Why I Box (and Why I Teach It)

My first priority in any new city has always been the same: find a boxing gym. Film work took me all over, but the gym was home base. When I came to Martha's Vineyard for what I thought would be a two-month writing sabbatical in the summer of 2020, Strong Martha was the first place I walked into.

I'm still here. The gym changed hands in 2022, and I ended up owning the thing I came looking for.

What this gym is—and isn't

Strong Martha is not a fight club. We're a community studio in West Tisbury where regular people—teachers, fishermen, retirees, teenagers, summer visitors—learn boxing and strength training without pretension. You don't need to be athletic. You don't need to know what a jab is. You need to show up willing to listen.

Why boxing specifically

Boxing gave me confidence when nothing else did. As a southpaw, I struggled to find coaches who knew how to work with my stance until I met Charlie here. That experience stuck with me: the right coaching changes everything.

Today I teach four weekly strength classes, kids boxing, and occasional adult boxing sessions. I also take private clients for boxing and weight lifting. Every class is built around the idea that skill beats ego—you learn technique, you get stronger, you leave better than you arrived.

What I want you to take from this

If you've been curious about boxing but talked yourself out of it, you're exactly who we built this gym for. Read the science posts if you're a skeptic—I am too. Then come watch a class or book a session. Martha's Vineyard is a small island; we'd rather you train with us than wonder from the parking lot.

• Free intro sessions are available for most programs—ask us what's right for you.
• Drop-ins are $30 if you want to try a single class.
• Kids boxing runs in six-week sessions for ages 9–14.
• Private sessions available for boxing and strength training.