I don’t know how young this kid is (looks 9-10 year’s old to me) but he sure boxes well for being so young. In this day and age, it’s rare to see children encouraged to take up the “Sweet Science”, let alone excel at it. So a big congrats to his parents for letting him learn the values of hard work and fair play that are an integral part of the sport.
My own son stared boxing with me a while ago an he’s nowhere near as good. And that’s perfectly fine with me. I don’t train him to become a champion, fighter, nothing like that. There are much more important reasons why I’m training him:
- To teach him discipline, courage and hard work. You don’t get to box well without those.
- To boost his self confidence. He’s shy by nature and boxing is a great way to help him overcome that.
- To teach him perseverance. Boxing can be extremely frustrating when you can’t make it work (and get slapped over the head for your mistakes). But each time you progress to where you can pull of a certain technique or defensive maneuver, you own it. It’s now yours, earned after persevering for a long time and making it yours. Nobody can take it away from you anymore.
- To create a solid base for self defense. I believe boxing has some of the best punches of any martial art out there. If you know how to box, you know how to punch. Vice versa isn’t necessarily true.
- To channel natural youthful aggression. Kids can be very aggressive when they play and not really know it. Rough and tumble playing is normal for kids and should not be discouraged. But it can, and often does, degenerate into actual fighting because they don’t know the limits. Boxing teaches those limits clearly.
I think I could do a lot worse as a father than teach him these things…
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Danny Young says
Wim,
Your reasons for training your son are solid, and I could not agree more. My basic nature is to be shy and withdrawn, I learned how to be out going. I hope your son will follow in your footsteps in his own way. You are an outstanding Father, and a very wise man.
Always the Best,
Danny
Wim says
Thanks Danny, I try to be the best father I can be. I don’t always succeed but I try very hard, every day.
Danny Young says
Wim,
Your reasons for training your son are solid, and I could not agree more. My basic nature is to be shy and withdrawn, I learned how to be out going. I hope your son will follow in your footsteps in his own way. You are an outstanding Father, and a very wise man.
Always the Best,
Danny
Wim says
Thanks Danny, I try to be the best father I can be. I don’t always succeed but I try very hard, every day.