July 2026

🥊 Thrive Boxing Team Newsletter

Positively. Respectfully. Together.

Welcome to the latest edition of the Thrive Boxing Team Newsletter.

As always, thank you to every boxer, parent, coach, volunteer and supporter who continues to make Thrive such a special place. Our club continues to grow, not just in numbers, but in the culture, we are creating together.

At Thrive, success isn't only measured by medals and titles. It is measured by confidence built, friendships formed, resilience developed and the willingness to turn up, work hard and support one another.

A Message from the Coach

Firstly, thank you.

Coaching this club continues to be one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. Seeing complete beginners become confident young people, experienced boxers helping newcomers, and families supporting one another reminds me why we started Thrive.

We have always said that boxing is about far more than learning to punch.

It's about developing respectful young people, building confidence, learning discipline, showing kindness, taking responsibility and becoming the best version of yourself—inside and outside the ring.

Every single member contributes to that culture.

Whether you've boxed for five years or five weeks...

You matter.

Boxing Classes in Norwich Tuesday and Thursday at The Kickstop Whiffler Road

Club Success

The last few months have been incredibly busy.

We've continued to see fantastic performances from our competitive squad, with boxers representing Thrive across regional, national and international competitions.

What makes me most proud isn't simply the victories it's the attitude shown before, during and after every bout.

✔ Respect for opponents

✔ Sportsmanship

✔ Courage under pressure

✔ Supporting teammates

Those qualities are what make champions.

Congratulations to everyone who has stepped through the ropes this season.

David Pegado u65kg has had an amazing tournament in Braga winning Gold; 1 UN Points win; 2 x RSC. David has secured his place for the Europeans; you continue to raise the bar at a World Class Level

Follow David on Instagram @paydaypegda @dapegadoboxer

Norwich Amateur Boxer David Pegado

Welcome to Our New Members

A huge welcome to everyone who has recently joined Thrive.

Starting boxing can feel daunting.

Please remember...

Everyone in this club was new once.

Ask questions.

Make mistakes.

Learn.

Enjoy the process.

Our members and coaches are always happy to help.

Harper, Lilly, Annalise, Dylan, Jake and Gilbey – well done for taking the first step in coming though the doors.

Boxer of the Week Lilly

Parent Corner

Parents (& Grandparents) are a huge part of what makes Thrive successful.

Thank you for:

• Getting children to training

• Supporting the growth of the team by adding reviews.

• Encouraging effort rather than results

The environment around young athletes has a huge influence on their confidence.

Your encouragement really does make a difference.

Our Club Values

Everything we do is built around three simple values:

🥇 PositivelyWe encourage effort, celebrate progress and look for solutions.

🤝 RespectfullyEveryone deserves to feel welcome, valued and safe.

❤️ TogetherWe achieve far more when we support each other.

These values don't stop when training finishes.

They apply to all aspects of life.

Coach's Tip

Progress isn't always visible.

Some weeks you'll feel amazing.

Other weeks you'll feel like you're standing still.

Keep turning up.

Consistency beats motivation.

The athletes who improve the most aren't always the most talented.

They're the ones who keep showing up, overcome barriers, push their personal goals, get those runs in.

Club Reminders

Monthly Membership

Thank you to everyone who has moved across to monthly membership payments.

This has made club administration significantly easier and allows us to spend more time coaching and developing the club.

If you still need help setting this up, please speak to one of the coaching team.

From September

Tuesday and Thursday 6pm Welcome to come and have a look this evening or next week. Junior £7 per session Adult £8 PAYG

Or Standing Order payable first of the month1 session per week £25 2 sessions per week £40

England Boxing Registration

If you haven't completed your England Boxing registration, please do this as soon as possible.

Remember that registrations need to be completed when you join:

Go on England Boxing Website - The Locker Tab - https://www.englandboxing.org/news_articles/the-locker-adding-member-roles-to-a-club-profile/

Eastern Counties

Thrive Boxing Team

Tier 1 Membership (FREE)

Medicals & Registration

Competitive boxers should keep an eye on expiry dates for:

·       Medicals

·       England Boxing registrations

·       Ensure your age verification is completed by uploading your passport or driving license.

Please don't leave renewals until the last minute.

Safeguarding

Creating a safe environment remains our number one priority.

If any boxer or parent ever has a concern, however small it may seem, please speak to one of the coaching team.

Everyone deserves to enjoy boxing in an environment where they feel:

✔ Safe

✔ Included

✔ Respected

✔ Listened to

Volunteer Opportunities

As the club continues to grow, so does the need for volunteers.

We are currently looking for people who may be interested in helping with:

·       Club administration

·       Event organisation

·       Fundraising

·       Photography and social media

·       Coaching (Level 1 and above)

·       Club Secretary duties

No previous experience is necessary.

If you'd like to become more involved, we'd love to hear from you.

Looking Ahead

We have lots to look forward to over the coming months, including:

🥊 Skills development sessions

🥊 Club sparring opportunities

🥊 Home show November 2026

🥊 Regional competitions

🥊 National championships

Keep an eye on our social media and WhatsApp groups for updates.

Thank You

Finally, thank you for believing in what we're building.

Thrive isn't simply a boxing club.

It's a community.

Every session, every competition, every volunteer, every parent and every boxer plays a part in creating an environment where people can grow in confidence, challenge themselves and support one another.

Thank you for being part of the journey.

We can't wait to see what the rest of the year brings.

Positively. Respectfully. Together.

The Thrive Boxing Coaching Team

🌐 www.thriveboxing.co.uk

Coaching Corner

Positioning Before Punching​

Positioning before punching is one of the most critical, yet most overlooked, elements in boxing, and its importance cannot be overstated. Boxers and coaches need to understand positioning first, ahead of punching. How often do you see a boxer open with a combination, then pivot off moving straight onto the ropes, giving away their domination and space of the ring? When watching a contest, you’ll see both boxers moving up and down parallel with the ropes, both staying in a straight line. It’s worst when you see a coach doing pads with their boxer, both again moving parallel with the ropes.

​As a boxer moves, too often their opponent will mirror or move with them, rather than moving against the boxer’s initial movement. The boxer who reads the space well controls the contest or spar, while the other boxer plays a passive role. Boxers need to get better at reading what’s in front of them and start moving with intent. Getting themselves into the best position available before punching, then using that awareness to exit the contact area into a space that puts them in control.

​When a boxer establishes position first, every punch becomes part of a sequence rather than an isolated action. This creates cleaner targets, safer angles, and clearer pathways for combinations or exits. Positioning is what allows a boxer to hit without being hit, and without it, even technically sound punches become predictable, inefficient, or risky. Domination of the bout through technical and tactical superiority is a key part of the scoring criteria, and boxers need to be in the position that suits their own style. So, they need to position themselves before punching, to gain dominance and to have the space behind them. That last point matters, in my opinion, it’s important to have the space behind you. Most ball sports need the space in front. Boxing needs it behind.

​Many boxers fail to appreciate the value of positioning because early success often comes from aggression rather than intelligence. At beginner and intermediate levels, physicality and relentless output can win exchanges, creating a false sense of progress. Traditional coaching structures can unintentionally reinforce this too. Boxers are frequently taught what to do combinations, defensive movements, pad routines but rarely coached on when or why to use them. As a result, they learn movements in isolation, disconnected from what’s happening in front of them.

​Positioning is also hard to grasp because it’s invisible work. On pads or in drills, poor positioning is rarely punished, so the boxer assumes they’re performing well. It’s only in sparring, where someone is moving against them, not for them. That the gaps in timing, distance, and angle show up. This is why I’ve moved away from just telling boxers what good positioning looks like. Telling doesn’t teach it. What teaches it is putting a boxer in situations where bad positioning gets punished and good positioning gets rewarded small games, positional sparring, drills with a live, reactive opponent. So, the boxer must find the answer with their feet and their eyes, not from a list of rules in their head. That’s slow and uncomfortable at first, which is exactly why most gyms avoid it and stick to teaching shapes instead.

​I like comparing it to how a surfer reads a wave. They’re not standing on the board working through a checklist of what to do next, they’re reading the water as it moves and their body is answering it in real time, position and action happening together, not one after the other. That’s closer to what I want from a boxer than the classic chess analogy, which makes it sound like there’s time to sit and plan. There isn’t. 

The jab sets up the angle, the footwork dictates the exchange, and the finishing position decides whether the boxer continues, exits, or resets, all of that is happening in the moment, not being calculated in advance.

​I’ll give you my own example, but I want to be clear it’s my solution, not a rule to hand out. I finish on the back hand to move off to my right, because of how the weight transfers on a right-hand punch, it loads my body in a way that naturally takes me that way. To move left, I finish on the left hand, because my feet are already positioned off my lead foot to push off in that direction. Whichever side I’m moving to, as my punch recoils, my bodyweight is already carrying me there. By the time my hand is back on guard, I’ve already exited into position. Every boxer’s build, habits, and feel for weight transfer are different, so their version of this will look different too the point isn’t the specific punch, it’s the habit of letting your last punch set up your next position rather than treating punching and moving as two separate jobs.

​Too many boxers wait until the combination has fully recoiled to their on guard positioning, before they think about exiting. That’s a problem for two reasons. First, the longer they hang around in range, the more vulnerable they are to being countered. Second, that lost time is time their opponent doesn’t lose, an opponent who’s already moving while the other boxer is still thinking about it has taken the upper hand in the ring position.

​If we want boxers to think this way, we have to coach it, not just talk about it. That means building sessions around live, changing situations rather than static combinations sparring formats and games that force a boxer to keep reading and adjusting, not just repeat a shape. When a boxer starts to treat position as the foundation of every exchange, they stop measuring themselves by how many punches they threw and start measuring by whether they created the right moment to throw them. That’s where real ring intelligence comes from.

Ivan Cobb Boxing Attic (2026) @theboxinattic

Norwich Boxing Club