I Never Thought I Was the Type of Person Who Does Boxing — Here Is What Changed

Written by Aarron Morgan — Licensed BBBofC Trainer, Former Professional Boxer

There is a specific version of this conversation I have had more times than I can count.

Someone messages me on WhatsApp or sends an enquiry through the website. They are interested in trying boxing. They have been thinking about it for a while, sometimes months, sometimes longer. And somewhere in that first message, often right at the end, there is a version of this sentence.

I am probably not who you normally train.

Or: I have never done anything like this before and I am not sure I am fit enough.

Or: I do not know if boxing is really for me but I have always been curious about it.

What they are really saying, underneath the qualifications and the hedging, is this. I want to try this but I have already decided I might not be the right type of person for it.

I want to address that belief directly because it is the only thing standing between a lot of people and something that could genuinely change how they feel about themselves physically and mentally.

There Is No Type

The idea that boxing is for a specific type of person, tough, aggressive, competitive, physically imposing, is one of the most persistent and most damaging misconceptions about the sport.

I have coached people from every background imaginable. Complete beginners in their forties who had never thrown a punch. Women who came in expecting to feel intimidated and left feeling more capable than they had in years. People who work from home who needed a physical outlet and a reason to leave the house before their working day started. People with injuries who had been told by other coaches that boxing was not suitable for them. People who described themselves as uncoordinated, unfit, or just not athletic.

Every single one of them learned. Every single one of them improved. Every single one of them, at some point in the first few sessions, had a moment where something clicked and they felt it.

That moment does not require a specific type of person. It requires a coach who can meet you where you are and build from there. That is the job. It is what I do.

What Actually Changes

The transformation that happens for most people who start private boxing coaching as complete beginners is not primarily physical, though the physical changes are real and come quickly. It is the identity shift.

People who arrive saying they are not the type of person who boxes leave after a few sessions having discovered that they are. Not because boxing changed who they are but because the experience of learning something difficult, of being coached through genuine challenge, of seeing themselves do something they genuinely did not think they could do, changes how they see themselves.

Holly came in with no boxing background. After two sessions she described gaining a lot of confidence and said she could not wait for the following week. Jack came in as a complete beginner with existing injuries and described what he learned in three sessions as amazing. Joanna described sessions that meet her where she is whilst challenging her. These are not exceptional results. They are what consistently happens when someone who almost talked themselves out of trying actually shows up.

The version of you that is on the other side of your first session is different from the version that almost did not book it. Not dramatically, not overnight, but differently. You will have done something you were not sure you could do. That matters more than the boxing.

The 8am Slot — Designed for People With Flexible Schedules

One of the specific reasons people who work from home or have flexible daytime schedules make such consistent training clients is that the 8am slot fits naturally into their day. Train at 8am, finish at 9am, and the working day starts having already done something genuinely good for yourself. No rearranging of the afternoon. No competing with evening fatigue. Just a clean, focused hour at the start of the day that sets the tone for everything that follows.

If 8am does not suit your specific schedule, daytime slots are available during the week. The gym is quiet and private regardless of which slot you choose.

Why Private Coaching Makes the Difference

The reason private 1-to-1 coaching produces this result consistently where group classes often do not is the environment. In a group class you are managing your self-consciousness about being a beginner at the same time as trying to learn something new. Those two things compete for your attention and the self-consciousness usually wins, limiting how much you actually absorb.

In a private session at Belhus Boxing Club in South Ockendon there is nothing to be self-conscious about. There is no one watching. There is no comparison to make. There is just you, your coach, and the work. That simplicity creates a learning environment where most people surprise themselves within the first couple of sessions.

How to Start

If you are reading this and recognising yourself in the person described above, the one who has been thinking about trying boxing but has not quite found the reason to commit, this is the nudge.

Message me on WhatsApp. Tell me where you are starting from, what you are hoping to get from it, and when you are available. I will come back to you the same day and we will get your first session in the diary.

You do not need to be fit. You do not need any experience. You do not need to be a particular type of person.

You just need to show up once.

wa.me/447950277601

8am and daytime slots available at Belhus Boxing Club, South Ockendon. Saturday mornings also available.