I am not a coach that believes in holding on to to people forever. When I studied karate the emphasis was on lifelong practise and the pursuit of the next belt. While there is never a point you know it all in boxing, there is a point where your fast switch muscles start to fade and the hits hurt more than they used to. While coaching, keeping fit or even competing at Masters are all possibilities, there are lot of experiences in this world so i am ok with ‘bucket-list’ boxing. My Black Shirt program will not only satisfy the bucket list for most people it will also give skills that should last a lifetime, giving the student a ‘punchers chance’ in any self defence situation.
The long term students are of course the backbone of the club and instructor base but life takes over for most people so the Black Shirt is a perfect place to stop if a marathon, armed forces or some other goal takes over. However I would say this don’t think that you can just take a break from boxing and return ‘when you have more time’. Although returning students do make up some of our student base it would probably be 10% at most. Most people that stop find that 20 year passes and they are then saying to me I wish i had kept going when i started the first time.
Boxing skills are not just developed in class, Much is developed away from class time. So instead of start stop, ride out the peaks and troughs of training because that’s how you would fight competitively, intense periods of training followed by some rest and recovery. When you can’t get to class as much as you want skip, shadow spar and exercise by yourself and then the classes you do get to will be your inspiration.
Finally like having a netflix subscription you don’t use, it’s easy to think oh i am not using my boxing as much as i would like so i’ll cancel or ask if i can go on membership hold. Know this i hate membership holds from an administraive point of view but I am also morally opposed because the $50 (or less atm) per week shows your support for the club and you are trying to say to me. “i want to say i’m doing boxing and be part of the club but i don’t want to support it” . The other part is I grandfather fees so you stay on the fee you started on. Two people who have been here for some 15 years or longer pay just $20 per week and some others $30 per week. Once you quit or go on membership hold even for holidays when you return you go to the latest list fee which from October 2025 will be $55 per week for all ages. The exception is injury sustained here but more often than not I am kind about injuries or illness sustained elsewhere.
In summary once you have started especially once you have gone on to the black shirt program membership, do boxing continuously at least until you get your black shirt. By all means have competitive fights as well and stay forever if this is your tribe. I have been involved in martial arts and boxing for over 50 years now and I promise that continuity of training by riding out peaks and troughs beats stop-start every time.
ps – A huge development has started across the road and although I’m hoping for a few more years, sooner or later we will be gone from here and only the names on the honour board and more than 30 years of memories will exist so we may not even be here when you finally get that time!