History Main / BoxingLesson

* In ''Film/StVincent'', a not-so-lighthearted/exaggerated version of this trope comes into play when Vincent, a veteran who served in Vietnam, teaches Oliver how to fight.

A victim of [[TheBully bullying]] is cajoled into taking boxing lessons, usually from a cartoonishly macho alpha-male character. The victim usually ends up finding an alternate, non-violent but always interesting means of dealing with the bully. Oddly, Eastern martial arts (karate or kung fu) are generally considered to be an acceptable way of dealing with bullying. [[TryingToCatchMeFightingDirty l Krav-maga]], [[CurbStompBattle not so much]].

* In the film ''BillyElliot,'' the young Billy is sent off to the boys' club to learn boxing, and instead he takes up ballet dancing.

* The ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' episode, 'Hero Hampton' is based on this trope.

* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/TheRaccoons'' episode, "Black Belt Bentley," where Bentley is eager to learn martial arts from Sheaffer when he is bullied so he can smash their heads in. However, when Sheaffer learns of the young Raccoon's intentions, he promptly kicks him out of the class. However, Bentley does not get the message until he gets so psyched up improvising learning from a martial arts film that he inadvertently attacks Bert and breaks his arm. While Bentley is kicking himself for being so stupid, he meets the bullies again. However, chastened by his experience, Bentley uses his martial arts training with appropriate restraint to defend himself while reasoning with the bullies about the original misunderstanding that caused the conflict. The combination of Bentley's explanation and his fighting moves are enough to make peace with the impressed bullies. As a result, Sheaffer not only lets Bentley back into the class, but promotes him to the yellow belt training rank in appreciation of his solid learning and good attitude.

* Dre in ''TheKarateKid'' learns Kung Fu in order to stop [[TheBully Cheng]] from bullying him.

* Subverted in ''TheRaccoons'' episode, "Black Belt Bentley," where Bentley is eager to learn martial arts from Sheaffer when he is bullied so he can smash their heads in. However, when Sheaffer learns of the young Raccoon's intentions, he promptly kicks him out of the class. However, Bentley does not get the message until he gets so psyched up improvising learning from a martial arts film that he inadvertently attacks Bert and breaks his arm. While Bentley is kicking himself for being so stupid, he meets the bullies again. However, chastened by his experience, Bentley uses his martial arts training with appropriate restraint to defend himself while reasoning with the bullies about the original misunderstanding that caused the conflict. The combination of Bentley's explanation and his fighting moves are enough to make peace with the impressed bullies. As a result, Sheaffer not only lets Bentley back into the class, but promotes him to the yellow belt training rank in appreciation of his solid learning and good attitude.

* DoubleSubversion in ''Series/{{Sliders}}'', when Quinn runs across a universe that takes place years before his own. Despite the constant urgings of his team about the [[AlienNonInterferenceClause Prime Directive]], despite no time travel being involved, Quinn teaches his younger self to box bullies, but [[spoiler:the end of the episode reveals that he wants him to do that because non-alternate young Quinn hit them with a baseball bat in his own past, giving one bully a permanent limp. His alternate self [[LetsFightLikeGentlemen just gives them a few bruises]] by [[CurbStompBattle mowing them all down with a powerful barrage]] of [[GoodOldFisticuffs punches]]. This is an incredibly creepy, [[BadAss violent, and scary]] CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming, if that even makes sense.]]

** First, an early episode had Extroverted Nerd Steve Urkel dealing with a bully. He actually ends up challenging the bully to a boxing match, but having no experience and muscles like wet string, he knows he's in trouble. He convinces Carl to teach him to box. It's pretty much for nothing, though, and he's beaten down. Before the bully can finish him off, though, a spectator protests -- and then the whole crowd. The bully backs down in the face of pretty much the entire student body apparently being willing to fight on Steve's behalf.

* In "The Bells of St. Mary" a student gets boxing lessons from a Nun of all people after the priest praises the other boy for knowing how to fight.

** Third, Richie and a friend had their playground taken over by an adult gang. Steve tried to intervene, but with all the physical prowess of [[ComicBook/{{X-Men}} Professor Xavier]] on Valium, he was pretty much powerless -- until he used his TransformationRay to infuse him, Richie, and Richie's friend with the [[LamarckWasRight DNA of Bruce Lee]], upon which they went, well, Bruce Lee on the gang's asses...complete with offensive Engrish accents.

* ''PunkyBrewster'' tried, unsuccessfully, to learn to box when a bully was picking on her. Her friends told the bully that even if she beat up Punky, she'd still have to fight all of them, one by one.
* The pilot of ''Series/BurnNotice'' has the Michael teaching a kid how to defend himself from bullies, using guerilla tactics. The implicit acknowledgment is that he suffered from bullying as a kid (either from his peers or from his father), and wished he had received boxing lessons as a child.
* Subverted in ''BradyBunch'': Peter learns to fight after he has run out of ways to stop a bully from tormenting Cindy. At the end, the bully eventually respects Peter, who has a good left hook punch in his opinion.

* On ''TheGeorgeLopezShow'', Max gets boxing lessons from none other than the professional boxer Laila Ali, daughter of Muhammad Ali.

* In David Weber's novel ''[[Literature/HonorHarrington Honor Among Enemies]]'', a major subplot revolves around a newly enlisted naval rating who's been targeted for violent harassment by a petty criminal in the crew. He [[CanNotSpitItOut refuses to testify]] that he's being threatened, so a few of the ship's noncoms start giving him martial arts lessons. If anything, this [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor succeeds too well]]; in their next confrontation, the naval rating injures the bully so badly that he'd be crippled for life if not for the setting's [[GoodThingYouCanHeal advanced medical technology]].

* Mork in ''MorkAndMindy'' unsuccessfully tries to learn how to box from Mindy's father when faced with a bully. (His alternative solution is to use his [[ForgottenSuperweapon hitherto unmentioned power of Time Warps]] which enables him to essentially make everyone move in slow motion while he moves at normal speed which enables him to humiliate the bully.)
* DoubleSubversion in ''{{Sliders}}'', when Quinn runs across a universe that takes place years before his own. Despite the constant urgings of his team about the [[{{Alien Non-Interference Clause}} Prime Directive]], despite no time travel being involved, Quinn teaches his younger self to box bullies, but [[spoiler:the end of the episode reveals that he wants him to do that because non-alternate young Quinn hit them with a baseball bat in his own past, giving one bully a permanent limp. His alternate self [[LetsFightLikeGentlemen just gives them a few bruises]] by [[CurbStompBattle mowing them all down with a powerful barrage]] of [[GoodOldFisticuffs punches]]. This is an incredibly creepy, [[BadAss violent, and scary]] CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming, if that even makes sense.]]
* Happened in ''FamilyMatters'' no less than three times.

* ''HajimeNoIppo'' has this as the entire basis of the early story. The solution here is at first that he is fitter than them and runs away too fast, then later [[CharacterDevelopment they look up to him, becoming his devoted fans]].
* ''YuYuHakusho'': Subverted in the manga version; Yusuke, as a ghost, sees a kid he knew in grade school getting bullied. To help him out, Yusuke tries to communicate with him in dreams to get him to stand up for his dream of being a professional boxer and challenge the bully. On the day of the arranged match, however, Yusuke simply possesses the boy's body and beats the crap out of his tormentor.
* Ryo Narushima from ''{{Shamo}}'' learns karate to keep himself alive in correctional facility. It goes downhill from there, to put it mildly.

* In ''PhineasAndFerb'', Phineas is forced into a fight with Buford the school bully...and he's trained by Evander Holyfield. Yes, it's ''that'' kind of show.

* In ''HomeMovies'', Brendon's decrepit grandpa gives him an impromptu boxing lesson to help him deal with an angrily super-competitive goalie. The lesson quickly CrossesTheLineTwice as grandpa's boxing gloves are filled with ball bearings for "oomph". When Brendon later encounters the goalie, he tries an alternative means of discussing the goalie's relationship with his overachiever father, and quickly ends up on the ground in an armlock, Eventually, he gets through to the bully, who rejects his father's competitive teachings and becomes a hippie pacifist; leading Melissa to beat up Brendon for "ruining" the [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys bad-boy she had a crush on]].
* The ''TinyToonAdventures'' episode, 'Hero Hampton' is based on this trope.

* In Richard Llewellyn's "HowGreenWasMyValley", Huw Morgan gets boxing lessons to defend himself from school bullies. His first lesson comes from his father (along with a payment plan for every bruise, bloody nose or split lip Huw comes home sporting). This is not enough, so his older brother gets the valley's professional boxers to train him specially. He gets VERY good at it.

* ''KingOfTheHill'' put an interesting twist on the BoxingLesson, by having Bobby take a ''women's'' self defense course and then dealing a [[GroinAttack savage groin kick]] to his tormentors. The trope is subverted nicely when Hank attempts to teach his son how to box, and receives a nasty kick to the testicles when Bobby gets frustrated with the lesson. Then double-subverted when he learns groin kicks do nothing to keep his mother from punishing him [[note]]a break from reality[[/note]].

* The pilot of ''BurnNotice'' has the Michael teaching a kid how to defend himself from bullies, using guerilla tactics. The implicit acknowledgment is that he suffered from bullying as a kid (either from his peers or from his father), and wished he had received boxing lessons as a child.

* In season two of ''{{Smallville}}'', tired of relying on Clark to save her, Lana Lang gets a crash-course in self-defense and self-esteem in the form of boxing lessons from Lex Luthor after being harassed by a bunch of thugs.

A victim of [[TheBully bullying]] is cajoled into taking boxing lessons, usually from a cartoonishly macho alpha-male character. The victim usually ends up finding an alternate, non-violent but always interesting means of dealing with the bully. Oddly, Eastern martial arts (karate or kung fu) are generally considered to be an acceptable way of dealing with bullying. [[AwesomeYetPractical Krav-maga]], [[CurbStompBattle not so much]].

* In ''RockyV'', Rocky's son learns how to box in order to deal with the school bully (though, ironically, not from Rocky himself).

* ''Blossom'' by AndrewVachss. Ex-con turned private investigator Burke teaches a young man facing prison how to conduct himself, including a no-holds style of boxing.

* ''KingOfTheHill'' put an interesting twist on the BoxingLesson, by having Bobby take a ''women's'' self defense course and then dealing a [[GroinAttack savage groin kick]] to his tormentors. The trope is subverted nicely when Hank attempts to teach his son how to box, and receives a nasty kick to the testicles when Bobby gets frustrated with the lesson. Then double-subverted when he learns groin kicks do nothing to keep his mother from punishing him [[hottip:*:a break from reality]].

* Subverted in ''The Kid''. The main character, who is in his forties, meets up with himself as an eight year old, somehow. In an effort to toughen himself against bullies, he gets his boxer friend to teach him. After the boxer learns it's for bullies he says "He doesn't need boxing, he needs to learn street fighting."

* ''Blossom'' by Andrew Vachss. Ex-con turned private investigator Burke teaches a young man facing prison how to conduct himself, including a no-holds style of boxing.
* In Richard Llewellyn's "How Green Was My Valley", Huw Morgan gets boxing lessons to defend himself from school bullies. His first lesson comes from his father (along with a payment plan for every bruise, bloody nose or split lip Huw comes home sporting). This is not enough, so his older brother gets the valley's professional boxers to train him specially. He gets VERY good at it.