in THEIR house, so make noise as you hike, walk slowly, and be respectful.

Just above you’ll see a picture of the bear trap we had at our campground this year. Baited with Honey Buns, no joke. (No bear — or hungry camper — was captured while we were there.)

6. Maps, signs, and trail markers are FREQUENTLY incorrect.

So work that into your plans. Try to be positive about it, because being pissed off the whole trip would defeat the purpose, now wouldn’t it?

In addition to maps, signs, and trail markers (or the absence thereof), some trail write-ups don’t tell you how much time to expect a trail to take. This can be crucial if you’re trying to plan a major hike in the back country and need to get out before nightfall.

Our three maps of the challenging Caudill Cabin (Grassy Gap and Basin Creek) hike this year were ALL WRONG. Distances, road names, everything was incorrect. And no suggested times for the hike were given. We spent two hours the day before our hike just trying to find the access road, which was unmarked, as was the road we took to GET to the access road.

So once we finally found the trailhead, we marked our findings on our own map, hiked a short 3-4 miles of that trip on the day we were doing our research, then came back the next day when we were fresh in order to do the whole thing.

Even so, we were a bit nervous about our pace, since the trip in was all uphill and included more than 20 stream crossings (some quite arduous). It rained on us for 3 of the 7 hours of that hike, and in addition to navigating an overgrown backcountry trail that was sometimes a tiny path on the edge of a steep, rocky incline, everything was slippery and muddy. It took us much longer than we expected. Thankfully, getting out was much quicker, and we made it back well before dark.

In a classic act of nerdery and in order to make the world a better place, Lance updated the Wikipedia entry on those hikes when we returned to civilization.

7. Shoes are a major (unsolved) issue.

Our hiking boots get soaking wet pretty much every year. We hike, bushwhack, cross a lot of streams, and of course, it rains a lot on the BRP. I may have mentioned this.

We bring sneakers and sandals, but we still only have one pair of hiking boots each, and they don’t dry out quickly. We have made trips to a town to dry our boots in a laundry dryer, but that’s a big pain. Since our weeks are built around hiking as much as 6-8 hours a day, we may need to invest in a second pair of boots soon.

How have you solved this issue?

8. Take a “Family Size” Tecnu.

We need this Every. Single. Year. A little bit of poison ivy is a small price to pay for some great hiking, but no one wants to be miserable.

I wash my arms and legs with that stuff some days after we get back to camp. I just carry a camp chair, my Tecnu, and a bandana out to a pump, and nobody else can get water until I’m all shivery-cold and urushiol-free.

9. Water is a critical issue.

Know how to keep yourself supplied with it.

Water is heavy to carry – my 2 liter Camelback adds almost 5 lbs of weight to my day pack, and that may only supply me for a half day of hiking. We’ve had some hikes where we could not summit/finish because we didn’t have enough water, and that bites. So now I also carry an MSR SweetWater purifying system, and make note of potential water sources both before and during a hike.

Also, when lugging your heavy-as-fuck 5-gallon water holder or 4-gallon solar shower to and from your campsite, carry it on your hip like a toddler rather than by the handle. Much easier.

10. A hot shower is not as important as you think.

The majority of places we camp do NOT have showers. In the ‘burbs you get kind of used to the “shower every single day” thing, but when camping, “monkey baths” with a bandana, some soap, and a pot of hot water are really fine.

Solar showers are NOT hot on the BRP, I don’t care if it IS mid-August. In fact, by the time we get back from hiking every evening, they’ve gone from lukewarm to icy. You can suck it up and shiver your way to semi-clean, or you can heat water and add that to your solar shower bag for a moderately not-freezing dealie-o. No marine can shower faster than me using cold water while the wind blows, Jack.

And I’m not likely to do it every day, either.

And yes, I’m doing this in public – or at least within possible view of other campers and maybe a mouse or groundhog, while wearing shorts and a sports bra, in case you were wondering. I can’t see myself buying one of those prissy shower/potty tents they sell… (I can also pee on a trail like nobody’s business.)

But with my Tecnu-wash, and/or a quick solar, then maybe an in-the-tent once-over with a bandanna and a pot of steaming hot agua, I’m pretty damn good to go.

So get a little grimy. Don’t shave. Tie your hair back. You’ll be okay, promise.

But there’s also some good things to be said about being the kind of fighter who can perform well against the ropes, and even win a fight using rope skills. Here’s what I mean.

When you’re new in the ring, you tend to fight your rounds with your back to the ropes because your opponent is controlling the motion and running things from the center. You go where your opponent sends you — toward the edges of the ring — and you spend a fair amount of time doing ring slides, or sideways motions, doing a big circle at the outside of the ring. In boxing, we also call that running.

If you’re in good enough shape, you can “run” from your opponent like this, unless they are good at “cutting off the ring,” or stepping in front of you and launching an offensive. In the video below you’ll see a couple of guys drilling in running and cutting off the ring. The guy in the black cap is working his ass off (which running requires) and the tall dude in the center gets to rest and take his leisure — and, if they were actually throwing punches, you get the feeling he might calmly clobber the hyperactive guy into mush… Maybe. The dude in the Army tee-shirt definitely has gas, and might also be packing heat in those fists. (It would be fun to find out, wouldn’t it?)

Coaches don’t like for you to work on the outside against the ropes for several reasons, including:

• It takes a LOT of energy (as you can see in the video above)
• You’re typically not controlling the space (which you’ll be judged on in competition)
• You can easily get pinned there by a good opponent

However, you should be comfortable working there because — guess what? — you’re gonna be fighting there sooner or later. Probably sooner, if you’re new to boxing. You might as well snatch the psychological advantage and shock the hell out of your opponent and everyone else by making it a place you perform your best.

A “Huracan” on the ropes

The first time I ever saw a fighter perform as if the ropes were just another of her favorite ass-beating positions was while watching the IFBA Lightweight title fight between Chevelle “Fists of Steel” Hallback and Melissa “Huracan” Hernandez in 2009. Before I saw that, I hadn’t even known there WAS such a thing as fighting WELL on the ropes.

Both these women are freaking enormous favorites of mine (brag #1: I got to talk to Chevelle on the phone — thank you, Amy Green! — after I won my very first fight; brag #2: I got to interview Melissa — thank you Bonnie Mann! — for an article here; OMgawd I want to go to Florida and be punched by BOTH of them, just not at the same time), and if they had collectibles I would have way more than you do, bitches. Way more.

But we were talking about fighting on the ropes…

Fighting Chevelle Hallback is probably a lot like trying to fend off a supremely pissed but perfectly level-headed Optimus Prime. She just marches relentlessly forward and calmly batters you into pulpy submission.

Melissa, on the other hand, is damned slippery. I swear that woman carries WD-40 in her gym bag — there is no way in hell you are ever gonna get her to stand still so you can beat the shit out of her. No way, jack. Because where ever she was just a second ago, she ain’t there no more.

Chevelle looks like she was BORN in the center of the ring. Like, her mama (whom I’m sure I would love) just laid down and birthed baby Chevy right there in the middle of the canvas and said, Look baby! You’re home.

Melissa just steals every square inch of the ring from people who think they own it. Oh, she gives it back. But then she steals another little bit. And another. While pretending that yeah, this is yours — you can have it back ’cause I’m all done with it. With Melissa, you begin to wonder who the fuck really controls the ring.

Here’s a video of the two of them in the 2009 fight (which was judged a draw — which I’m sure disappointed them both — but it was an incredible match). This is just the first half, but starting in the second round you can begin to see Melissa beginning to show ownership of the ropes.

Scroll in and watch Melissa in ropes-form at 3:21, 3:37, 4:45, 9:36, and so on… The second half of the fight is even better, but this will get you started.

(Btw, at 6:53 when Chevy gets a monster barrage of knockout punches rolling, look at Melissa! She just relaxes — relaxes, motherfucker! — and keeps doing her thing. I swear, these women are ARCTIC cold.)

Here are some of the premium messages I took away from this, the first time I ever saw it…

1. The ropes can support you

The ropes give you some flotation and energy. It’s a little like having that springy old couch backing you up, giving you a little bounce as you work. (And that’s the first time I’ve ever used “flotation” in regard to boxing. Win!) Melissa USES the spring and support in the ropes to give her movement and punches a little extra zing. You gotta kind of sit into them a little for this to work; don’t be a stiff plank, be a coiled spring yourself.

2. The ropes are a place to work your offense

When I was new to the game, I thought the ropes were to be avoided at all costs. If you got on them, you were supposed to do whatever it took to get OFF. Melissa doesn’t do that. She works on the ropes just like she works in the center. Never forget your offense! Let the ropes support you while you launch little “back off” grenades with both fists. Relax and show that you can beat ass there just as well as anywhere.

3. Maintain a tight guard on the ropes

The REAL first rule of Fight Club is protect yourself at all times. Both these women are seasoned pro fighters, and if I caught any of my boys at the gym with these kinds of low, open guards, I’d put them on push-up duty for a good long while, and they wouldn’t get back in the ring until I saw a tighter guard. And none of that Philly shit, either (one glove up and the other down, across the body). Philly shell works for Sugar Ray and Floyd Mayweather, but it’s a good way for amateurs to get hammered.

But look at Melissa: no matter how low her guard is at other times (and it’s damn sure tighter than Chevy’s; Chevy fights like a wrecking ball — very little defense, but a megaton of offense), she usually pulls both fists up and both elbows in when she’s on the ropes. Chin down, tight guard, whipping out her shots and returning to guard position.

One other advantage to having a tight guard on the ropes is that if your opponent isn’t careful, they may launch a furious barrage and leave themselves gassed out. Most people are smarter than this, but there’s such a strong push from coaches to keep someone pinned as long as you can, that it does happen. Just not usually in the pros.

4. Move your ass, especially on the ropes

Those first two segments (3:21 and 3:37) really showcase something Melissa does ALL the time on the ropes. She moves. She has this signature zig-zag when she’s on the ropes that make it nearly impossible to tag her. She’s a lightning bolt of pure energy. Don’t just stand there when you’re against the edge of the ring. WORK it.

5. Spin out

Sometimes you’re tempted to use the ropes to rest. Remember me saying the thing earlier about how the ropes are like that nice old springy couch you love to bounce on? You also like to nap there, but napping and boxing: mix them not! Hah. (New sport: Nap boxing. Survey says…?)

See how Melissa spins out? I’m half surprised she doesn’t get rope burns across her back. But she doesn’t — she’s slicker than Elvis’s hair, and waaaay sexier.

6. Shoot on the exit

This one you don’t see as much on this particular video, but it’s a great practice. Try to get a shot off as you slide or pivot out off the ropes. It just discourages your opponent from trying to keep you there and run up the score.

DOUBLE BONUS points if you can turn your opponent into the ropes with a shove or a sweet nasty hook. The only woman I’ve ever seen who has made this a signature move is my original trainer and two-time world champion Bonnie “Queen B” Mann. That woman has a left hook that will leave you wondering where you are and how long it will be before the nice man in the paramedic uniform will let you sleep. She routinely suckers people in, then spins out and hooks her opponents into the ropes. Love ya, Bonnie. Mean it!

Disadvantages of boxing on the ropes

As with everything, there are two sides to this story. If you’re not careful, you can shitcan a fight you otherwise would have owned by fighting on the ropes. Here’s why.

1. The judges can’t all see what’s happening

There are typically three judges, seated on three sides of the ring. A judge is NOT ALLOWED to count a shot they have not seen. Think about a movie fight scene — those guys aren’t necessarily hitting each other, but they’re often filmed from different angles where you see someone’s head flying back, or their body flying through the air, but you didn’t always see the shot that was thrown. In boxing, you MUST see it to count it. That’s why there are three judges — they each see a slightly different fight, based on where they’re sitting.

So if you consistently work the ropes with your back to a particular judge, she or he is probably actually seeing very little. Mostly your sweaty back. Your sweaty back is not going to win this for you, and I don’t care how stupendous that new Hello Kitty as Hannibal Lecter tatt is.

2. It may not look like “domination” of the bout

The new USA Boxing rules are much more like professional scoring, and you’re judged on the following criteria:

• Number of quality blows landed on the target area
• Domination of the bout
• Competitiveness
• Technique and tactics superiority
• Non-infringement of rules

It doesn’t matter how many shots you land cleanly while you’re on the ropes; if it looks like you aren’t controlling the ring and dominating the match, you’ll be judged down. Then again, if you performed like Hernandez on the ropes, you might get points for technique. Gotta be careful there, because it could go either way.

So, badass. What about you?

No matter what, I routinely drill on the ropes: using their power, working while I’m there, and not letting ANY part of the ring feel like it isn’t mine to own. But it’s always true that you don’t want to stay there too long. Get in, get out, just like most things in boxing.

But what about you? Leave me a comment below and tell me about your tactics on the ropes, drills that help you, and what you’ve learned about this particular bit of boxing…

Photo Credit: James Nord via Compfight cc

So how the hell do you know what to ask for or expect in a sparring partner? Well, you ask someone who’s been doing it a while. I’ll tell you my experience with it, and then you can ask someone else. Find your tribe and they’ll help you get through this.

Okay, me first. I won’t lie to you: getting started sparring can be pretty miserable.

My recent conversation with a curious onlooker

I had just finished a 2-hour boxing workout with a local team, which we ended with sparring, burning whatever gas we still had left in our tanks. I made it to the bell, crawled out of the ropes, and let my partner get the final round of the day with another bruiser more his size and power. Once his new partner was in, I tapped reset on our round timer. One short round of 2 minutes, everything you got…

They went at it like two saltwater crocodiles warring over the last antelope on earth. It was brutal. I watched in appreciation of the power and techniques on display. I was already nursing a sore place on the hinge of my jaw below my left ear, and had a few bruises coming up on my forearms (the latter being a good sign of a tight guard); I was glad it wasn’t me in the ring.

The man sitting next to me on the benches seemed a little shaken, even after the two guys made the bell, swapped exhausted grins and a sweaty hug, and rolled out of the ring.

“How hard do you guys hit in there?” he asked, waving his hand in the general direction of the ring. “Fifty percent? Seventy?”

I knew what he meant. If he had any interest in getting in there (he was wondering), would he get mauled like those two appeared to be mauling each other?

In a good gym, I told him, the amount of power you use depends on

• who you’re in with
• how much you each weigh
• how experienced you and your partner are
• what your goals are
• what you agree to

That’s in a GOOD gym. In a shitty gym, they throw you in with anyone, beat the hell out of you, and laugh if you don’t come back. Sadly, there are plenty of shitty gyms. But there are also excellent, top-notch places with owners and coaches who have a strong interest in cultivating newcomers to the sport, and I happened to be in one of those (in this case, NBS Gym, for any of you wondering).

Before my last round with crocodile #1 — whose name is actually John — I told him I was nearly gassed. I wanted to work slower, and with an emphasis on technique. A couple of times during the round I stopped him and asked for a specific shot or move to be repeated so I could work on my defense and counter. John is awesome for this kind of work, and has plenty of patience. He’s also willing to show you the secrets of his “shocker” shots — the small handful of unexpected combos that tend to take the air out of an opponent’s sails in very short order.

After our round was over, he asked me if his power levels had been okay. That’s a HUGE indicator that you’re in with a great sparring partner. His power levels were fine, for the most part. He has enough experience to control his shots, and even though he’s far more muscular and powerful than I am (not to mention decades younger), he doesn’t shoot to kill.

I mean, unless you just ask for that shit. Which his last partner of the night did.

I do take harder shots from guys like this than I would with a less experienced or lighter opponent, but that’s very much the price of working with someone stronger — even when they control their work, you’re going to feel it. This is boxing, after all. If you’re looking for something cuddly, try knitting.

So, number one thing you want in a sparring partner is experience.

Because experience is going to give them control. The less experience they have, the wilder their shit will be. And you could get hurt, even if your partner is smaller than you are.

Caveat: you will probably hurt some, no matter what.

Back to the guy who was watching those final rounds. I asked him what his sport was. He was thin and wiry and looked like the kind of guy who runs or plays basketball.

Sure enough, he was a runner, and he told me he had actually run a marathon the day before. Which is badass.

Then he asked me the standard question everyone asks, “So does it hurt?”

I was sorely tempted to tell him, “Are you kidding me? Running a motherfucking marathon hurts. That’s like, 5 hours of pain. We only have to do this shit for 3 minutes.”

But I didn’t actually say that. I felt along my jaw, which was sore, and pressed my fingers against the bruises rising along my forearms. I sat on the bench and swiped my sweaty hair out of my eyes. “Yeah, it hurts some,” I told him. Because it does.

But if you don’t work, you don’t learn. You have to sort of lean into the pain.

Which is the second major thing you want in a sparring partner: someone who will give you real boxing WORK.

That means they aren’t self-centered assholes looking to beat you up in order to make themselves look badass.

They bring out your best. Make you work your hardest. Check in with you to make sure power levels are acceptable.

That’s the kind of gym, the kind of sparring partner, you want to look for. Definitely use your words — tell your parter what you need and what level you are. And expect some pain, especially when you’re brand spanking new. But beyond that, search out the best possible sparring partners, and hang on to them.

And finally, work to become the kind of sparring partner you appreciate. Make boxing work for you, and for others who are coming into the sport.

Now you tell me…

What’s been your sparring experiences with new partners? Have you found a good one? How did you do it? What are your secrets? Leave me a comment below and let’s talk.

The International Boxing Association (AIBA), the body which governs USA Boxing, hammered out several long-awaited changes to the scoring system to bring sanctioned amateur boxing more into line with the way pro boxing is scored.

The 10 Point “Must” System

The name may sound odd, but the gist is that (before any point deductions for fouls) one boxer must be given a score of 10 for any given round, making her or him the winner of that round. The loser of the round will be given a score or 9, 8, 7, or 6, depending on how they performed. So each round would have one of only four possible scores:

10-9: The round was very competitive, but one boxer was slightly better.

10-8: One boxer was clearly dominant over the other.

10-7: Total dominance by one boxer.

10-6: One boxer completely overmatched by the other.

At the end of 3 rounds (or however many rounds they box), each boxer’s points are added up in order to determine the winner. Rounds are no longer judged primarily by the somewhat convoluted system that includes punch counting, but rather on the following criteria:

• Number of quality blows landed on the target area
• Domination of the bout
• Competitiveness
• Technique and tactics superiority
• Non-infringement of rules

Notably, and unlike in the pros, a knockdown or 8-count in amateur boxing does *not* count against a boxer.

There are eighteen hojillion other subtleties and bits of information about the scoring, and if you want to read it all, you can download the official rulebook, although you should know (as of this posting) it has not been updated to reflect the new rules yet. Still, there’s lots in there that you may be surprised to learn. I just became a USA Boxing certified official, and even after my 7 years in the sport, there was a LOT I had to learn.

Other Rule Changes

No headgear option for Elite men: There’s also a controversial new rule allowing Elite level men (but not Elite women) to box without headgear. My guess is that this has to do with crowds wanting to see boxing without headgear at the Olympics so that it’s more like the pros. If the women were included (sigh) I would actually strongly support this rule, but (double sigh) no one asked my opinion. ‘Cause I’m just a girl, you know.

Okay, enough with the eye rolling; I still predict it will be much more work to get that addressed.

15 Professional bouts and still eligible for Olympics: Again, this makes some sense. The Olympics used to be a showcase for amateur athletes, but that’s long since crumbled before big sponsors with big money. If so many of the other sport categories allow pros, boxing should too (IMO). The sad thing, of course, is that so many amazing amateur fighters whose skills should be showcased will lose precious Olympic berths to more seasoned fighters.

Extra recovery time for low blows: I don’t know if one additional minute and a half to recover will make a significant dent in how fast a guy can recover from a blow like this, but now the ref *can* disqualify the offending fighter if the blow is considered intentional.

Referees are now unmuted: Now refs can actually speak to the boxers, whereas before a fighter had to play charades to try and understand what call the official had made. Thank you for that. Seriously.

There are some other modifications, including glove weights, ages for Masters level boxers, and so on, but the scoring system seems to have had the most profound immediate impact.

The new rules went into effect on January 1, 2014.

I think it’s definitely a move in the right direction. What’s your opinion? Leave me a comment below.

Photo Credit: Jonathan Dy via Compfight cc