The Australian Academy of Boxing became a reality on
the 24th January 1990 from my idea in 1987 that the
structural conditioning aspects of Boxing as well as Boxing
self-defence should be made available to everyone. What was
needed was a vehicle to achieve that objective.
By 1987 twenty four years of boxing experience had taught
me that just like gladiator/commando training only a very
small percentage of the populace were willing to accept the
hard knocks that are part and parcel of the demanding sport
of competitive boxing training. Even though the prowess of
boxers was widely admired the lack of participation by the
general public led consequentially to a lack of knowledge
and understanding.
Having taught Boxing self defence skills and competitive
Boxing for eleven years with a stint as coach/manager of the
Victorian State Team I came to the conclusion that to reach
everyone required a change of direction. The Boxing focus is
on participants being taught how to strike and hit the
target area of an opponent whilst defending their own but a
far wider area of exercise could be achieved by utilising
Boxing type equipment without being a target.
The chasm in public understanding plus a general media that
sells its product on hype, exaggeration and emotion has
found boxing the perfect whipping boy without any downside.
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Whilst extensive investigations through controlled
studies of amateur boxers has not found that boxing at an
amateur level exposed individuals to harmful
neuropsychological damage I have long advocated that the
flawed 19th Century old 'Olympic Style Amateur Boxing'
format rules that still allow amateur male or female boxers
in the 21st Century to be beaten unconscious must be
changed.
I firmly believe that everyone can and should build a
practical personal defence capability by learning the 'Art
of Boxing' and a long-term objective was to change the
general public's awareness and understanding of the sports
benefits. Boxing itself was to be the foundation of the
Academy but the long-term objective required separate
products and levels of physical demand.
The Academy's commercial base and the general public's
initial participation in Boxing orientated sport and fitness
required that the self-defence factor be completely
separated. The objective focus needed to be on providing
participants with structural reflex co-ordination and
fitness training second to none by utilising boxing power
projection and specialised exercises and equipment. To
provide and market the new concept required a new name and
that's how Boxacise® was born.
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