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Guest post by Max Fraser at of REAL – Power of One (www.realpowerofone.com)

While on a journey East (from West London), to The Troxy last week, a colourful billboard
caught my attention. It said: To nourish – is to flourish. As this advert was attached to a
building site, I initially took it in the context of the flourishing community that this building
would soon be proud to house. As I hovered at the traffic lights staring back at the
billboard, the message landed in the most resonant way. Light bulb moment – I had my
next instagram slogan sussed. Since then, the notions ignited by that initial phrase have
travelled various corridors of exploration and it now forms the basis of September’s blog.

If you like something, you will be good at it – If you are good at something, you will like it. I
have paused previously to deliberate on which way round that cause and effect statement
should be, but I think you’ll agree – it doesn’t matter. And there it is; in all its simplicity. Find
something you like and never look back, as everything else will fall into place.

If only it was that simple. How lucky are those people who are doing what they love! How
did they know that was what they wanted to do and how on earth am I supposed to know
what I want to do, were the questions I and so many face when growing up. Faced with
not enough options, too many options, the pressure to comply (with peers or parents),
wanting to follow in someone’s footsteps and simply to make ends meet are all very real
drivers towards an unfulfilling journey. But as much as it’s good to have and end to journey
towards, it is always the journey that counts. And in order to have a fulfilling journey, to find
what we love, we have to engage, take a risk and explore before we can land on a place
that reciprocates our gifts. To anyone yet to ignite their passions, it can happen at any turn.
Just keep saying yes to things that feed you, however small or obscure.

When you follow what you love doing, you will find reciprocated passions. It is this
feedback that lands us where we need to be. There’s no longer a need to ‘fit in’, we’ve
found ourselves. A peak experience exists that is universal to the human condition. This
experience is underpinned by a feeling of oneness with an activity, a loss of self-
consciousness, and deep joy in the process.

Motivation is now intrinsic; we turn up early, we practise after class, we begin a pursuit of
constant improvement for the love of our game or vocation. We realise how much more
there is to learn, which is humbling. We become better students and we want to include
anyone whose inclination is to pursue the same journey.

It’s important to recognise that what we love can co-exist with a career. What we love to do
doesn’t always have to feed us financially. What we love to do can be a perfect counter-
balance of meaning and purpose vs our day-job, so-to-speak.

When imbued with meaning and purpose, our self-worth and self-efficacity are high. We
have every confidence in what we are doing and any hurdle is a challenge we are happy
to accept. Life never runs smooth for long.

Motivation comes from activation. While many of us have sat, perhaps in despair, doing
our best to illicit the motivation required to ‘finish the job’, there is no better way to do it
than by doing, even if that means progress is slow. Progress breeds progress, which is
where confidence comes from. Once you’re moving, then it’s easier to keep moving.
Getting to the gym is the hardest part.

Doing what you love will sustain your resolve from setbacks, becoming vain or bitter. Keep
your interests alive and don’t neglect your talents, they are a real possession in the
changing fortunes of time.

Do what you love, love what you do and pass it on.

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[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.22″][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,1_3,1_3″ _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https://12roundsboxing.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/IMG_7641.jpg” title_text=”IMG_7641″ _builder_version=”4.6.5″ _module_preset=”default”][/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https://12roundsboxing.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/IMG_7636.jpg” title_text=”IMG_7636″ _builder_version=”4.6.5″ _module_preset=”default”][/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https://12roundsboxing.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/IMG_7635.jpg” title_text=”IMG_7635″ _builder_version=”4.6.5″ _module_preset=”default”][/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.27.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”]As the gym is now quiet, Kat has suggested that I write a blog post for our website about my
experiences so far with 12 Rounds. Until today I hadn’t even read a blog post, let alone written one!

Hopefully by now most of you would have met me, if you have, I’m sure that you would have formed
some kind of opinion of me, and I do hope it is a positive one?

I’ve been coaching for a long time… since retiring from professional boxing in January 2009 I’ve

coached at various amateur boxing clubs. Initially I coached at my childhood club, Crawley Amateur
Boxing Club.  That gym is truly my happy place, there is something about the place that I can’t
adequately put into words. As a child and then a young man it was the place where I felt safest and
most able to be my authentic self. Even now as a 38-year-old man I get this incredible sense of being
completely at peace when I enter Crawley Amateur Boxing Club.

After relocating to Epsom and starting a family, I opted to volunteer at the local boxing gym because
making three round trips per week to Crawley was starting to wear on me. The way it was run was
completely different from what I was used to, and I thought the sparring sessions were more like
battles between sworn enemies than a way for boxers to learn from one another. In my opinion,
sparring should primarily be utilised to put what has been learned in training into practise rather
than an attempt to beat each other senseless. Hard, competitive sparring is sometimes necessary,
but by no means every session. At Epsom, I didn’t think my coaching approach fit well, so I decided
to move on.

I had met Keith Hawkins on a coaching course, and since Smallholdings Boxing Club was just
launching, he came to me and asked if I would like to come work as a coach there. We had a
successful start, with our boxers winning something like their first 10 bouts. The defeat was bound
to come soon enough but we thoroughly enjoyed that undefeated spell while it lasted.
George Brown, my amateur boxing coach, and the closest thing I ever had to a father figure, moved
from Crawley to run Battlebridge Boxing Club. Since it was only a 10-minute drive from my house, I
leaped at the chance to go with him. Prior to Battlebridge's closure due to the COVID 19 Pandemic, I
was a coach there for around 7 years.

I have learned from working with numerous coaches, that ego can be a big issue in boxing gyms,
especially among trainers. If someone has a different method for doing something, men in
particular, seem to perceive it as a personal slight. As a result, I expected some opposition to my
viewpoints and ideas when I started working at round 12. To my surprise, everyone was really
receptive to my suggestions for improvement and new ideas. There is such a fun and vibrant
atmosphere in the gym, and I love spending time here.

Although I haven’t yet trained all of the members, everyone I have met have been fantastic.
Everyone who trains here is upbeat, and the workouts are always enjoyable. As a coach, although
given an outline as to what is to be included in the sessions, there is plenty of autonomy, allowing
each coach to get creative and let their unique personality shine through. The atmosphere at the
gym is cheerful. Members and staff enjoy interacting with one another and people are treated more
like friends than clients or colleagues. I think I’ll be very happy here hopefully for a long time.

[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://12roundsboxing.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/IMG-0278-Crop-scaled.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Anthony Young, boxing coach [/author_info] [/author]
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‘I used to meal prep like my life depended on it. ‘

Todays blog is about nutrition.  Something I used to be very into.  Throughout my 30s I was always trying to lose weight.  I read/studied everything I could on how to eat for weight loss.  To cut a long story short I became obsessive about it.  On the weekends I would meal prep like my life depended on it.  Making sure I had healthy food at all times was essential as god forbid I got hungry and ate some chips. 

That approach didn’t work for me as what I didn’t know was the amount of stress I put on myself was completely counterproductive.   I never did lose the weight and I was pretty miserable too.  

Now I realise as what the body and mind need is balance.   

I stopped stressing about what I ate, learned about the nervous system and how to relax and guess what? My body found a balance and my weight stabilised.  

So what’s the problem I hear you ask? 

As I stopped worrying about losing weight my bad habits started to creep back in.  At first was just a few biscuits here and there, then, crisps, takeaways.  I’ve even eaten McDonald’s in recent times which is something I swore off since my 20s…. 

I have no problem with any of these things in moderation.  In fact one of the best things I learned through my nutrition education is the 80/20 rule.  Eat well 80% of the time and the body can cope with a little bit of the not so good stuff. I was getting closer to 20% healthy, 80% not so great food.  Chips, toasties, crisps and biscuits had become my go to. My diet had become what I used to warn against – beige – carb heavy with little nutrition.

I’ve been coasting along like this for a while now and I’ve decided things have to change.  I have a new motivation.  Health  I want to be healthy and stay well for my daughter. 

I don’t want to be obsessive about what I eat like the old me.  What I want is to be better.  

• I want to eat a balanced diet and add more nutrition to my meals.  
• I want to allow myself the odd treat but ensure it is a treat not a everyday occurrence (eg.  no more biscuits for breakfast) 
• I want to have more energy and feel good.  

All these things are easily achievable it just means getting organised and changing some habits.  Having studied how the brain works and how we create patterns and habits, I’m well equipped to do this.  

What I’ve decided to do is give myself a 28 day challenge 

• 4 weeks of conscious eating and improving my nutrition 
• Re-establishing good eating patterns 
• Increasing my protein and eating more vegetables.
• decreasing the biscuits and crisps.  

The reason I’m sharing this with you is that I’ve had quite a few members ask me about nutrition recently. 

So I’ve decided I’m going to run this as a group challenge.

As you all know from the success of our training programmes, being part of a group programme greatly increases your chances of success.  It gives you structure, accountability and it’s just more fun. 

So if you too want to eat better and feel you can join me throughout July on my 28 day challenge.  

There is a small cost of £30

What you’ll get: 

• A healthy eating PDF guide 
• Weekly emails giving you tasks, recipes and shopping plans 
• Full support through a private Facebook group. 
• Weekly accountability check in.

I can’t promise you will lose a stone or dress size (you likely will lose some kgs but this is not the sole focus) 

What I can promise is that you will feel better, have more energy and you have a better understanding of healthy eating, empowering you to make better choices. 

Who’s in? 

Sign up at the link below 

ps you will need a Facebook account for the support group.

Chatting to these to ladies in the gym the other day and we realised that they’ve both been training here for 6 whole years now.  Ellie started Fundamentals back in Feb 2016 – when we only had the upstairs space.  Laura joined fundamentals a few months later in May.   Both of them have gone on to do white collar fights and remain some of our most experienced and committed members to date.

We wanted to find out what’s kept them coming back over the years;

Here’s there views on why they love boxing and why they’ve kept coming back to 12 Rounds.

Laura  Fish 

‘I’ve never been the sporty type but boxing is the one thing that I’ve consistently stuck at (maybe not every week but when I’ve fallen out of the routine of exercise, it’s the thing that gets me back in the gym!) For me though, it’s more than exercise. I love that I’m always learning…from how to throw the basic punches correctly when I first started, to how to outsmart my opponent in the ring. Boxing has allowed me to push myself, mentally as much as physically, and I always come out feeling stronger. 

The team at 12 Rounds have played a big part in my love for boxing. The gym has a friendly and welcoming atmosphere and I’ve met some great people over the years, especially Ellie, who will be my boxing bestie for life! I’ve always appreciated the time that the coaches take to explain the technique…anyone can throw a punch but can you throw it well?! Their energy and passion is infectious and I always leave the gym feeling better than when I arrived – this is why I come back.’

Ellie Welton

“I feel strong, confident and happy. No matter what has been happening in my world. I always feel good after training. 

I first came to 12 rounds to learn a new skill and became part of a family. I loved the way you could progress and challenge yourself and you got me from beginner to fighting. 

&… of course Rich. He may have told me to say this… but I have been at the gym since Rich started. He knows me, my strengths and weaknesses. 

I know all the trainers take care to get to know people who come to the gym. That’s part of the community created.”

We are delighted to have Laura and Ellie in our boxing family and can’t wait to see what’s next for them.   Here’s just a few pics of them in training and showing off their well earned abs.

This years Olympics saw some excellent boxing displayed.  If you watched much of the Olympic boxing tournaments you would have noticed different styles that were on show.

There were 81 different countries being represented at this year’s Olympic boxing event. And what has become a regular occurrence in amateur boxing; Cuba reigned supreme with 4 gold medals and one bronze having entered 7 boxers.

In this blog, I will discuss the various styles of the top boxing nations, starting with arguably the best… Cuba.

Cuba – Cuba are renown for their excellent footwork, balance, reactions and overall fluidity. Something that always sees their boxers have success in major competitions.

This is a style that is drilled into them from when they first walk into a boxing gym. Boxing is about ‘’hitting and not getting hit’’ and Cuba embody this. Most of their training is focused on fighting drills and footwork drills with a heavy emphasis on rhythm and flow. It is said that this style was made possible by Alcides Sagarra Carón, a former Cuban national coach.

A great boxer to watch who displayed the epitome of Cuban boxing is Andy Cruz, who won lightweight Olympic gold in this year’s Olympics and was one of the stand out boxers of the tournament.

USA – The USA always send a strong team to the Olympics. Most of the boxers seem to have a pro style with amateur elements. They hold their feet longer (which decreasing the speed of their footwork) and are comfortable blocking and countering with speed and accuracy that you would normally see from a pro boxer.

A USA boxer who displayed the USA style very well during these Olympics which culminated into a Silver medal is Keyshawn Davis who competed at lightweight. He lost in the final to Andy Cruz.

Great Britain – GB had their most successful Olympics in the boxing event, winning 6 medals in total. 2 gold, 2 sliver and 2 bronze.

GB are known for their excellent fitness and forward aggression. GB boxers are usually on their toes, with a high guard and focus on straight punches behind an in and out movement. They always have fast feet which matches their fast hands.

A GB boxer who to watch with the GB style is this year’s Olympic champion at flyweight is Galal Yafai.

Russia – Boxing under the banner of Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), due to the decision by the World anti-doping agency (WADA) to ban Russia from all international sport for four years, after it was found that data provided by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency had been manipulated by Russian authorities with a goal of protecting athletes involved in its state-sponsored doping scheme.

ROC had 6 Medallists this year, 1 gold, 1 silver and 4 bronze. ROC have the typical soviet style. Very tall, fast feet behind a long lead hand. They throw fast combinations, leading with the jab and always have fast feet and hands and like GB, they focus on in and out movement.

A boxer to watch from the ROC is Albert Batyrgaziev who won gold in the men’s featherweight division.

We will be exploring these different styles in our skills classes in the coming months.  Kicking off September with our own GB style.

[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://12roundsboxing.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/0ca675ea-bcfe-4b5f-a2e4-b1da853ea6ab.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Scott has been boxing since he was 18 and has an impressive amateur record of over 50 fights. His talent was spotted early. When he first walked into Islington Boxing Club he was put straight into the competitive class and had his first fight 3 months later. Scott has fought all over the country and travelled to extensively including to South Africa where he won boxer of the tournament. Now retired from competing Scott is excited to put his skills and energy into coaching[/author_info] [/author]

‘You win or you learn’, a common phrase used in boxing, because you don’t actually lose; you’ve gained vital information on what you need to improve on. Fighting is like life, you’re given the theory (training), then you’re given the test (bout). Sometimes you pass, sometimes you don’t, but either way your given the lesson and the opportunity to take the test again (have another bout).

I lost my very first fight. A mixture of nerves, fear and doubt got the better of me and I didn’t perform.

After I lost, the images I had created in my head of me winning championships and being a good amateur boxer had started to disappear. Doubt had started to creep in and I was now asking myself if I was capable. What I didn’t know though, was that my next training session would be one of my best, because I had learnt and improved a lot after that bout.

What I had learnt/Improved:

• I have to be switched on all the time. You quickly realise that you have no time to switch off, and that’s generally when you get hit the most.
• Body positioning, although this takes time to master, I was now aware of my positioning.
• Speed and timing first, power after
• Confidence; you think confident, you fight confident. You think scared, you fight scared.

The lesson I’d learnt had been greater than the loss, and I was keen to ‘’get back on the horse’’ as they say. And I did. Two weeks later, I had my second fight. Which I won.

My second fight was completely different from the first. Naturally I was nervous, but armed with the knowledge from my first fight, I went into this fight confident.

I won the fight by unanimous decision, having won every round.

The feeling of euphoria and excitement was surging through my body, and the images of me winning a championship and being a great amateur boxer, had re-appeared. It’s a buzz you cant describe, but one you wish will continue.

I’d be lying if I said I remember what I learnt from my second fight, but the feeling of winning, was enough to keep the fire burning.

Boxing is one of the toughest sports in the world, and a loss is not a be all or end all. The lessons learned and the experience gained serve you longer in life then a win or a loss. Keep taking the lessons on board, stay humble and stay consistent.

Stay humble in victory, as you are in defeat – Connor McGregor

[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://12roundsboxing.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/0ca675ea-bcfe-4b5f-a2e4-b1da853ea6ab.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Scott has been boxing since he was 18 and has an impressive amateur record of over 50 fights. His talent was spotted early. When he first walked into Islington Boxing Club he was put straight into the competitive class and had his first fight 3 months later. Scott has fought all over the country and travelled to extensively including to South Africa where he won boxer of the tournament. Now retired from competing Scott is excited to put his skills and energy into coaching.[/author_info] [/author]