What was your first gym like?

[ProEra]

My first gym was the police athletic league in 2012 shit was fun, it was my senior year in high school, I learned A lot, my biggest regret is stopping boxing in 2012 and joining the navy instead of keeping up with boxing smh

 

[DoctorTaco]

The PAL boxing was a big deal back then. They had one of the best amateur national tournaments in the US.

my first gym was jits and a little vale tudo striking. 2004 maybe? Owner was a brown belt, maybe a purple belt.

 

[Cole train]

Fucking shit

Trained for 1,5 years never was shown how to throw a punch.We only did push ups, hit the bag and sparred.

I do have to say gym was metal as fuck even if it sucked and guys always lost at competitions

Nothing but push ups and sit ups for first hour followed by 10 rounds of full force sparring with zero technique every practise, gym boxing gloves had holes where your fingers came through, coach screaming pointing at karate guys at other section of building and telling us "if you cant take it you can join pussies over there"

Was nice that i had my worst training related headaches at 15 years old lol

 

[Vil7]

It was like this. People were throwing Chinese leg punches. It was like Vietnam out there.

 

[pugilistico]

My first and only boxing gym wasn't the worst, but not the best in hindsight. I sparred with good fighters but my trainer wasn't the best teacher. He basically just taught me the punching mechanics with some head movement and steps, and had me practice them a bunch before throwing me in the ring and letting me figure things out by myself. Maybe some people are talented and athletic enough to learn how to fight that way, but I'm not. I got my ass kicked and got yelled at a lot. Like he would yell at me to feint more but he never taught me how to actually feint.

Most of the intricacies of boxing and many of the moves I know I had to learn on my own. I can't believe looking back that things like attacking the center line, how to place body shots, guard manipulation, pull counters, and different combinations were all learned on my own and watching other fighters. He also let me throw uppercuts with the wrong technique until he corrected it years later. He also pressed me to fight very front foot heavy, and I didn't learn how to shift my weight to the back foot until I much later realized it's useful. No wonder I sucked at countering got countered a lot.

 

[wolffanghameha]

Sucked balls. It was owned and "ran" by a former boxing world champion and he was watching classes, but his brother ran the sessions and there was no actual coaching and it was more "fitness and boxing" than "boxing and fitness". It was just hitting the bag with one punch as much as possible, doing body sparring and then doing a circuit at the end with pushups, planks, burpees etc, but there were so many lazy people that he'd say "last 10 seconds" and then be lying several times (so I never knew if I could actually push as hard as possible when he said "last") or would say "30 seconds plank" but add 10 if anyone put their knee down, so I'd end up doing it for minutes because of some doofus. Literally zero coaching, except when a media guy was there and then the owner explained to someone how to throw a hook. But I suppose a non-existent coach who kinda wastes your time is at least better than an angry asshole coach who kills your confidence.

I was pretty interested in taking it seriously at the time. I did 100+ of only jabs a day at home for months, would shadowbox and try things out for hours, thinking about footwork and head position and watching tape. Idk if all boxing gyms are like that for beginners, since it's the only one I went to - like you have to spend a long time there before you get any coaching. Doing boxing classes in a local bodybuilding gym was 10x better, since I got shown how to punch (my self-taught was decent, except for my elbow flaring a little on the straight and I didn't know how to throw a hook), hit mitts and got to spar in a ring and some other things. But you can't go into amateurs via a bodybuilding gym, since it's not registered with the boxing association.

Judo and MMA experience was better. If I was ever a coach or PE teacher, I'd use my old judo coach as inspiration...great guy, knew how to keep it fun but also serious and technical if you wanted and how to build people's confidence/make them welcome. My dad coached sports and as a kid I overheard his U21 team talking about him being a dick, so that's a blueprint of what not to follow!...angry, impatient and authoritarian style.

 

[Trabaho]

Local boxing school in Herzegowina. I wanted to train kickboxing we only had boxing. Bought a heavybag practiced kicks at home. Strict loud balkan trainer, he is always right. Tought us all the fundamentals and made us spar hard. And tried to make everyone go to fights.

 

[GolovKing]

First gym was a gym in san Diego near the base I was stationed at. Best gym I was apart of by far, best equipment, best coaches and they were cool too, best atmosphere. Trained at a few different gyms in Texas when I got out of the military and went back home but nothing came close to that gym in san Diego

 

[Monte Moku]

My first gym was a BJJ gym that also had a Muay Thai program. As you can imagine, their Muay Thai was not very good. One day I asked my coach if any pro fighters lived in the area since that was/is my goal, he mentioned the guy who is now my current coach, and the rest is history.

 

[zapataxiv]

old school boxing gym but the coach in his older age had gotten addicted to lifting weights so it also had a complete gym with racks and simple machines

good place to get your feet under you and put some meat on your bones or take some off if that's what you needed

 

[NoSmilez]

My first gym was actually super nice. I was a teenager then and my parents worked close by. They got me a deal to train there. It had models, celebrities, pro fighters and working shower along with towel service. It still smelled really bad but they tried to hide it with flowers and incense. It kind of spoiled me to other gyms. I didn't know no showers was the norm for gyms.

When I turned 20 then I started to travel to train at different places. First it was around the area then nationally and eventually I travelled overseas. I trained at a lot of different places. Everyone teaches slightly different. I just picked up what I found useful or applicable for me. There are some coaches that can only teach a certain type of athlete vs guys who can produce a fighter regardless of their physical attributes. Even stadium champion coaches aren't necessarily the best coaches.

 

[KBE6EKCTAH_CCP]

First kickboxing gym at 16. Trainer was sort of shady and was a kyokushin+boxer combo. Very good. I sparred with him on my first class and he uppercuted me in the nose so i pissed blood.

 

[Boomb]

Spartan. In the summer it was hotter than outside in the winter it was colder than outside. But we survived and had a lot of fun regardless. Kinda miss it in a way...

Also, no hot water in the showers. I never showered there, I once had a date after the training session (it was in the middle of winter and it was cold AF), so I had to shower and one of the guys said:"If you don't come back from the shower in 10 minutes, I'm going to call an ambulance".

 

[toasty]

first gym was a mcdojo when I was a teenager and the guy that taught TKD had a huge ego and was a douche,,,,Judo guy seemed really cool but I had chosen TKD and felt like I couldn't swtich. Ended up quitting and not training again for decades,,,,wish I had chosen judo.

as an adult went to a boxing gym at lunch time, had an old jamaican trainer who would fall asleep, but I kinda liked him when he was awake,,,,other trainers would try to steal you for the money they'd get for your sessions..place was full of young professionals who thought they might become bad asses, and trainers would laugh at them behind their backs. I was older dude and had no pretensions so they didn't mind talking that kind of shit in front of me,

switched to a more ghetto but harder core muay thai place that was fun because I trained with an older retired pro boxer and some decent muay thai fighters but things were pretty lax when it came to cleanliness.

Remember realizing my trainer had stolen one of my shirts that I must have left in a locker overnight when he was wearing it a few days latter.

Remember bringing a younger fit co-worker to train for a trial class after I'd been going and he ended up puking which made me feel pretty good about my level at that time

Remember them pointing out the local drug dealers and watching transaction from the ring while we paused sparring and they explained the way the whole operation worked,

I once got put in to spar with a kid that was younger by two decades, bigger, more experienced, wildly aggressive and I later found out was using 10 ounce gloves to my 16 ouncers.....asked coach wth? he replied "well at least now you know you can take a punch.

Actually kind of strange that was my best gym and I look back on it fondly.

 

[DoctorTaco]

first gym was a mcdojo when I was a teenager and the guy that taught TKD had a huge ego and was a douche,,,,Judo guy seemed really cool but I had chosen TKD and felt like I couldn't swtich. Ended up quitting and not training again for decades,,,,wish I had chosen judo.

as an adult went to a boxing gym at lunch time, had an old jamaican trainer who would fall asleep, but I kinda liked him when he was awake,,,,other trainers would try to steal you for the money they'd get for your sessions..place was full of young professionals who thought they might become bad asses, and trainers would laugh at them behind their backs. I was older dude and had no pretensions so they didn't mind talking that kind of shit in front of me,

switched to a more ghetto but harder core muay thai place that was fun because I trained with an older retired pro boxer and some decent muay thai fighters but things were pretty lax when it came to cleanliness.

Remember realizing my trainer had stolen one of my shirts that I must have left in a locker overnight when he was wearing it a few days latter.

Remember bringing a younger fit co-worker to train for a trial class after I'd been going and he ended up puking which made me feel pretty good about my level at that time

Remember them pointing out the local drug dealers and watching transaction from the ring while we paused sparring and they explained the way the whole operation worked,

I once got put in to spar with a kid that was younger by two decades, bigger, more experienced, wildly aggressive and I later found out was using 10 ounce gloves to my 16 ouncers.....asked coach wth? he replied "well at least now you know you can take a punch.

Actually kind of strange that was my best gym and I look back on it fondly.

Boston or Philly?