Anyone here who trains boxing or MT while working a regular job ?

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emax

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This is a rather unusual question here, but I could not help but wonder who around here works at any sort of standard job, i.e. manager, construction worker, teacher, doctor, lawyer, office worker, engineer, accountant, tech worker, dock worker, factory worker or welder, plumber or any sort of standard 9 to 5 job and also trains in boxing and/or Muay Thai and/or any sort of striking art that is near the top when it comes to sheer physicality.

I ask because I have read that when you train these types of striking arts, it is often very challenging to balance them with a standard work life when you are not planning to make a truly good living doing this - which is the case even for the vast majority who become masters of this striking art. So I was wondering who among here trains in striking arts known for having above average physicality and for those who do, how do you deal with balancing your work life and doing something that you love which is also unusually taxing physically?
 
I am a teacher as my main job and fight in muay thai. To balance it i let my co workers know what I do, and explained that I may come in now and then with the odd bump bruise or cut and they were pretty understanding. As its a professional environment though I do try to take my fights when possible at times where we are on breaks.
 
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<- lawyer.

get good wife that makes good food
 
Its just a matter of finding a gym that has a schedule that works for you. The one I go to offers BJJ, MT, and MMA classes all after 5:00pm. I'm able to get down there and put a good 2 hours of training in after my job ends at 5:00pm. There was another gym that I really wanted to join, but a lot of their classes were either in the morning or mid day which wouldn't have worked for me.
 
I'd never say I have it nearly as hard as someone with a 9-5 job, but as a year 12 student finishing their HSC, it does become difficult to balance training and schoolwork. To me, it's all about how much you want it, how far you want to take it and like Slapbox said, finding somewhere that fits your timetable. For me, I have to miss classes here and there to do assignments and study before tests etc. Missing classes here and there shouldn't matter too much.
 
I don't have a 9-5, it's more like a 4am-12am. I'm kept in the back, so black eyes and abrasions aren't an issue. I start getting ready for bed around 7pm though, so that can affect trying to train.

After all these years and gyms, 90% of the guys I train with are blue collar hobbyists.

Training with a job isn't too tough. Trying to train with a full time job, wife and kid? That's tough.
 
I think that almost every single person on sherdog who actually trains probably has a "real" job. With exception to a few.

I'm a university professor and I train/fight Muay Thai and bjj. I also like ultra running.
 
ironwolf said:
I think that almost every single person on sherdog who actually trains probably has a "real" job. With exception to a few.

I'm a university professor and I train/fight Muay Thai and bjj. I also like ultra running.
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I was wondering how many were holding out for a lucrative job a s pro fighter and so were neglecting the whole idea of having regular jobs as other citizens of this or other nations. As you have probably figured out, on Sherdog you can never be totally sure about things like this.
 
There are always challenges to training. I am a research psychologist. I find it easier to train now that I am in a 'normal' job than when i was doing my PhD and had the versatility of time. I ended up focusing my obsessional nature into my research and left my training for about 3 years. Now I can train easier because of a stronger routine but then kids came along. I no longer want to train 3-4 hours a night because then I wont get to see my little kids. So now I have to be a bit more creative in balancing my training at a gym with my training at home. I'm sure once the kids get older and don't want to spend as much time with me that something else (probably aging health) will block my attempts to train like I did when I was 21.
 
emax said:
I was wondering how many were holding out for a lucrative job a s pro fighter and so were neglecting the whole idea of having regular jobs as other citizens of this or other nations. As you have probably figured out, on Sherdog you can never be totally sure about things like this.
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Almost nobody will go without a regular job while aiming to be a pro fighter. Even paid fighters need real jobs. Sone Vannathy is a WKBF world champion, and he has a fulltime job as a plasterer. Unless you make it big- and I mean really, really fucking big- you're always going to need other income.
 
In my opinion this is the hardest and least glorified issue with serious training. I often train twice a day and work nights on my feet doing labor intensive work. And as hard as all the training is, getting enough hours at work to get by without completely destroying my body is the biggest challenge.

Many other people I have trained with who are committed to fighting for a living have similar issues. The bigger issue is the type of work they do. There are definitely some guys with decent 9-5 jobs who just have to find a way to make time to train which can absolutely be challenging when your fighting professionally. However a large majority often work bullshit labor intensive jobs so they can ensure they have the time to train or because they simply have no other option.

Doing manual labor for 40 hrs a week and training like a pro-fighter is not an easy task yet many make it work. Thats why when it seems like anybody could be an awesome athlete when you have as many resources and as much time as the pros, you have to understand most of them had to work & train for long periods of their career before they got there. Their will always be the Rich Franklins who quit a good teaching job to go pro as a fighter but unfortunately most of the pros I know are stuck working as bartenders, bouncers, kitchen employees etc.
 
In my twenties I trained boxing/MT and worked as a teacher in NYC. Never had any real fights, but sparred with some of the pros in the gym when they were getting ready for fights.
 
emax said:
I was wondering how many were holding out for a lucrative job a s pro fighter and so were neglecting the whole idea of having regular jobs as other citizens of this or other nations. As you have probably figured out, on Sherdog you can never be totally sure about things like this.
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You can have a job and train as a pro, but a career is a little tougher . In mma, your purse for your first handful of fights can be between 3-800 dollars. You can sell sponsorships, but pounding the pavement, putting together packets, emailing, meeting with the screen printers, etc. takes a lot of time.
 
DoctorTaco said:
You can have a job and train as a pro, but a career is a little tougher . In mma, your purse for your first handful of fights can be between 3-800 dollars. You can sell sponsorships, but pounding the pavement, putting together packets, emailing, meeting with the screen printers, etc. takes a lot of time.
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You'd think a boxer would have the advantage when comparing the hassles of work/training balance with an MMA fighter...so much shit to train!
 
TheFinerDetails said:
I'd never say I have it nearly as hard as someone with a 9-5 job, but as a year 12 student finishing their HSC, it does become difficult to balance training and schoolwork. To me, it's all about how much you want it, how far you want to take it and like Slapbox said, finding somewhere that fits your timetable. For me, I have to miss classes here and there to do assignments and study before tests etc. Missing classes here and there shouldn't matter too much.
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Don't skip classes and finish your HSC. Believe me, its much more important than fighting.

Also, if you find it difficult now, just wait till you get to uni. Part-time job, extra curricular and then having to go through 4 mini HSC-like exams each year.

emax said:
I was wondering how many were holding out for a lucrative job a s pro fighter and so were neglecting the whole idea of having regular jobs as other citizens of this or other nations. As you have probably figured out, on Sherdog you can never be totally sure about things like this.
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In my experience, only those in like major orgs (e.g. UFC) can afford such luxuries. The pro fighters I know of who don't have a "normal" job still teach classes/private lessons, work at the front desk or help the owner out in some way in order to make ends meet.

emax said:
This is a rather unusual question here, but I could not help but wonder who around here works at any sort of standard job, i.e. manager, construction worker, teacher, doctor, lawyer, office worker, engineer, accountant, tech worker, dock worker, factory worker or welder, plumber or any sort of standard 9 to 5 job and also trains in boxing and/or Muay Thai and/or any sort of striking art that is near the top when it comes to sheer physicality.

I ask because I have read that when you train these types of striking arts, it is often very challenging to balance them with a standard work life when you are not planning to make a truly good living doing this - which is the case even for the vast majority who become masters of this striking art. So I was wondering who among here trains in striking arts known for having above average physicality and for those who do, how do you deal with balancing your work life and doing something that you love which is also unusually taxing physically?
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Really, "above average physicality" means nothing when you look at the average man. Also, you balance classes out like you would any other hobby - you commit yourself fully to it a few evenings a week then you spend time doing other things so you don't burn out or neglect your friends/family.

I used to box as an amateur but not anymore. I used to train a lot more but now its only 2-3 days a week. Still works out and I'm still way above average...
 
wait what exactly are we talking about here?

someone with a job who trains/practices/spars at a gym or someone with a job who's also an amateur/pro with real fight experience and trains for it while holding that 9-5 job?

those are two totally different things.
 
SaiWa said:
wait what exactly are we talking about here?

someone with a job who trains/practices/spars at a gym or someone with a job who's also an amateur/pro with real fight experience and trains for it while holding that 9-5 job?

those are two totally different things.
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I am talking about examples of either the former OR the latter, which I realized are tow different things and therefore was expecting two different kinds of responses.
 
it's not too hard to be the former IMO. i am one.

hold a 9-5 job and train at a local gym. 3-5 times a week depending on my mood. spar when i can and if there are opponents available (although i havent in a long while). i used to be a lifting weight gym rat but now i am boxing gym rat. the drive comes and goes. once your body gets used to the pounding and soreness from training it it's not so bad. you can get a high off the progress you make which will lead you to put more effort into it.

it's basically no different from you going to the gym and working out or playing pick up b-ball but you'll be around people who are driven to train hard and it'll push you to train hard. you get motivated from being around people that are driven to push themselves. it'll make you realize the avg person doesn't try hard at all when it comes to working out. but again, the pace is really up to you. it will depend on your goal(s). i had dreams of fighting a few amateur fights (still dream of it) but i am settling for getting myself fit enough to spar for four hard rounds (current goal). basically i am currently one of the former trying to be one of the latter but it's damn hard. well it's hard to do it right and correctly.

so ask yourself what is your dream and go for it...
 
It's very difficult to balance a white collar career with a professional boxing career.

Competing as an amateur is doable , although it requires a lot of focus and your fight activity will usually suffer.

A person that tries to have a "mainstream" career and a career as a fighter will eventually have to make a choice at some point. That doesn't mean it's not possible, but extremely difficult in my opinion.
 
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