Big thanks to my episode partner XMartial. Head over to www.xmartial.com/?ref=GVARGA and use discount code "GABRIELVARGA" for 10% off.

As a Cuban I can tell that the only difference between an amateur Cuban boxer and a professional is the salary. They train 24/7 since 6 or 7 years old.

@furyano1251

5 ай бұрын

My Grandfather was a Cuban boxer along with many of my family members. They also practiced judo hard. It was an honor and a gift to learn some cool stuff from my grandfather. I still practice some Cuban style drills in the gym even though I get goofy looks incorporating dancing amongst to many things to list. I understand how they help giving a little bit different edge in sparring.

@Yoandrys23

5 ай бұрын

@@furyano1251 Same for me, we didn't have physical education at my school, we had to choose between baseball, judo or wrestling. So I practiced Judo from elementary school to middle school. In high school I did Karate and in college I trained Sanda and there my hit coach was a gold medalist in the Pan American, Central American and Caribbean Games in the 80s we even trained once with Félix Savón who was a 3 time Olympic gold medalist .

@DarkDoughnutsVids

5 ай бұрын

Cubans are the Thais of the boxing world

@paulcris107

5 ай бұрын

@@furyano1251what training does Cuba boxing coporate to improve footwork and defense would love to know as a young upcoming boxer

@nuclearforce55

4 ай бұрын

@@paulcris107 kzread.info71rySGSq9tg?si=E0hlacj82PohOhW7 ,

The Cuban Boxing Team reputation so well known and profound that even MMA fighters in the past traveled to Cuba to work on their boxing for months and come back with vast improvements to their stand up game so they deserve the reputation they have.

@Immigrantlovesamerica

5 ай бұрын

Yup. I remember Matt brown did it

@nduduzomkhize3300

5 ай бұрын

@@Immigrantlovesamerica Didn't he do for wrestling only?

As a martial artist, i csn say the key to seeming like a good dancer is just shadowboxing without explicitly throwing techniques

I've heard Cuban schools have an interesting philosophy on making all their fighters southpaw regardless of hand dominant. Something about the jab being the most important punch and therefore should be the most emphasized.

@juelz713

5 ай бұрын

Also the revolution wants them to be good boxers

@77Sebby

5 ай бұрын

This is bs lol

@user-wq4nf4dk3s

5 ай бұрын

@@77Sebby So they just happen to have a much higher ratio of lefties to righties in Cuba? Could you elaborate?

@77Sebby

5 ай бұрын

@@user-wq4nf4dk3s yes, but most of Cuban boxers train since age 6 and they are complete in both stances. Since they rely on footwork to fight different angles. I've been here for 2 months and there's no such thing as government influence or forcing people to be left handed..

@user-wq4nf4dk3s

5 ай бұрын

@@77Sebby I know they are taught to be ambidextrous, but I'm talking about the default stance that most cuban fighters seen in amateurs and even professionals are southpaw. I did not suggest they are forced through power or authority to only be southpaw, only that they are encouraged to train southpaw instead of the standard western philosophy of "dominant hand always in the back". I would have to guess Cubans choose to default to southpaw for example when the match starts (even when switch hitters), because of the advantages that being in a southpaw stance creates vs an orthodox opponent

6:00 that’s one thing I noticed too when I started doing kickboxing. I also dislike dancing but at the time I was forcing myself to be more social and my friends were always at parties, which meant I couldn’t avoid dancing. One thing I started to do was trying out different footwork patterns while integrating some arm movements from warm ups, while trying to keep the rhythm. I don’t know if it looked good or not but this way I managed to have some fun and get out of my head, so if you ever end up in a situation where you feel like you should be dancing you can try falling back on your kickboxing training ahaha

@DKRYMMA

5 ай бұрын

Jump rope I swear gives dancing rhythm

@morenoh149

5 ай бұрын

@@DKRYMMAjump rope gives crazy dancing energy. Not everyone can jump around on the dance floor

@jeri_intensifies1105

5 ай бұрын

I DID THE SAME FUCKING THING AND IT WORKED EXACTLY AS WITH YOU 😂

Worked out on a heavy bag at a resort gym in Mexico that was mounted to a track on the ceiling. Had to chase and move to hit it for about 20ft and back. Very unusual feeling and was a lot of fun vs standing stationary.

@awdwadawda352

5 ай бұрын

I have a 40kg bag that likes to swing, great fun!

Remind me of Tomoki Kameda. Japanese boxer that comes from a family of boxers to my knowledge, moved to Mexico when he was 15 i believe to up his boxing game and it did wonders.

Last week during that shadowboxing with the pairs one guy almost lost an eye after eye poking. Watch out for that.

Great job bro! I’m inspired by your humility in trying new things you haven’t mastered yet. Great insights. Profound stuff here!

Great timing. I live in Ecuador and just saw two guys doing the knee/head tag game with a coach watching them. If it wasn't for this video I wouldn't have had a clue what they were doing.

Very good video. One thing you didn't mention but it's a principal part of their training is they divide their training sessions into two parts. First one is called Escuela de Boxeo or Boxing School where you practice technique in the air. For instance, a 1-2-3 and the appropriate defense for this combo. So they practice all these techniques without contact in the Escuela de Boxeo or Boxing School. The second part is called Escuela de Combate or Combat School. Now, they glove up and practice the same techniques against each other.

@j.k7665

8 күн бұрын

No wonder those athletes from Cuba are so good.

Another great video. Nice moves Gabriel.

thanks about talking about cuban boxing ❤️ im cuban myself and started doing it a few years ago… i get the idea of a few bags and you are constantly in movement

Awesome vid. I find the part about trying to recreate being stunned to work on footwork very interesting and I like their shadow b style a lot

What an amazing video Gabriel, Cubans have their advantages, in terms of training and all, in our gym, we often do the drill, where you touch your foot, and then punch, we go jab, touch the right foot, jab cross, touch the left foot, and we use jumping ropes, for footwork, as well as those calf exercises, while improving footwork, and I think, shadow sparring is definetly something, I should look forward to improving, thank you do much Gabe, I will look forward, to implement the rest of these training methods, and use, the ones, that really suit me.

Excellent video. Thank you!

Thank you, noted 🙏

We have always played these tap games in my boxing gym, but while most of the other trainers don't want students to use gloves, as they fear that gloves might encourage them to try to hit to hard instead of light, fast and relaxed, I've seen people dislocating their finger on another persons collarbone, breaking a finger on another persons forehead, thrusting fingers in another persons eyes or nose... and therefore I always advocate for gloves, just act as if you don't wear them... but wear them. Our versions are... A: tap on the head, but only one hand at a time, and starting point of the hand is from your lap so your hands have to get faster. B: Same as A but tap the inside of the shoulders, so you can train to block with the outside of the shoulder. C: Same as B but do it hopping on one leg. D: combine A and B but you're both on your knees, so you have to use your hips more to evade. E: No hands, try to step on each others feet. F: Combine A, B and E. G: tap the knees. H: Combine F and G while you're also allowed to block.

Was on vacation on Cuba a couple of years ago. A friend was there practicing boxning. Had to visit her and try some real cuban boxing. Great experience!

Speaking of Cuba, if you want to make a lot of people happy, make a 5 things video on Rigondeaux!

Thank you sir

Love seeing Cuban boxing training. Great insight Gabriel. I took the time a couple of weeks ago to see which countries have won the most medals and gold medals in boxing and it turns out that the US is number one perhaps on a per capita basis maybe Cuba metals more than the US?

Cuban + Soviet style is so much fun to watch

The bags that move around the gym I've never seen those anywhere in the states, that would be cool if that could be implemented.

I trained for many years with Cuban boxing and kicking boxing coaches and we did a lot of this . Note fighters that came out of our gym Jorge game bred masvidal and Yoel Romero and Alex Bruce Leeroy

the second guy is doing an olympic style warmup

Doing this for different styles would be massive

they have nice movements

Cuban + Soviet style seems like a fun combo

I guess they’re chilling in Cuba

I am American but i must say Cuba has excellent athletes.!

great

Time to take some dancing classes then😂😂 tho how do I use boxing footwork to improve my dancing skills :")

So much of what has become different training and fighting styles on a country to country basis is due to the national character of the people doing the training. I think you'd have to be Cuban and have that kind of intuitive rythm and stamina from working out long hours in high humidity to get a lot out of this style in a fight.

@blackmetalcumbia

5 ай бұрын

is the music like salsa merengue etc natural footwork baby!

Great video! You could do the same with russian school of boxing!

Amazing stuff! Gonna do these

i was just learning how to throw hooks kinda like the cuban style, youtube must be dragging our algorithm together

When they do the touch drill to the head without gloves, is there any concern with someone getting poked in the eye?

"If you can't dance, you can't fight." -Bruce Lee, Hong-Kong Cha-Cha Dance Champion

Can you pleas make a video about the technique of donovan wisse

SIR CAN U PLZ MAKE VIDEO ON KICKBOXING HEAVY BAG WORK SIR PLZ

Oh hey, cubans represent

Gabriel Varga If your are a MMA fighter what will be your game plan to beat a daghestani .

They drow figure on the floor For footwork

They seem to train like karate point fighters

you should look into Russian/Soviet style Boxing, Mexican style Boxing, & Japanese style Boxing

Im not Cuban, but I love Cuban style.

Cuban amateurs are excellent

Bivols boxing would be good for muay thai and kickboxing without the bounce

I heard that CUBAN style derived from SOVIET boxing.

You should collab with @charlessalbox ! Really great cuban boxing channel on youtube!

Soviet style is great too.

Does light sparring even exist in boxing? I don't think it does.

Cuban people like dancing Salsa so their boxers' footwork is very good and fancy

I think the best boxing gyms are in the hoods

@TheKillaMethod

5 ай бұрын

Facts

@BlackStone_Death

5 ай бұрын

They ARE the top tier.

@tophernolastname2378

5 ай бұрын

Respectfully disagree sir, the best boxing gyms are the ones that are closest to your house & not overpriced.

@johnacker4959

5 ай бұрын

@@tophernolastname2378ill raise you: the best boxing gyms are the ones that are CHEAP, CLOSE, & IN THE HOOD.

@theawesomest2850

5 ай бұрын

@@tophernolastname2378soooo..the ones in the hood?

The greatest athlete to ever leave Cuba is YOEL “THE SOILDER OF GOD” ROMERO just look at his boxing, he ain’t even a boxer mf a bronze medalist in Graeco-Roman wrestling

@esscate

5 ай бұрын

You just wanted to join the conversation or something?

@indianpotatofarmer6508

5 ай бұрын

@@esscate yup

Gabriel, what’s your ethnic origin? Your last name confuses me.

Cuban boxing is so great that they have never been at the top lol. Over hyped nonsense. Their boxing isn't anything special. And always comes in second to the US, or Slavs. Loma made Rigo look like a child, for example lol.

@combatsportlover6919

5 ай бұрын

The Cubans DOMINATE in Olympic and Amateur Boxing and that is a fact. I have a few points to make. 1. Cubans have not been allowed to turn professional for decades and have had to defect from Cuba in order to do so. By the time many Cuban amateurs do manage to defect(The few that can) they are passed their prime years. 2. There is adjustment that needs to be made from Amateur to Pro. Learning to pace yourself for a 10 to 12 round fight as amateurs are 3 rds. Fighting on the inside, sitting down on shots, etc. A lot of Cubans fighters are passed prime by the time they defect and make the adjustments. 3. Rigo was a natural 118 pounder who fought at 122 for the bigger fights. Once he outclassed Donaire every big name opponent or champion in and around his weight class avoided him like the plague. Some of them moved up into the next division to avoid that man. The only way he could get a big money fight was with someone who was just as talented, younger and in his prime, and far naturally bigger. 4. As mentioned previously Rigo was nearing 40(and possibly already in his 40s), a natural 118 pounder, facing a fighter who rehydrates close to or into the 140s. 5. With everything else going against Rigo we add in that Loma represented style problems. Rigo is a fighter who tends to fight at a slow pace (Not indicative of every Cuban fighter) and he general controls his opponents pace through hard counter punches that make them hesitant to throw. Rigo doesn't have the same pop at Jr Lightweight that he has at Batamweight and Loma was able to match his footwork and outwork him behind the jab. 6. Cuban fighters have definitely been at the top. Obviously in amateur boxing but several have been professional champions. This is without taking the typical trajectory of the American or Mexican fighter.

@Praw-Too-Ehleem

5 ай бұрын

@@combatsportlover6919 you must be cuban lol

@combatsportlover6919

5 ай бұрын

@@Praw-Too-Ehleem Nope. American.

@MegaMarky82

3 ай бұрын

@@combatsportlover6919well said, I’m not Cuban either, I’m Irish, train Cuban style. We had a Cuban coach also in Ireland a few Olympics ago, to help train our team. They are awesome boxers and people

Coach you are so insightful you really need your own podcast. I think you and Frank Mir need your own podcasts.