The Box Gathering Podcast

What can I say about this episode!?! Here goes...Adam Singer is an MMA coach for SBG Athens in Georgia, USA. A man who has coached world champion MMA athletes as well as help pioneer SBG (Straight Blast Gyms) all over the world.Adam has a wonderful mind which contemplates the aged old question, 'can we coach better?' We speak about the constraints based approach, traditional styles of coaching versus an ecological approach and then go on to tackle why MMA striking is different to boxing punching.A man who is passionate about learning who has not only considered what he does through a critical lens, but is implementing it to great effect, day in, day out.I hope you all enjoy this important conversation and take as much as I did away from it.This is great.

This is part 1 of a series where we want to celebrate amazing people who have inspired coaches across the globe. We have asked coaches to send in short testimonials identifying why coaches they have been coached by or have worked with are so special. From their knowledge to their integrity and selflessness, we seek to celebrate these amzing people through a series of podcast episodes. We hope you enjoy them and find them useful, with perhaps a reminder of the impact that good coaches can really have, not just on performance but on peoples' lives. If you would like to celebrate a coach who had a profound impact on you, please get in contact, as we'd love to add your testimony to a future episode. Meanwhile, we are offering 20% off membership before Christmas Eve 2024. Click here to join or to get a gift voucher to present to someone to surprise them this Chrsitmas.

Technical Sparring - what are the merits and what are the pitfalls if not applied effectively? Another mind dump on the things to consider to achieve optimal skill transfer for the boxer(s) infront of us when designing technical spars. Join us at www.theboxgathering.com to delve deeper in to the science of effective practice design.

Liam Forrest is an ubeaten middleweight pro based in Brighton. Liam comes on and talks about his journey through the amateurs through to the pros. He also tells us about the day in a life of a novice pro and the challenges which go with it. If you would like to support Liam in his pro journey, please get in contact below. You can follow Liam on instagram on https://www.instagram.com/forrestboxing

Thomas La Cour is a multi talented coach and ex MMA pro athlete from Copenhagan. Not only does he have a wealth of experience in competing in multiple combat sports but he is vastly qualified and knowledgeable in the field of concussions. Today, I invited Thomas on talk about his new approach to coaching striking and how he uses ecological dynamics to get great results with his fighters. A really interesting guy who is forward thinking and willing to learn to support his fighters to the next level. I loved our conversation, so much so that I'll have to invite Thomas pack for several instalments as we barely scratched the surface today. You can get in contact with Thomas via his new Instgram page here.

There are lots of dual roles in boxing. Coach and Parent. Coach and Official. Parent and Official. How about pro boxer, official and amateur coach?Today we talk to Sher Khan of Hillcrest ABC in Sussex, England about how he does all 3 whilst raising a family.Sher shares his journey from the amateurs to the pros (currently 7 and 0) as well as his training regimen, balancing family life, officiating, working with parents, training junior boxers and his aspirations for the future.We'd love to hear your thoughts from anyone in boxing who has a dual role or more! How do you do it!?!Remember, you can join The Box Gathering at www.theboxgathering.com and accelerate your journey as either a boxer, a coach or a parent.You can contact Sher Khan on Instagram: @sher_khan20

Sam Kotadia is a sport psych with an unconventional approach. Essentially, less is more. Sam works within the team at Empire Fighting Chance as well as with the sensation which is Wrexham AFC. Sam talks about his approch to psychology, how he helps young people with their mental health as well as working in the high performance realm. Sam offers some tips around how to help your boxers in several scenarios using an approach which isn't complicated which we all can apply. Feel free to reach out to Sam at Sam@empirefightingchance.org Not a member of The Box Gathering yet? Join our thriving membership today at www.theboxgathering.com  

Kate Clifford is an England Boxing qualified coach and official. She had moved through her qualifications and is now a Supervisor.I really enjoyed this chat with Kate who talks about her openness to help cross the divide between (some) coaches and officials.Kate explains more about scoring bouts, where people may go wrong in formulating their decisions and also how she as a Supervisor helps people to understand what can be sometimes misunderstood. I found Kate to be extremely approachable, warm and sincere and I know this shines through in this episode.If you want to contact Kate about boxing, please contact her here at;https://www.facebook.com/CoachK8Members, access our brand new boxing show posters pack so you can help your next show run smoothly. Not yet a member? Join The Box Gathering and enjoy our courses, videos, instructionals, downloads, quizzes and countless more resources to help accelerate yours and your club's development. Join at www.theboxgathering.com

What actually is it? Today I try to make sense of it as a non official. Here are the sub categories... Competitiveness •A boxer who doesn’t give up •A boxer who loses the first round and comes back stronger •A boxer who gets knocked down and comes back stronger •A boxer who realises their strategy didn’t work in the first round and changes it in subsequent rounds What are your thoughts around how you interpret this and how it impacts your coaching? www.theboxgathering.com

Here is the second scoring criteria that I’ll be discussing today in this episode…. Domination of the Bout by technical and tactical superiority A boxer who causes their opponent to miss andmakes them vulnerable to their punches. A boxer throwing effective counter jabs and stands their opponent off. A boxer who sets the positions in the ring and the pace of the action (for example - lateral movement). Neutralises style or type of boxer: slugger vs boxer, southpaw vs orthodox, cuts off the ring, works opponent into a corner, etc. Successfully avoids the clean hit of an opponent by blocking, slipping, weaving, parrying, and good footwork. A Body blow that meets the Quality Blow &Technique/Tactic criteria should count more than a simple jab. ————————- We would love to hear back from anyone around their understandings and how they implement this into their training, and we would really like to hear back from officials around their understanding of what they’re looking for. Let’s have some great conversations so we can get more clarity to help serve our boxers. Remember, you can join The Box Gathering, engage in our online courses, download our resources and watch as many boxing educational videos until your heart is content! Join our community today at www.theboxgathering.com

Harry Otty is the National Performance Director at The Billy Graham Youth Foundation in New Zealand and is a proper interesting guy! A boxing man through and through with an education in Sport Science and Community Justice. Harry comes on the podcast to talk about how the wonderful and charismatic Billy Graham set up one of the most influential community enhancing programmes in New Zealand through the sport of boxing. From their work in schools and collaborations with the police, Harry, originally from Merseyside, talks about how they instill values to form better communites. He also goes on to talk about particpation and performance in New Zealand as well as the formal coaching structure. Personally, I loved how the many Billy Graham Youth Foundation gyms in both the north and south islands demonstrate their values to help shape the diverse young people of New Zealand. If you would like to learn more about BGYF, then please contact Harry through their website https://www.bgyf.org.nz/ And definitely take a look at their promo video on the site. It's tremendous! You can join The Box Gathering today at www.theboxgathering.com

The 2022 Senior National Super-heavyweight champion and unbeaten pro, Harvey Dykes joins us. The ‘Dykes Machine’ talks about his rise through the amateur ranks to his current career in the paid ranks. Harvey discusses the challenges faced to up and coming pros and what’s to come in the future. One of Britain’s true rising stars with a huge fan base and real character to boot! If you would like to support Harvey in his journey, please get in contact with Harvey via his instagram account here

We have seen a million break downs for this fight. So aplogies for addin mine. BUT! I wanted to compare the reason for Usyk's success against Fury when comparing it to the dynamics of the Boxing Model we are releasing in our Courses page. From shape and balance to positining and deception through to dominance. Join us today at www.theboxgathering.com (not .co.uk!)

Ben Harmsworth is Guildford ABC's Chairman, coach and treasurer. He is also member of the Southern Area Council for the British Boxing Board of Control. Just incase that wasn't enough responsibility, Ben is also the Matchmaker for the Southern Counties Amateur Boxing Association. Here's where we aim our chat. In today's episode, we talk about how the opportunity to box for your region is making a come back in the Southern Counties and how both boxers and coaches alike are finding it invaluable. Ben is our first return guest on The Box Gathering Podcast and it's always great to chat to him about all things boxing with some British Office references thrown in for good measure, if ya countin'..... Ben can be contacted on social media or at ben@hacroofing.co.uk Enjoy.

I've been playing with ideas around how can we make shoulder tags more valuable. There are some good reads, range and tempo malipulation benefits to be had from shoulder spars but i've always found that the boxers dont mind getting hit! Not a good thing! So today I talk briefly around adding consequences to ramp up the potential level of skill transfer to these games whilst mitigating trauma instead of head contact. Check out the Heaven and Hell hill and steps i'm talking about here at www.instagram.com/dise_boxing_brighton Remember, big things coming in April from The Box Gathering!

Fancy phrase, but Representative Learning Design (RLD) is so, so vital to creating an even better learning environment for your boxers. Today I rant about what RLD is, a scale which helps me design practices and some of the things to consider when developing those practices. Hit us up on our new website, www.theboxgathering.com from Monday 25th March, 2024. If you would like to Contact Daisy Corley regarding having a boxing mural done in your boxing gym, you can get hold of her at www.dzy.art/ Here is Plympton ABC's Instagram to see Daisy's mural. https://www.instagram.com/plympton_amateur_boxing?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

Another car rant on the back of supporting at the level 3 in Tamworth this weekend. Lots of great discussions around terminology, standardization and how it affects our coaching. There is still lots of varying views in terms of technical and tactical terminology and tacit knowledge. This episode is me just putting my two cents worth in. Love to hear your thoughts on the WhatsApp or social media.

Ever been stood at a boxing show and the coach next to you says, ‘I don’t know what they’re looking for!’ I’ve said it too! Today we speak to one of the most respected R&J’s in the business, Mr Mike Hemming. Mike is an IBA 2 star referee and Supervisor. We fire some questions at Mike which members of The Box Gathering WhatsApp group have asked to help put to bed any confusion or curiosity. From scoring criteria to standing counts and warnings to requesting the scores, Mike helps unpick the grey areas to help every coach and boxer listening in. Mike has also kindly offered for anyone with questions to drop him an email on mike@thewholehouseco.com If you would like a poster for next to your ring like mentioned in the podcast, please email us at team@theboxgathering.co.uk

Another drive home and reflection on a sparring session. We can ofcourse reflect and discuss between rounds which shot to throw when your partner does X, Y or Z. But in reality, the boxer needs to be looking for openings on the fly, when under pressure. Today I talk about conditioning the spars so that the boxers are given short time increments to unlock another target area. This task constraint aims to help direct attention externally to what their opponent is doing so that effective solutions can be coordinated. Very much a work in progress in my passion for trying to couple perception with action and educate attentional focus.

Today we speak to Alex Le Guével from Matchroom. Alex talks openly about his journey from England Boxing to Matchroom and the 'Jerry Maguire' moment that got him there. From seizing his moment in an elevator style pitch with Frank Smith to working at the cutting edge with Frank, Eddie and the whole Matchroom team. He goes on to speak about the impact Matchroom are having on multiple communities and his vision to drive this forward. You can get in contact with Alex through social media especially on LinkedIn or drop him an email on 📧 alex.leguevel@matchroom.com