boxingstyles

[boxingstyles]

Book Review

Have you ever wanted to learn more about the fighters that made boxing such a great sport? Most of these fighters made up the golden age of boxing, and some of these fighters were Muhammad Ali, Jack Dempsey, or Rocky Marciano. I wanted to learn more about these fighters and how they got so great, so I found the book "The Boxing Kings" by Paul Beston. The book covers a lot of famous fighters during this golden age and what makes them different from any other fighter. I would definitely recommend reading the book because the more that you know the history behind something, the more you appreciate it.

In the book, there is a whole chapter about Kid Dynamite and how he became so famous through boxing. At just thirteen years old, Cus D'Amato already saw a lot in his future. Why is that? Even at a young age, Mike Tyson had incredibly powerful punches. Being coached by D'Amato, Tyson developed a very brutal style of boxing. His goal was to hit and hit hard without toying with any of his punches, primarily using his knockout punches consisting of his heavy left hook, uppercuts, or his right cross. Combining his great power with great speed and defense is what made his style one of the toughest in the sport. In the book, it says that "He was a knockout artist with defense, a puncher who didn't get punched much himself."

There are 11 more chapters just like this one that give a ton of information on exactly what I'm looking for. While it does give more information about the history and biography of these individual boxers, it also gives some insight into what makes the boxers unique and what style of fighting they use to be successful. The book mentions a lot about Muhammad Ali. In one of my previous posts, I used one of these chapters as a source to back up some of my research on my topic. The book talks a lot about how Muhammad Ali got into boxing, and I think it is interesting to see how such a famous boxer started small, just like anyone else.

My favorite chapter in the book is the one about Rocky Marciano. Starting off as a very uncoordinated fighter with terrible form, Rocky proved himself in a sparring match with Wade Chancey; using his devastating punch, he was able to knock Wade out instantly. In my opinion, I think that it is interesting how Rocky had such terrible boxing skills when he first started, and yet he was destined to be a great boxer sheerly from his solid punches and his iron determination. Looking at his background in other sports, Rocky also played baseball and football in the past. This is definitely a big contributing factor to Rocky's beginning in boxing, and this is because a lot of sports can help people be better boxers. For example, uppercuts use a lot of leg strength and explosiveness. A physical trait like this could be achieved through a sport like track or football, and Rocky used to play football in his youth.

The book does a good job of telling the story of Rocky Marciano's rise to fame, and it also does a good job of teaching readers about the history of boxing. Reading the book has opened my eyes to the vast difference in fighters, and the similarities shared between them as well. I think that new boxers or people wanting to learn more about the sport should read this book because it mentions a lot of key points in boxing.

[boxingstyles]

First-Hand Experience

To continue my research, I wanted to get as close as possible to the actuality of my topic and reflect on personal experiences during my boxing practices. In our practices, we often spar and do a lot of pad work, which is perfect for discovering more about my topic. The first area that I wanted to focus on was jabbing.

As a tall boxer, most people could probably agree that jabs are the key to winning a fight. Whenever I was sparring, I stayed back as often as possible and stayed out of the other fighter's reach. I noticed that when the other fighter got too close, and they could land blows on me, I had a hard time hitting back and getting out of that zone. My conclusion is that I need to maintain that distance better and that it truly does make a difference for taller people. Something else that could have helped me in that situation was utilizing my rear-hand punch. If someone gets too close to me or breaks past that jab, it is effective to throw a straight. A straight is when you punch with your dominant hand.

I have also been taught that you have to have a good rhythm in your footwork and punches. If you are fighting someone skilled enough, they can predict when you will punch based on your footwork. However, you don't want to have a rhythm that is too spontaneous. Personally, I have found that I used to have a very sporadic rhythm. Constantly, my punches would be blocked simply because they were so predictable. To add to that, I would always lose my balance because my punches would throw me off. Once you take a deep breath and loosen up, you'll have a much better rhythm and less predictable punches.

[boxingstyles]

Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali. Almost every single person who knows what boxing is has heard this name before. Well known for his incredible footwork and his famous Ali Shuffle, Muhammad Ali was a master at taking down his opponents using great speed and agility. What led to the making of the greatest boxer ever?

According to "The Boxing Kings", Muhammad Ali first started his boxing career all because of a stolen bike. He then signed up for boxing so he could learn to fight the kids that stole his bike. Muhammad soon learned that he was a very skilled and fast fighter, and this translated later into his career. Being a swift fighter, Muhammad Ali was able to do moves like the Ali Shuffle and throw his opponent off guard.

In an interview between Cus D'Amato and Muhammad Ali (video), they discussed the effectiveness of the Ali Shuffle. The reason that Muhammad Ali uses this famous move is that he tries to confuse his opponent with his footwork right before he strikes them. In the interview, Cus D'Amato discusses ways to get around this move, and it is truly interesting to see the two highly experienced boxers debate a topic like this.

[boxingstyles]

After looking more into boxing, I found it reasonably easy to find different books about different boxing styles. The most useful source that I have stumbled upon is a book called "The Complete Guide To Boxing Fitness." Though the book is primarily about non-contact boxing, there are a few beneficial chapters, such as the chapters on technique or shadowboxing, as it tells you all about how to train properly.

Continuing to learn more about this topic, I went to the library here at Kutztown, and it was easy to find what I was looking for. Right away, I found a book close to what I was looking for, but it turned out that it was not quite something that I could use. I ended up looking for a different book and after spending a few minutes looking at surrounding books, I found the book "The Boxing Kings," which is all about the heavyweight boxers of the twentieth century. The book mentions a ton of famous people, such as Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson. The book was more geared towards learning about the boxers themselves instead of how they fought, but I still found it as a very interesting read to add to my research.

[boxingstyles]

Movie Analysis

Bam! Crack! Pow! These are some of the sounds that Rocky Balboa's opponents heard in the 1976 movie 'Rocky.' However, many of his opponents have failed to hear that final bell. Yes, most movies are over-dramatized and sometimes incorrect; however, the movie 'Rocky' is a perfect example of how boxing techniques vary drastically from person to person. I have researched the two fictional fighters that starred in the movie, and in this post, I am only looking at the first movie in the franchise to keep it simple.

What made Rocky such an effective fighter in the movie? As many of us have seen in the film, Rocky has a very intense cardio routine that builds up a ton of the endurance needed to be successful in the ring. A huge part of why he is such a good fighter is because he can use this endurance to keep constant pressure, slowly chipping away at his opponents. Endurance is one thing, but what about his technique?

The most crucial factor regarding his technique is that he is a southpaw. Southpaw means that he jabs with his right hand, and his stance is the opposite of orthodox fighters, making his power hand his left hand. Many orthodox fighters can agree that fighting southpaw fighters is uncomfortable because it is so unfamiliar to fight someone in an entirely different stance.

Rocky has a straightforward but effective style inside the ring. According to MyBoxingCoach.com, Rocky doesn't jump around too much in the ring, and most of the time, he is inching forward toward his opponent instead of being lighter on his feet like most other fighters. Keeping his movements simple could be helpful to Rocky by saving his stamina and allowing him to stay in the fight for longer.

Looking at Rocky's fight against Creed in the movie, Rocky tries to get close to Creed to get more hits on him. Rocky wants to get close to Creed in the fight because Creed has a slightly longer reach than Rocky, meaning that he can hit Rocky from a farther distance. You can see in the movie that as soon as Rocky gets under Creed's guard, he can let out a barrage of heavy body shots to his ribs, knocking Creed into a corner.

Body shots are essential to Rocky's victory. In the movie, you can see Rocky slugging a lot of uppercuts, and I think this is a crucial move that rocky can utilize because he has a lot of leg strength. You must have a strong base and legs like Rocky to have a solid and effective uppercut. He has a powerful fighting style, but now let's look at Creed's fighting in the movie and compare him to Rocky.

As mentioned before, Creed has a farther reach than Rocky. His farther reach is a massive advantage in the ring, which you can see even from the start of the fight. In the beginning, you can see Creed peppering Rocky with many jabs. Creed does this because he is trying to keep Rocky at bay so that he can't hit him. If Creed knows that Rocky is at least a jab away, then Rocky can't lay a glove on him until he gets closer. At the same time, he also wears him down by doing this because it keeps his opponents on their feet as they are constantly looking for his next jab.

Looking at Creed's footwork, he has much more agile and light movements than Rocky. His quick feet and good coordination are essential to staying out of Rocky's range, as he can jump back and avoid his heavy hits. You can see that Creed does this at the beginning of the fight, dodging Rocky's punches attempting to counter his jabs.

In the movie, Rocky ended up beating Creed in the last round because Rocky broke Creed's ribs near the end, removing his ability to move around and stay on his feet while hurting his stamina. Hunched over for the remainder of the fight, Creed's form was outside of the usual compared to how he started as a tall and square stance. Trying to protect his right side severely handicapped his right hand to only defense, he could only throw punches with his left hand to continue throwing jabs at Rocky.

Comparing these two fighters is an excellent example of the exact kind of research that I will be conducting in the future. As shown, both boxers have entirely different ways of fighting, but it is effective for both parties. While doing this research, this post has helped me to understand that boxing technique is almost an art because it is tailored to individual fighters. Thank you for reading!

[boxingstyles]

NASCAR is definitly an interesting sport. I liked reading this post because this is definitly a topic that I really haven't looked much into, but I can't wait to hear more about! I agree that there is more to NASCAR than just the south and rednecks, similar to how there is more to boxing than just muscle and heavy punches. It's interesting how even though we are posting about different things, we both include the history of our topics. The Model T was definitely a big mark in history!

Introduction

NASCAR is a fast-paced racing series that travels all throughout the United States and parts of Canada. When people think about NASCAR they think of rednecks, the south, and making left turns. Although NASCAR may have all those ideologies there is much more to it than just a "redneck sport." Nascar all started with Henry Ford in 1901 with his creation of his very car, the 1901 Ford Model T. NASCAR is for anyone that likes strategy mixed with chaos. I am mainly going to be talking about what is going on in NASCAR and all the little stories that are circulating around the garage.

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Other situations I will cover is what the drivers must be thinking about heading into the qualifying sessions coming up on February 16th. There is a lot of media attention between Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain, especially after last season when they got into each other countless times usually resulting in one of them wrecking or spinning out. There is also a lot of buzz going on when talking about Darrell “Bubba” Wallace and Austin Dillion after Dillion spun Wallace out during the Clash at the Coliseum on February 5th.

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In Ken Willis’ article (article) he says “They have done the sensible and safe thing and outlawed Ross Chastain's go-for-broke, desperation, 'Hail Melon,' last-lap maneuver he used at Martinsville on Oct. 30 to blast his way into the Cup Series playoff finale.” This seems like the right move for NASCAR to outlaw this action, because although it did get a lot of people talking about NASCAR, everyone that is involved with NASCAR saw that the move would probably hurt the sport.

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Personally I believe it was a great move and he did what he had to do to make it to the final race of the year to have a chance at the championship, but he also made NASCAR look not as serious as it would like to towards other individuals that do not watch NASCAR every week.

[boxingstyles]

Welcome To The Ring!

Who doesn't love boxing or some kind of combat sport? According to the book World of Sports Science, "Boxing is a physical contest between two combatants who use their fists to achieve supremacy over their opponent." While on paper, this sport sounds quite simple, right? As we look more and more into the science behind different body types and experience levels, we realize that there is so much more to this sport than we think. 

Similar to how a javelin thrower has a unique style to his throw to be effective, a boxer has to use a specific style in their fighting. Some people think all you have to do is slug some punches and you'll knock the other guy out, but that isn't always the most effective way to win. Think of it like this, if you are taller than your opponent, then why would you not use your long reach to your advantage and try to stay out of their reach? This is only one of many examples of how to be smart about boxing, and this is what I will research. This topic must be researched for boxers to have safe and fun fights, and it is also important to inform people new to the sport.

Boxing takes up a big part of history when you look at the impact that famous boxers have had in the past. In my research, I will be looking at past major figures in the boxing world such as Muhammad Ali or Rocky Marciano, and recent boxing champions like Mike Tyson using primary and secondary sources to back up my information.

I hope that you find my research helpful, and I hope that people see this post as an opportunity to learn something new!