The case for ballet for boxers

Don’t fight me on this until you at least hear me out.

To the boxers who may be reading this: I know, I know. Ballet class probably doesn’t appeal to you anymore than a play date with a cat appeals to a shark. Also, I have no idea why I just made that analogy. Kind of random. But anyway, sharks and cats don’t tend to hang out (although I’m sure you can inundate me with Tik Tok videos proving me wrong, and please do). But boxers and ballerinas really should hang out more, and here’s why.

Ballet can work wonders for your footwork. It can also help you master several other essentials that you need to become a pro fighter. Ballet is arguably the most elegant form of dance, and it requires every inch of self-discipline and training that boxing requires. This commonality brings these two worlds together right away, but there are several key advantages that ballet study can offer boxers.

Firstly, ballet teaches us how to be strong, yet light on our feet, with the dexterity and strength to be able to pivot at a moment’s notice. I’m sure you’ll agree that those skills are essential to fighting. Well, they are also essential to dance, which leads me to my next point.

Boxing is a dance. When you’re in the ring fighting, you’re dancing with your opponent. There is an inherent give and take, push and pull, step and pivot, lead and follow. Jack Handey described it best when he said, “To me, boxing is like a ballet, except there’s no music, no choreography, and the dancers hit each other.”

Boxing is like a ballet, except there’s no music, no choreography, and the dancers hit each other. – Jack Handey

Really, any form of dance study will help improve your footwork, and we all know footwork is the groundwork for boxing. So if you’re struggling with footwork, yes, obviously keep skipping rope and doing your fundamentals like shadowboxing and basic footwork drills. But if you really want to take it to the next level, try a beginner ballet class. In person is ideal, but even an at home ballet barre class can do wonders. It will help with strengthening your legs, especially muscles you may not use as frequently. It will also certainly help with balance, posture, and core strength.

Personally, when I’m not in a boxing gym, I prioritize a good ballet barre workout even over running, because I’m working on core conditioning and leg strength. Running is important, but since I’m not training for a fight, I prefer to run less than other workouts because, well, I hate running. And I’m in my 40’s so I do what the F I want.

If you are training for a fight, please keep running, and train however often your coach says, but consider incorporating a bit of ballet into your schedule. I would bet you that after 6 weeks of ballet class 2-3 times per week, your balance, posture, poise, gracefulness, and overall footwork will have improved.

And yes, I said “poise” and “gracefulness” because both of those are just as important to fighting as a strong chin and a sharp uppercut. Unless your winning strategy is to go in the ring and slug it out with all the finesse of an elephant on a skateboard. Although that does sound kind of awesome. Otherwise, you need to get some dance moves going on, so you can float like a butterfly…. then you can work on stinging like a bee.

I’m partial to the New York City ballet workouts that you can buy on DVD or stream on YouTube. I’m sure there are many others, but these are the gold standard. Please write me and let me know if you find something better, and I’ll link it here.

Finally, please don’t worry about getting every move exactly right, unless ballet turns out to be your newfound passion. The goal with this is to move like a ballerina for your best performance in the ring. So focus on the core movements like the barre work for your legs, and then you can refine the floor routine. Let it be an experience. Enjoy trying something new! No tutu required.

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