Whether you want to box for fitness or competition, Boxing: The American Martial Art is an excellent guide to getting started. Professional boxing coach and trainer R. Michael Onello has created a 12-week, step-by-step boxing course that can be followed at home or in the gym.

Begin with the thorough boxing conditioning program designed to tone and strengthen your entire body, with a special emphasis on the abs, chest and arm muscles. From Lesson One, you'll learn stance and movement, defensive tactics and a simple method of wrapping your hands to protect them during training. As you work through the twice-weekly lessons, you'll learn the jab, straight right, uppercut and hook, then practice them alone and in combinations to increase your punching speed, accuracy and power.

The step-by-step lesson format guides you through the same drills used by professional boxing trainers and includes specifics like the number of reps, the type of equipment to practice on, strategic advice and key points to pay attention to as you progress. Once you've got the basics down, get together with a sparring partner to work on the offense-defense drills, counterpunching and putting your new skills to work in sparring practice.

The lessons wrap up with advice on creating a rotating 12-week training schedule by introducing more advanced training concepts and variations on the workouts. Also included is a chapter for trainers and coaches, including sample program handouts and training advice.