How can you combine a combat discipline that uses fists with a healthy lifestyle? Well, in a very interesting way

In the midst of the boom that are having different physical activities, some already converted IGNORE INTO sports, new specialties continue to emerge that mainly mix the best of other disciplines to merge IGNORE INTO one. However, Boxing Yoga breaks paradigms because it is born from the union of two diametrically opposed activities.

Leer en español: Boxing Yoga: La inusual mezcla de deporte con meditación

The aforementioned combination was born in the United Kingdom, specifically in London in 2011 and its main objective was to innovate the way to be in shape by understanding our body, according to BBCmundo.com. Today, it has spread to Europe, Asia, and the United States.

The same article provides more details in this regard as Boxing Yoga was created by Kajza Ekberg and Matt Garcia, they were inspired by the physical demands of boxing movements and techniques applied in the Ashtanga Vinyasa method, belonging to Yoga. The reason? The benefits that generated in the boxers.

Eckber said in remarks for BBC Mundo: "I was a yoga teacher and had a past as a dancer in ballet and contemporary dance, and I had to learn a lot about boxing to see exactly what the fighters needed." Now, it is fair and necessary to define separately both boxing and yoga.

Eckber continued saying that this was how he knew "where we had to emphasize with the stretch, where they tired, where the muscles were not balanced. Little by little, we created a training program aimed at them, also adding the importance of breathing, relaxation, and recovery ".

You may be interested in reading: Hot Yoga: A high performance practice

What is boxing?

The portal Concepto Definición refers to boxing as a contact sport in which you can only fight using your fists, which, in turn, are protected by gloves. The rules indicate that the opponent who hits the most effective number of his opponent on the area of the waist and inside the ring is the winner.

Boxing is also known as boxing or pugilism, and is one of the oldest combat disciplines, along with the fight. It's strategy. It is not just about hitting but rather about knowing how to mix certain skills and abilities to not only allow more to hit but to receive fewer blows, points out Concepto Definición.

Egypt and the East at the time of the fourth millennium BC are the places to which the origin of this traditional sport is attributed. In the Games of Greece, in fact, it was one of the disciplines that more people mobilized. Finally, the same article reviews some details specific to the sport, such as the presence of a referee, responsible for starting and finishing the fight and if deemed necessary when there is a knockout blow, the measures of the ring or ring, between 20 and 24 p.

What is Yoga about?

Webconsultas.com defines it as a lifestyle that cares for, heals and strengthens the body, mind, and spirit through the systematic practice of breathing, meditation, and asanas (postures to help purify the body). Its origin is much longer than that of boxing because in India it is a millenary practice that today is already considered by a sector of the western world as the ideal system of physical and spiritual conditioning, with a sustainable growth over time.

According to the article of Webconsultas, there are texts of millenary traditions and referred to the two most important topics of yoga. These same books detail more than one hundred types of yoga such as Hatha Yoga (typical of the Western world), as well as Kundalini Yoga, Bikram Yoga or facial yoga, which is used to relax and tone the face.

Beneficial for athletes

For BBC Mundo, the BoxingYoga has diversified and now benefits athletes from different sports, including disciplines as varied as rugby and martial arts. One session repeats the same exercises on two occasions, but each part focuses on different aspects of the training.

The guard of the arms, the movements in both defense and attack, and this includes known strokes such as the rectum, the hook or the uppercut, are the movements on the basis of which the training routines are executed.

The key is that the exercises are done avoiding the aggressive aspect of boxing and thus maintain the line of non-violence of yoga. "Keeping the guard is one of the positions that are harder to most of the people, as they end up being distracted by not being able to maintain the position," Ekberg told BBC Mundo.

It's not a matter of weight

Some opinions reflected by Revista.es ensure that BoxingYoga is not based on weight loss or increased cardiovascular capacity, but reduces the risk of injury by suppressing the boxer's impact routines.

The article says that losing weight is not the main objective, but clarifies that it is something that usually happens as a result of training. The truth is that people do it as part of a larger regime that includes a change in their diet and mental attitude to improve the body, according to the words of its creator, Kajza Eckberg

Its founders emphasize that the BoxingYoga is an ideal complement for people to strengthen body, coordination, and flexibility. "One of the changes in the position in relation to yoga is to place the arms in guard position instead of the hands together as a prayer", as commented by Eckberg to Revista.es. Latin America does not have as much development in this activity, however, little by little begin to incorporate instructors in this part of the world and gain followers in the wide world of fitness.

LatinAmerican Post | Onofre Zambrano

Translated from: 'Boxing Yoga: La inusual mezcla de deporte con meditación'

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