Knockout workout

YOU know boxing is really hot

these days when no less than

top welterweight sensation

Oscar de la Hoya comes out

with his own "Championship

Boxing Workout" exercise

video. Suddenly, Billy Blank's

taebo techniques seem like

child's play in comparison.

"Since taebo is usually done to the beat of the music, sometimes

the form is sacrificed," says Sonny Uy, president of the newly

opened Fit for Life Fitness Center and Boxing Gym on Sheridan

Street in Mandaluyong City. "What we're trying to teach in our

gym is proper boxing training. You get all the benefits of hitting

properly with very little chance of injury because there's no

contact."

If you think taebo sizzles fitness-wise, imagine knowing more

about the martial arts aspect behind your kicks and punches.

Basics

Beginners don't need much to start out in the sport. A basic

get-up would be a loose shirt, snug shorts and flat rubber

shoes. Boxing lessons are included in Fit for Life's gym fees;

and at two hours per lesson, the average man can learn to box in

five lessons.

The gym boasts of complete boxing facilities that include a

16x16-ft boxing ring with foam flooring and medicine balls for

sparring practice. It is slightly smaller than a professional ring.

They also have a trampoline, some speedballs, regular punching

bags, uppercut punching bags, Spar Pro figures (rubber

anatomical reproductions of upper torsos), regular punching

bags and Power Block selectorized dumbbells which Fit for Life

distributes locally.

Rounds

Robert Varron, 24, is one of the gym's assistant in-house

trainers. A professional boxer in the bantamweight division, this

soft-spoken athlete has appeared in boxing shows on TV like

"Blow by Blow" and "Knock Out."

Training is timed in terms of one-minute boxing rounds. Varron

starts by stretching to loosen the muscle joints. He then spends

another minute jumping on the trampoline to strengthen the abs.

"When you jump, you use a lot of the back and the stomach;

and a trampoline is softer on the knees," says Uy. For those

who can't afford to buy one, he says that professional boxers

actually use deflated old car tires as a substitute.

After the trampoline, Varron heads straight for the PowerBlock

area and grabs a pair of 6-pound weights (women, he says,

should just use the 3-pound blocks) and starts jabbing while

holding them and doing some footwork exercises.

He spends another minute at the Fitness Bodies Sparring

Trainer machine and still another at the Spar Pro practicing his

jabs.

All this time, his knuckles are neatly protected by 108" long

hand-wraps to keep his fingers and wrist in place and to protect

them from injury.

The lace-up boxing gloves (Uy suggests leather slip-ons for

women and kids) come out when he starts doing the punching

bags. Then he's off to the speedball, where he develops his

hand-to-eye coordination, the midsize California ball, the

70-pound horizontal punching bags where he practices his

uppercuts and the vertical bags where he develops the power in

his punches.

Ten boxing lessons are already included in Fit for Life's

membership fee. A handful of women and even 9- and

14-year-old boys have already signed up.

"One thing we want to advocate is that after we train you, you

have to train yourself," says Uy. "You have to know how to

analyze the moves."

After all, like most sports, boxing is a mind game and not even

the world's slickest gym equipment is a substitute for brain

power.