Boxing for self-defense
Yes, I'm brazenly using this thread to discuss BOXING FOR SELF-DEFENSE.
Incredible as it seems, you can Google, 'boxing for self-defense' and come up with a slew of information that confirms, yes, western boxing is indeed highly effective for self-defense. And yet, western boxing has not been promoted as a system of empty-hand self-defense. Still, in some western countries, including the U.S., you had better be very prudent about when and how to apply your boxing skills in self-defense because the courts consider your boxing skills equivalent to using a deadly weapon in a fight. That is, inadvertently kill a punk who jumped you outside a bar with his buddies and you can find yourself in jail for three years. You even see that demonstrated in a movie where actor, Nicholas Cage, an Army vet home on leave, gets followed out of a bar by an aggressive punk emboldened by having two of his buddies with him. (Bullying punks almost always never act alone.) The punk takes a swing at Cage who responds with trained, hand-to-hand combat fighting techniques. The punk goes down but dies. The local judge throws Cage in jail for excessive use of deadly force against an unarmed man. If you think that was only Hollywood, think again. That was based on real-life U.S. laws regulating self-defense. Yes, American laws restrict what you can and cannot do during self-defense because as the victim, you are still regarded as a law-abiding citizen who has to follow the legal rules. Your attacker, considered the law-breaker, has no legal restrictions because he has already placed himself outside the law. This is no longer the American Old West where any kind and any amount of force used in self-defense was legal.
I'll jump the gun and admit that western boxing does fall short in defense against hand weapons such as, knives, clubs, chains, for example. A studio that taught boxing for self-defense would have to borrow from Asian martial arts.
I was pleased to learn that western boxing is effective against multiple opponents and tactically did not require complicated moves or strategy. If you doubt it, there are YouTube videos showing guys with only elementary knowledge of boxing successfully defending themselves against multiple opponents. I'd love to talk more about that here, but that would digress.
You don't have to put a lot of time in the ring if you're not going to practice amateur or professional boxing but you will have to spend time sparring to gain proficiency in the fundamentals of western boxing. But once you've learned the fundamentals, it's like bicycling; you never forget. Naturally the better physical shape you're in the better your boxing skills but nonetheless, you still have the boxing knowledge.
Unlike most traditional Asian martial arts that rely predominantly on kata, not counting judo, jujutsu, and today's MMA, you will be used to feeling how your punch lands and how to cope getting punched.
If I could live my life over again, I'd learn boxing just for fun, self-defense, and physical fitness. I remember that as a teen I had no interest in getting my face punched over and over again.