A new fitness activity I decided to try this year is boxing!! A lot clubs in Toronto offer free trials to help you get familiar with boxing and I decided to do one at RingFit Boxing located at Yonge St. & St Clair Ave. Lower Level, 1 St Clair Ave E Unit B002, Toronto, ON M4T 2V7. Look for the black and red sign located by the Scotiabank.

I actually have tried out a boxing class before at United Boxing, so it was not a first time for me. But the atmosphere differed between both. I’ll probably make a post about United in the future.

Things you’ll need: indoor shoes, hand wraps, & boxing gloves. Gloves are available for a rental fee of $3, and wraps are available for purchase as well (I believe $16). Hand wraps are used to keep all the joints and components of your hands and wrists compressed to prevent injury. Though recommended, I did not use them the very first time I went boxing. If you are going to repeatedly be boxing, it is definitely something you’ll need as I did feel the impact on my joints much more without them. I was lucky enough to have a friend who boxes to let me borrow their wraps and gloves this time around.

Something I first noticed about RingFit was the size of their space. Though I have only been to one other boxing gym, RingFit seemed small in comparison. It is big enough for one boxing ring and to run one class at a time with some space on the side for other gym goers to do their own thing. Their boxing bags hang along the perimeter of the gym that slide and lock into place so it leaves room for different use of the small space. But I do think the size comes with a lot of benefit, which I’ll get into.

My friend Thomas teaching me how to put on hand wraps

When I first arrived there was a teen boxing course hitting its end and my friend and I put on our hand wraps off to the side. Our class ended up being just 7 people. Stephan, the founder of the club was the instructor for the class. The benefit of a small class was that he knew everyone by name and their level. I happened to be the only new comer that class and he gave me a one-on-one introduction while the others were paired up by their levels to do combinations. He was invested in teaching me the basics. Ensuring my stance and form was good to the point of using inflatable sticks tap me on the cheek or jab me in the chest if i was standing wrong and exposing weak spots. This included hitting my jaw if I didn’t keep my gloves by my face or my sternum if i was facing too square forward instead of on a 45 degree angle. He went in depth on the basics of the boxing form and why it is important. I appreciated how much time and effort he dedicated to teaching me considering it was a free trial.

Now to get into the class itself. It definitely requires a lot of endurance. The class started off with a few rounds of jump rope. Which I personally found to be really difficult. Maybe I haven’t done enough cardio recently… I can’t remember the last time I jumped rope for minutes at a time. After getting the air extracted out of me we went into doing other moves to get our bodies moving. High knees, butt kicks, and walkouts into planks to name a few.

We then went into doing combinations with partners, throwing a mix of punches and defence moves while moving forward and back. Stephan told each pair exactly what combination to do. I on the other hand worked with Stephan to get my stance and form down and learn to throw the first two punches in boxing, a jab, “1”, and cross, “2”. I also learned defence moves such as “catch”ing a punch, and to “slip” away from a punch. There are a total of 6 punches in boxing but since this was an intro class I just got the basic two punches to start.

After getting our boxing gloves on we went to the punching bags. Stephan gave us a combination and our target was the bag. During this time he went around and ran the combination with people individually to make sure that everyone is doing it correctly, giving us tips and praising us for our good work. After each round there was a constant “1” “2”, probably the most cathartic part, but also very tiring if your arms are giving out.

Besides throwing punches the class had a lot of focus on cardio and core exercises. We ended the class off with rounds of different core moves on mats, with some burpees and push ups sprinkled in. All the rounds of the class do come with a timer that Stephan set to go off to keep us on track.

As I write this the day after, I can tell you my calves and hamstrings are quite sore. I blame jump rope for the calves. I also feel it in my chest, back and of course my arms. But it’s a good kind of sore.

After trying boxing twice now, it is something I find to be a fun fitness activity. It gets you moving in ways that you don’t do in your normal day and really engages your whole body. It involves a lot of focus as well, so it really helps you stay out of the thoughts in your head. Something I think I really needed. And if you do think of a thought, particularly a bad one you just punch it out :D

I have had a positive experience at both places I have tried and think the boxing community is also an encouraging space for new comers. Having the options of free trials really help you to test the waters. I think it’s a great activity for those who like guided classes for exercise but has the opportunity to be something you can do on your own as well.

Free Trial

To sign up for a free trial you make an account on their website. Here you will “purchase” a free trial class and have a credit added to your account. You can then select the class you want to attend and book that class using your credit.

After your trial there are still introductory priced options for you to really know if boxing is your things. There is a personal training trial for $25, and a trial membership with the choice between 7 days of unlimited classes for $40, or 3 classes for $30 (used within 14 days). You can find the list of memberships on their site here.

Intro to Boxing Class (Free Trial) | RingFit Boxing

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