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Self-defense is an essential skill for anyone to learn. It’s like a fire extinguisher: hopefully you’ll never need to use it, but it could end up saving your life. Luckily there are tons of ways to learn and practice self-defense, whether by learning a formal martial arts style or simply practicing the basic skills in your home gym. At Punch King, we’re big fans of MMA and Muay Thai, in particular, but any style of martial art, even boxing, can be more than adequate in preparing you for a physical encounter. Strange as it may seem for us to say,...

Punching bags aren’t just for martial arts or boxing training: they’re a great workout tool for general fitness. A good punching bag workout combines cardio and strength training all in the same session, using footwork, punching, kicking and other strikes to get your heartrate up and your muscles working for a very efficient all-around exercise routine. Most importantly, though, using a punching bag for fitness is fun: the best exercise routine is the one you actually like, and fitness training with a punching bag is one of the most immediately enjoyable and accessible forms of exercise out there. We’re not...

Kickboxing is, perhaps, the most underrated combat sport: it’s the foundation and predecessor of mixed martial arts, and a long-practiced tradition in its own right. Kickboxing doesn’t have the prestige or mass appeal of hands-only boxing, but still cultivates in its practitioners a skillset that’s more useful and applicable in real-world self-defense situations. Of course it’s also true that kickboxing is a great form of exercise for general fitness. Many people practice non-contact cardio kickboxing as a fitness routine, but traditional combat-focused kickboxing is certainly a rigorous workout as well. Although there are many styles of kickboxing, perhaps the most...

Boxing is one of the oldest sports in existence, being practiced for over 4,000 years. Since Ancient Greece, formalized and rule-governed fist-fighting has endured as a beloved spectator sport. It’s also deceptive in its physicality: boxing is as much about art and subtlety as it is about raw strength and power. As past champions of both sports will tell you, boxing is like chess: outwitting your opponent is as important as outlasting or out-punching them. From the smallest strip mall gym to the Olympic Games, from young children to long-time veterans, boxers all over the world push themselves to be...

  MMA may only have come to prominence in the 1990s, but it’s already the biggest fighting phenomenon in the world – and for good reason. Mixed martial arts is as real as it gets. It’s the truest test of a fighter’s technical and physical abilities: a bloody cage match where no single style or technique is guaranteed to bring victory. Versatility, experience, and preparation are all essential to a fighter’s success; and that means lots of training. At Punch King we want to help MMA fighters of all stripes, whether rising prospects or veterans, career professionals or weeknight hobbyists....