"Boxing Gym" Moive and TKD

[Gwai Lo Dan]

I watched the documentary movie the boxing gym and there were 2 things that struck me about boxing vs tkd.

1) The club's membership is $50/month, no contracts or initiation fees and you come whenever you want in the day/evening (as mentioned from about 0:55 seconds to 1:20 in the attached trailer). I'd love a TKD club like that but I have never seen one. All the ones I have seen are geared towards classes, with no real option of working out on your own. Has anyone seen a club like that?

2) In part of the movie, a person joins the boxing gym, starts training, and the trainer asks, "Have you studied karate before"? The new person answers "yes, how did you know?". The trainer responds "you have happy feet". I am guessing "happy feet" are feet that move too much for boxing. Has anyone heard that term before or know what the trainer means?

 

[IcemanSK]

Having trained in boxing for some years, that would be my guess as to what he meant by "happy feet." It took me awhile to get used the difference in footwork. Because most boxing gyms have low overhead, they can charge less. Most boxing trainers are volunteers & don't get paid at all. The one's that do are rare....much like pro boxers that make a lot of money are rare.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Went to a seminar with Duke Rufus a while back. He spoke a little about different footwork for Boxing vs kickboxing. The reason for the differencehas to do with kicking and being kicked. Similarly, if there is an opportunity for takedown offense and defense and leg kicks the footwork may change as well.

 

[Thousand Kicks]

I currently study both boxing and TKD. The boxing gym I train at is a more than 50 bucks a month (about $70) and there wasn't a contract necessarily. The owner of the gym had me sign a document stating I would train for at least 3 months. After that I am free to go. The main difference between the two arts is that boxing gyms expect you to take the initiative in you training. When you show up, you warm up, nobody will tell you to warm up. If guys are working drills and want want to join them, go and ask (90% of the time they will let you in). When the trainer is not working with you specifically, go hit the heavy bag, work on footwork, etc.

I wish TKD dojangs were similar. Nothing iritated me more than seeing students standing around waiting on somebody to tell them what to do. I've said it before; if you can't think of anything to work on, you're not being honest with yourself.


As far as the happy feet comment. They are usually refering to the bouncing we sometimes do. Pro-style boxers are taught to be grounded and stable when delivering punches. Bouncing is seen as a waste of energy and being to high up to deliver powerful punches. In TKD and Karate tournaments are scored with points i.e. individual techniques are analyzed. In pro boxing judges look at the round as a whole and preference is given to the fighter doing more damage. Amatuer boxers tend to fight using the high up, bouncy, fast flurry style as they also score points. Once they transition to pro style they have to change to adapt to the new rules.