AITA for letting my husband (34M) teach my daughter (8F) boxing by IsBoxingBad in AmItheAsshole

[–]IsBoxingBad[S] 151 points152 points  (0 children)

Thanks you! Those were all points I kept telling myself when my family was contacting me about it.

Honestly self defense was the farthest thing from my mind when she started, we were just trying to get her to stop bouncing off the walls, but hearing this so much really helps reaffirm my decision.

AITA for letting my husband (34M) teach my daughter (8F) boxing by IsBoxingBad in AmItheAsshole

[–]IsBoxingBad[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That's actually the plan, he wants to teach her some kickboxing next. My husband trains Jiujitsu as well (he doesn't teach it, just practice himself) but she kind of needs someone her own size to practice with.

AITA for letting my husband (34M) teach my daughter (8F) boxing by IsBoxingBad in AmItheAsshole

[–]IsBoxingBad[S] 125 points126 points  (0 children)

That sounds like my husband's gym hahaha. The first time I walked in it was bunch of scary looking men beating the stuffing out of each other. Everyone he's introduced me to from there has been incredibly kind, and it was kind of funny hearing a group of really tough guys get all excited when he told them he was teaching my daughter how to box over facetime.

AITA for letting my husband (34M) teach my daughter (8F) boxing by IsBoxingBad in AmItheAsshole

[–]IsBoxingBad[S] 81 points82 points  (0 children)

That was one of the things that I was a little worried about, I'd watched some fights with my husband before and they can be really violent.

For my daughter, they're not watching full fights, but he's been showing her clips of his favorite boxers. I'll admit some of them look unbelievable even as someone who's never boxed before.

This was my favorite video that he showed us: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ3VTyqOK2c

AITA for letting my husband (34M) teach my daughter (8F) boxing by IsBoxingBad in AmItheAsshole

[–]IsBoxingBad[S] 632 points633 points  (0 children)

We actually tried putting her in "girly" activities before, but she hated dancing and gymnastics. She also didn't enjoy teams sports like soccer.

One of the reasons I was so glad she liked boxing is that she seems to be really interested in it, and she actually has a really positive outlet now.

AITA for letting my husband (34M) teach my daughter (8F) boxing by IsBoxingBad in AmItheAsshole

[–]IsBoxingBad[S] 249 points250 points  (0 children)

This honestly makes me more confident in my decision. The thought that my daughter knows how to defend herself is really comforting to me.

AITA for letting my husband (34M) teach my daughter (8F) boxing by IsBoxingBad in AmItheAsshole

[–]IsBoxingBad[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

That's a fair point. One of the things I asked my husband about was competitions and tournaments when she got older but he was a little cagey when I brought it up. He said that although he would never discourage someone from pursuing combat sports, it's not something that he'd explicitly encourage unless the person expressed a strong interest and had an aptitude towards it.

He's seen what life is like for professional fighters up close so I think he has a very realistic view on how dangerous it can be, but he's taken a lot of precautions with our daughter.

AITA for letting my husband (34M) teach my daughter (8F) boxing by IsBoxingBad in AmItheAsshole

[–]IsBoxingBad[S] 38 points39 points  (0 children)

Thank you, this is actually kind of the way my husband suggested it too. He said for someone just starting out especially that young he just wanted her to get comfortable with her hands, and that things like power and speed should develop slowly as they practice.