Fourteen people, fourteen bags, £8 a class or £45 a month unlimited
Boxing fitness classes
Fifty minutes of boxing fitness for up to fourteen people, one heavy bag each: skipping, shadow boxing, bag rounds, partner pad drills and a conditioning finisher, with a coach walking the line. Mornings, evenings and Saturdays; every round has an easier and a harder version.
A class here is not a crowd in a sports hall waving at the air. Fourteen people at most, because there are fourteen bags, a coach who learns your name in the first week, and rounds timed by the bell so everyone works and rests together. Some people come to learn to box; most come because an hour of hitting something is the best part of their day.
Every class has the same shape so you always know where you are: ten minutes of skipping and footwork, a technique round where the coach shows one thing (a jab-cross-hook, a slip, a pivot), six rounds on the bags building that into combinations, two rounds of partner pad drills where you take turns to hold, and a conditioning finisher on the floor. The rounds are three minutes with a minute off; beginners can take thirty seconds out of any round, and nobody minds.
Partner drills are pads only, held by the person next to you with the coach showing how; nobody throws a punch at a person. Classes run at 6:15am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, at 7pm on Monday and Wednesday, and at 9am on Saturday. Book by text or the booking page so the bags are not double-booked; cancel before 9pm the night before and the class is credited.
What you get
- Fifty minutes, fourteen people at most
- A heavy bag each, never shared
- Partner work on pads only, never on people
- Gloves and wraps lent
- Every round at two levels
- The monthly pass stops with a text
What it costs
£8 a class, or £45 a month for as many as you like. The first class free. Timetable and spaces on the classes page. The classes page has the timetable, the spaces left and this week's free pad slots.
Questions about classes
Do I need to be fit before I start?
No. The first two weeks are about learning to pace a round. Take a breather whenever you need it; the bell will start the next one anyway.
Is it mostly men?
About half and half across the week, and the 6:15am Wednesday is mostly women. Kerry runs most classes and will introduce you to people.
The first round is free. Twenty minutes on the pads.
Tell us what you are after and roughly when you can train, and we reply within the hour between rounds with a time: how to stand, a wrapped hand, the jab and cross, and an honest answer about where to start. No card details, and nobody hits you.