The Various Weight Classes in Boxing

During the 19th and 20th century the formation of weight divisions began as a result of the sports ever increasing popularity so I'm going to show you the main purpose of weight divisions and what they are.

Purpose

To put it simply it was put in to prevent the issue of smaller men fighting bigger men. The added reach and size and muscle mass would make being larger a huge advantage and then competing would be more about what you were born with rather than how hard you worked for it. Now there are 17 recognised weight divisions established by a major boxing organisation in 2015.

Weight Divisions

A minimumweight was the lightest weight class with an upper limit of 48 kg.
A light flyweight was also considered to be smaller men and had an upper limit of 49 kg.
A flyweight was still considered smaller and had an upper limit of 51 kg.
A super flyweight was the heaviest flyweight and had an upper limit of 52 kg
A bantamweight is still considered light and had an upper limit of 53.5 kg.
A super bantamweight had an upper limit of 55 kg.
A featherweight is the start of the more popular weight classes and had an upper limit of 57 kg.
A super featherweight Is only a bit heavier with an upper bound of 59 kg.
A lightweight and super lightweight have upper limits of 61 kg and 63.5 kg.
A welterweight and super welterweight have upper limits of 67 kg and 70 kg.
A middleweight and super middleweight have upper limits of 72.5 kg and 76 kg.
A light heavyweight is considered the start of the really large boxers and has an upper limit of 79 kg.
A cruiserweight is the class that pushes the 200 pound mark at 91 kg.
After this the heavyweight class is brought in with no upper limit.

Which Self Defense System to Learn?

There are numerous reasons why people decide to start boxing, muay thai and other martial arts but when the reason is self defense some systems may be better than others. There are many factors to weigh to find the correct self defense and one must always remember that no one martial art is the best system for everyone.
 

Wing Chun

   

   

Wing Chun is a rather obscure martial art when we compare it to others like karate and boxing but it still a rather potent martial art as demonstrated by Bruce Lee. It focuses on speed and technique to generate power rather than strength. It does this by attacking using the smallest route to the target utilising the leg muscles rather than using the hips.

    

Boxing

   

Boxing teaches you a lot of fundamentals that can and will be applied if a fight where to breakout in the street. Footwork, throwing a punch, taking a punch and defending against a punch are all key in boxing and key if an unavoidable fight happened in the street. One big benefit of boxing is that it does not incorporate any ground moves which are a tad impractical in a street fight as going to ground on concrete can be just as dangerous for you as your opponent. 

    

Krav Maga

  

Krav Maga is an excellent self defense to learn as that is exactly what it is about. It teaches you how to defend yourself in a huge variety of situations including being at knife or even gun point! This is why, despite it not being my favourite, I would have to give the baton to krav maga as one of the best self defense systems.

   

  

These are 3 martial arts I know of that work very well when it comes to self defense and I am not one to shout loudly about my opinion whilst not listening to anyone else. If you feel your martial art deserves on the list let us know in the comments!

History of Boxing

Lots of people know of boxing but not much about its history so I'm going to go through some of its really early history and modernisation.

Early History

The earliest example of boxing we know of comes from a sumerian relian relief from the third millenium bc. This shows boxing to be an extremely old sport with the earliest evidence of fist fighting with gloves found on a minoan relief which is between 1500 and 900 years bc. Boxing was also a popular spectator sport in Roman times that became deadlier as time went on. Gladiators used leather thongs around their hands for protection which led to harder leather and eventually the addition of metal studs which became known as the cestus which in turn led to a much deadlier weapon called the myrmex. The roman form of boxing was often a fight to the death between fighters and slaves were often put against each other in a circle on the ground. This is where the term ring came from.

Modernisation

Through the late 19th century, the martial art of boxing or prize fighting was a sport of dubious legitimacy. As it was outlawed in England boxing was mainly done in gambling venues and broken up by the police. In a court case it was described as an assault occasioning actual bodily harm despite the consent of both players. Throughout the twentieth century boxers would struggle for legitimacy and were aided by promoters such as Tex Rickard and the popularity of great champions until it became the sport it is today.

History of Muay thai

Muay Thai has a quite a lot of practitioners but not many people know about the history of this combat sport so im going to go through some of it.

Origin

Muay Thai originated in the year 1560 and was made famous by King Naresuan. During the battles of burmese and Siam, he was captured and as the Burmese knew of his hand to hand skill he was offered the chance to fight for his freedom which he took and won. This fighting style was known as siamese style boxing later to be known as muay thai.

Early uses of Muay Thai
 

Muay thai's early uses included a practical fighting technique in warfare as well as a sport to be fought in front of spectators who would watch for entertainment. These contests gradually became a part of local festivals and celebrations especially those held in temples. Eventually the fighters started wearing hemp around their hands and forearms.

Modernisation

Muay Thai became a popular sport in the 1900s with the use of ropes being banned after a death occurred in the ring. In 1993 the international federation of muaythai amateur was inaugurated. It became the governing body of amatuer muay thai consisting of 128 member countries.