Customer Reviews

Fighting Fit: Boxing Workouts, Techniques, and Sparring (Start-Up Sports, Number 12)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a very good beginners boxing book as Doug Werner guides through all the basic 6 punches (jab, straight, left/right hook, left/right uppercut) and proceeds with countless bag and flow drills in a manner that beginners can easily understand and practice. The scope and detail of this book is SIGNIFICANTLY superior to more popular beginner's book "Boxing: The Complete Guide to Training and Fitness" by Danna Scott. I have bought (and gave away) that book due to its lack of details. The large number of photographs in this book is very well selected and helpful.

A few minor gripes that took away one star for me were: (1) Some editting problems such as minor typos and one incorrect description where the author meant left hand, but wrote right hand (which was quite confusing when comparing to the picture). (2) Be careful of a number of photos showing the fist so over-rotated on straight punches that the thumb actually is pointing straight down! I think he was trying to make the fist more visible, but I think it certainly would add confusing to a beginner. Note that at no point does the text indicate the thumb is to point down toward the ground. (3) The weightlifting exercises could have used a few more pictures as the text was somewhat lacking. However, these minor gripes aside, this is the best mass published beginners book out there that I've found and I've looked through about 10+ books.

...

As the earlier book by the same authors (Boxer's start-up) was an excellent book, I was expecting this to be at least a four-star book. I was badly disappointed, however.

Much of the written material in the book is taken directly from the earlier book, and there is not much text added. Instead, the book relies heavily on photographs. There is nothing wrong with that, per se, but it places high demands on the quality of the pictures. Sadly, the pictures don't fill the expectations. They are not entirely bad, however, as you can see what you are supposed to see from the pictures. But they are far form good quality.

Much of the book is filled with different punch combinations, counters and flow drills. In these pages, there is hardly any text, instead the reader is supposed to study the pictures and learn from them. This is hardly satisfying, and there is a genuine need for exhaustive written instructions. There is also some instructions about stretching, weight training and sparring, but these issues are not given very thorough presentation.

There is some merit to this book, but you need to have a more complete textbook to support the pictures in this book. For one, the book is missing a complete training program, instead the reader (beginner-intermadiate level) is supposed to construct one on his own, based on the limited information given in this book.

This is the best book on boxing I've encountered. The author does a good job of explaining technique and providing drills for exercise. However, ANY book on boxing will be inadequate for learning how to box. Good boxing skills can't be learned from a book - just the way you can't learn to dance well from a book. To physically know how to box you need a trainer and you need to get in the ring and spar. To master the techniques, it must feel right. You acquire that feeling by watching your trainer and having him/her correct your mistakes. You have to be physically next to that person (Anyone who's learned to box or dance will tell you this is true). You polish those techniques and gain confidence in using them through sparing. Yet the author does deserve credit for putting out a fine book.

Though this book is theoretically about how to use boxing to get fit, what it really is is a fantastic guide to solo or partner training. The first chapter reviews the basic training equipment needed, even offering a probable price list, before moving on to a chapter on basic stance, footwork, and head movement. The next two chapters are on basic offense and defense, and include info on combination building and how to use the heavy bag for building defence. The next section is on the various drills using the mirror, the bag, and your partner. The mirror section is worth only one page, but the rest is invaluable. With the bag, author Lachica demonstrates punches, footwork, and defense, while reminding the reader to keep in mind technique, rhythm, and strategy. He provides a number of drills to keep things from getting boring. With partner drills, he begins with counter drills, where one defends a punch and then returns with his own punch, then moves on to flow drills, which combine offense and defense for both parnters. The next two chapters are on situational sparring and free sparring, and provide excellent advice for the beginner. The book finishes up with three fitness chapters, on resistance training, stretching, and cardio training, respectively. This book provides a good blueprint for improving one's boxing skills, as well as getting into shape. Recommended for beginners and fighters alike.

This is the second book in a series of three collaborations between Doug Werner and Alan Lachica on the topic of boxing.
The book "Fighting Fit", is the best of the three. It is packed with boxing wisdom, is well written, and the photographs easily show the techniques being taught.
From a person who wishes to learn boxing for fitness purposes, or for people like myself who compete, this book is a valuable tool.
I highly recommend it.

I'm a soldier currently deployed in Afghanistan (airborne infantry). I ordered the book to try to pick up on a new sport. The pictures and descriptions in the book are very descriptive and very helpful in learning the moves. Although I would consider this a great book for the beginner boxer or someone trying to improve, the lifting section could use alittle more detail. I would also like to see alittle more about nutrition. Other than that, the technique and fundamentals described in this book are excellent.

A very good book for beginners, it covers all the moves in boxing, from offensive and defensive moves and how it can be practiced alone against a punching bag. You get pictures demonstrating the moves taken from the side, the back, the front and even from the top!

You should get his first book:
Boxer's Start-Up : A Beginner's Guide to Boxing first thought (more theory is explained for the beginner)

Both books are highly recommended!

I am not a boxer but thought it would be fun to learn to use a heavy bag in my workout regime. I wanted to build upper body strength and a friend confirmed that a heavy bag would be a great anaerobic workout that would build strength and stamina.

I bought this book looking for an overview of punches and moves to help me design the heavy bag workout. The book gave me everything that I needed for an effective heavy bag workout. It provides abundant information to get started and includes specific details on how to wrap hands, punch and recovery technique, punch combinations, and punch styles (inside and outside fighting). The book includes heavy bag drills.

This book is great as a detailed description of boxing technique, both literary and visual. I have recommended this book to people who have technical problems with their style or people who just need to perfect their technique, it covers everything from footwork through to sparring. By far the most detailed do-it-yourself boxing book I've seen to date. Good for beginners. An experienced boxer may find it useful, it's good to read around the subject, but you wont find any advanced discussion, generalship, advanced fight strategy, to the degree that, for instance the Tao of Jeet kune Do, or Ned Beaumont delve into.

This book is a must for boxer's and coach's alike. I use it as a reference book. It will definately add to your routine as a coach or student. If there is a more practical book out there on boxing, I haven't seen it. Good job!!