You don’t need to have lighting-fast hands like Floyd Mayweather to take a boxing class as several NYC Dads Group members and their kids learned when we recently partnered with Crunch Gym to host a father-child event.
It was a dope way to get our involved with our kids, learn about exercise and good health, and also find our inner fighter.
Boxing with kids as motivation
For the past year, I have struggled to consistently hit the gym to lose the fat I have accumulated as a dad for the past 11 years. Yeah, the struggle is real!
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be down with the dad bod movement anymore. Also, Drake said it best, “I don’t wanna die for them to miss me,” and I take this even more seriously as I get older. I just don’t want to do cool things with them, I want to be around to see them grow and have their own families.
Health is important and it’s a must that we teach our kids all about it. By partnering with Crunch Gym, we were able to do just that while also having fun. There’s no greater motivation than our kids, so make it happen.
Learning the boxing basics together
Coming from where I come from in the South Bronx, being able to use your hands for protection is a must. My dad taught me how to use my hands early while growing up.
He taught me how to defend myself but didn’t teach me the proper form to do so, that’s where Robert Phillips from Crunch Gym stepped in. We started out with a quick 15-minute warmup that got our blood and sweat flowing before jumping into the real boxing stuff.
None of of fathers were pros at boxing so our trainer guided us on the proper form and stance. We learned how to throw jabs and hooks and how to counterpunch without losing our balance while defending ourselves.
We all messed up at times and that’s what really made it fun. No one was passing judgment and watching our kids learn while having fun was a huge blessing. Some might even knock your teeth out now so be careful – LOL.
Working out doesn’t have to be boring
I’m the first to admit that working out used to be super boring to me. I would do the same old workout every time I hit the gym. That killed my motivation, big time.
Throwing punches for 20 to 30 minutes can really work you out but our trainer wanted to do even more for us.
Robert taught us that boxing isn’t just about throwing punches, it also tests your endurance. Well, this dad doesn’t have the endurance he once had and my son proved that to the whole class. Dads were pitted against their kids as we ran suicides and worked on our footwork using speed ladders.
Like most dads, I let my son think he was going to win the suicide portion but eventually outraced him. Now the speed ladders — that’s a different topic. The kids killed it while us dads looked like we were one step from hitting the ground. We all laughed at our lack of footwork skills while also cheering each other on. The sweating was real but so was the fun.
Make it happen, captain
If your local gym is as cool as our Crunch Gym, ask them if they have a boxing class you can do with your kids. If they don’t have one, offer to help them get one started or find a place that does offer it. It is a fun way to learn the basics of boxing while promoting a healthy lifestyle with your kids.
In fact, everyone had so much fun that they forgot that they were really working out: win-win for us all. Floyd Mayweather is lucky he retired because we are all ready for him now!
A version of this first ran on Cool4Dads.
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