KillSomething, I had a heart arrhythmia that was pretty much taken care of, but it requires monitoring. I'll have to get a small internal loop monitor implanted under the skin in my chest. It won't protrude really, but if it gets hit, it might break. I can get away with training or sparring once in a while, but I could get in trouble if I sign up to compete at any point. I'm also studying to become a lawyer, which complicates things. I think I'm very capable of training, but these things make it difficult to compete.
Hey, I think that's awesome and you should go for it. I just tend to agree with getting the experience as an assitant would load you tons of experience before having your own fighters. I also say this as another young guy with tons of sparring and just a few fights, but paying attention to what my trainers did and the talks we had. It's really the little things you have to consider though. I'm writing from the perspective that you probably want to expand to beyond just working with your friend. You goals as a trainer - Do you want to be able to develop youth and give them something to look forward to. Do you want to develop amateurs with a solid foundation. Do you want to develop professional fighters? Sticking up for your fighters and vice versa. You are going to get a different cross-section of people depending on your goals. Some of the younger guys might have more emotional problems depending if and where you have a community project. You will probably want to be prepared with couching techniques based on your target population you want to work with. Also this ties in to money in that depending on your cross-section of athletes and area, some people will have more money. It also cuts into your money if you are working with folks who may not be as reliable. Time - Somewhat obvious, but not as obvious it's effect on your body and the constant in and out, and constant thinking. Pretty much every evening you will be driving to the gym and spending an hour or two with your fighter or fighters. It takes out a big chunk of your social, family, or extracurricular time. You have to have a work-out plan and adjust to what you are seeing in the gym. If you have multiple fighters you have to consider how you will spread your time and what your fighters should be doing when they are not working with you. I kinda like Beristein's method because of this. This also means spending time outside of the gym thinking of your work-out plans, watching video, watching out for the competition, smoozing with other trainers and making connections, watching out . It also means the constant traveling each weekend, and your road diet. Trainers usually don't get to take care of their own bodies because they don't have nearly as much time. Facilities - This may also tie in with your goals. If you are at another trainers gym you will need connections to get listed and having time and space in the gym. If you are going in cold they will want to know your experience. Facilities, location, experience, and normal fees will probably set the price you will have to charge. Even if you want to charge cheap for your services this can screw up the supply and demand for fellow trainers in the gym, who might be relying on that money. You are gonna want to make friends with the other trainers so you can learn new couching techniques and so your guys have people to spar with and have different looks. Sometimes you are gonna have to stick up for your fighter and your fighters for you. Sometimes other trainers aren't fans of individual fighters and that can cause some rifts in relationships. Also depending on where the gym is this is gonna determine who goes there, like is it easy for people to get to, is there enough parking, if they are young is it within walking distance. Payment - Which is always going to be an issue with different people. When you are training friends you might want to cut them a deal. Also if you are charging some people cheaper, new people will hear the price and will want the same treatment. Payment may also depend on your experience, the facilities you are at and your expected expenses. It's also gonna cost you gas money, and maybe airfare, and definitely hotel rooms once you start. It would take a while, but you will want to establish a budget. If you are at a community center there are ways to apply for funding that can help you get monies for traveling and gear. You will probably want to make friends with equipement stores and brand dealers to help sponser your program or fighters. Development - You might know the end goal of how you want you fighters to fight, but are you ready to work with different levels and different ages, and even more complicated when you are working with people at different levels at the same time. This also ties into managing your fighters and match-making, and if your fighters are ready for tournaments. A lot of other trainers will tell you they have a guy with no fights, but won't tell you the guy has been sparring for 5 years. So I'm sure there are other things to list and add and it sounds like a lot. I'm sure you are aware of all of the things from your training experiences, but it's easy to forget all the little things. It's all doable since you don't do it all at once and you will learn to manage your time. Just wanted to throw those things into the mix because the main thing is deciding if you are ready for that level of commitment and what type of lifestyle you want to have outside of training as well.
Appreciate every word of advice HS, thanks a lot for taking the time. Sometimes the things that seem most obvious are the most easy to overlook, just like you said, in boxing, as in life.
Oh yeah, no problem. I've read your posts, and you give great breakdowns of fights, techniques, and tactics. I think the technical aspects will not be a problem for you to teach. I was just thinking about the things my trainers told me and had to do over the years. Actually when you mentioned running a community org I thought of a trainer who partnered with a non-profit and has a facility on their site. It's pretty great because it's open and free for all the neighborhood kids. He's got a good operation going where the fighters he trains to fight pay dues that help pay for the whole thing. Took a few years to get the thing running.
That's exactly the type of thing I want to do, especially since as a PI lawyer I expect to have lots of contact with non-profit orgs. It's a great opportunity to get kids off the street.
Ah that makes sense, I only think it's weird if the person is young enough and able to compete and choose to coach instead. If you can't compete but know the game then you might make a better coach.
Ironically, this applies to almost any field. I work in academia/science, and an average professor who has not really achieved anything great, but has this attitude of an expert, literally ruins people talent and all intentions to work/improve
