After an hour of exercises with standard boxing training implements such as skipping ropes and medicine balls, players finish their sessions with around half an hour of boxing tuition.
All in brawls against Petone in next years? Jubilee Cup would be ill-advised, as players undertake boxing training to hone their fitness skills. By Tim O?Connell Under the guidance of former British boxer Robbie Martin, players from the senior sides of Petone Rugby Club have been hitting the pads to build up their fitness for the 2009 season. After an hour of exercises with standard boxing training implements such as skipping ropes and medicine balls, players finish their sessions with around half an hour of boxing tuition. ? Martin, who runs Petone Sport and Boxing gym in the village, believes boxing training is possibly the best exercise for players in terms of all round fitness. ?I?ve trained the New Zealand sevens team, and you?d think they?d be pretty fit. ?Well, after a few minutes of boxing some of them were just off throwing up.? ? As well as building overall strength, Martin has also been teaching them the fundamentals of boxing, from achieving power in their punches, through to body position and protecting themselves from blows. Premier side player Greg Walker admitted the boxing was tiring work, but believed it would make a difference, come game time. ?I?d actually be keen for a few all in brawls now.? Co-coach Peter Green said the initiative came after players expressed an interest in starting their pre-season training slightly earlier. ?We just thought why not try something a bit different this year?? The focus of boxing training was to build up the core strength of players around the stomach and abdomen, in the hope of giving them the edge, as well as preventing injury.? ?People don?t realise that statistically, New Zealand players have quite bad core strength, and that?s when you start to get the bad backs and what have you.? Martin said he was impressed with the way the Petone boys had embraced the boxing regime. ?Their core strength has improved considerably since we started.? ?