What's the point of taking up kickboxing training? Well, for one, losing weight seems to be a pretty common goal. I'm sure you know at least a handful of people who make shedding off those extra pounds a New Years resolution every single year. Most people end up quitting whatever their workout regimen is, usually involves a lot of running, within a few months. By doing something you will actually enjoy, you will greatly enhance the chance of you sticking with your workout routine long enough in order to make it turn into a habit. Once it becomes a habit, keeping it up with quite easy.

The reason kickboxing is such a great way to get and stay in shape is because it's fun. Now don't get me wrong, running is great too and many people enjoy it, but for lots of people, it can be quite boring. With kickboxing, not only are you getting a great workout, you are always learning to defend yourself at the same time. Also, because there are so many different variations to what you can do, it will keep your mind occupied and make it more enjoyable.

If you are going to do kickboxing purely for the health benefits, then all you really need to do it with intensity. Throwing lazy punches and kicks won't give you much of a workout. Also, you need to do it consistently. Just like any exercise regimen, the longer you consistently do it, the stronger the habit of doing it will be.

Now if you're also doing kickboxing training to learn how to defend yourself, here is the #1 key you need to know to accomplish that. It all comes down to repetition. Often times, students will make the mistake of wanting to learn new moves way too soon. They think that the more moves you know, the better of a fighter you will be. That's not true. You can know how to perform a lot of moves but if it's not second nature, if you have to think about it, then it'll almost be pointless. The reason is that during a fight, things happen very fast. You don't have time to figure out which attack you're going to use.

The only way to make things become second nature is by doing it enough. If you play sports, you should know what I mean. In the beginning, you have to think about everything. The form, footwork, timing, I mean everything. Let's take tennis for example. When you first swing at a ball with the right technique, it will feel awkward. But after doing it hundreds or thousands of times, it will become naturally and you no longer have to think about it. This is the same with kickboxing or any other forms of martial arts.

Being able to do the basic techniques like a punch or a kick is more important than learning how to do fancy moves. Take coach John Wooden for example. He has more NCAA championships than any other coach in college basketball history. One of his training methods for his players is to make them do the basic things like shooting a free throw over and over. He could have a player that is the best in the game at shooting, yet he will still make him do hundreds of free throws. The reason for this is that anyone can make a shot when nothing is distracting them but It takes tremendous practice to make a shot under intense pressure.

When you can master the basics in kickboxing, you will be ahead of most people who just want to learn new tricks. So what does mastering the basics entail? Doing the same thing over and over again until you can do simple things like the perfect punch or block without even thinking about it. That is called mastery.

Check out this video of Buakaw, one of Thailand's greatest Muay Thai fighters, in training.

If you look at his training, it's not hard to see why he's one of the best. It's everyday repetition of the fundamentals. Of course, taking up kickboxing doesn't mean your goal is to be the best in the world or even all the good at it. For you, it could just mean wanting to learn some basic technques of attacking and defeinding. For others it could just be wanting to lose a few pounds. Either way, to achieve your goal, you need to make sure you are persistent.

Success in anything, whether it's to lose a few pounds, become a world class athlete, or just being able to walk up a flight of stairs without almost passing out, will take determination and patience. If you stick with it long enough to make it a habit, as I mentioned earlier, you won't really need motivation to get yourself to perform the necessary actions to reach your goals. That's the point you should aim at getting to. With kickboxing, it's no different but hopefully you will find it enjoyable enough to not even have to struggle much, even in the beginning, to do the training necessary to achieve whatever your goal is in taking kickboxing.

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