Bali’s Boxing Evolution: How the Trend is Taking Over the Island

Mystical temples, endless green rice paddies, beautiful beaches, the friendly locals and, of course, delicious food; a holiday to Bali may last forever. All year round, Bali is a popular holiday destination for young and old alike. Are you looking for peace and quiet, sun, sea or beach? Or would you rather be active (surfing, hiking, cycling, boxing) and explore the cultural sights? Bali has it all. Whether you are looking for a sun holiday or want to go on a scenic tour.

In the last years you see a new trend arising in the expat and tourism community on Bali. People are looking for a way to stay fit and healthy during their stay in Bali. The most obvious activities in Bali are surfing and fitness. But the boxing gyms are responding to this trend to opening their gyms and focussing on tourists as well as locals. Many different tourists and expats want to try something different and something that is poplar in the country they are reside in. In Asia the boxing sport is seen as a prominent and very popular sport. It does not matter if you are an experience boxer or have never boxed before all the different schools offer classes for different levels. Even if you are at a pro level you can train here for big competitions. It is useful to do some research about the different types of boxing and schools before choosing one to train at.

Kickboxing

Kickboxing thus involves fighting with the feet, fists and the shins. The sport is a combination of boxing and karate kicking techniques. Kickboxing fights go over three rounds and over five rounds in title fights.

Boxing

Naturally, boxing also fights in various weight classes and then also in quite a few leading federations. Of the types of martial arts, boxing is the only sport in which only fists are fought.

MMA

MMA stands for Mixed Martial Arts and is a combination of the different types of martial arts. You can think of kickboxing, wrestling, Thai boxing, etc. So, a fighter has to excel in different disciplines to achieve something in MMA.

Muay Thai

Muay Thai, or literally ‘Thai Boxing’, is a martial art that originated in Thailand. Muay Thai consists of standing fighting mixed with a variety of clinching techniques.

Muay Thai is also known as the “art of eight limbs”, it is characterised by the use of fists, elbows, knees and shins as opposed to “two points” (fists) in boxing and “four points” (hands and feet) used in other martial arts, such as ‘regular’ kickboxing.

The boxing trend is really setting a mark for the tourists. There are constant opening new boxing schools around Canggu, Seminyak and kuta especially. They offer different classes and even training camps for tourists and expats.

Because of this upcoming trend there are many boxing matches that you can watch as a spectator. Most of the time you can buy a ticket for these matches online or at the show. This is a spectacular experience and even if you do not box yourself, it is a cool experience. The ambience and the scenery are very nice, and the people are really welcoming.

To conclude if you are in Bali and looking for new things to try and like sports boxing is something you should give a go. The community is very warm, welcoming and there are classes for everyone from beginner to advanced.