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Recent Yellow Springs transplant and lifelong boxer and kickboxer Anthony Erfe leads biweekly boxing classes at the Posterior Chain gym. Held every Tuesday and Thursday, Erfe’s classes are open to would-be boxers of all ages and abilities. Shown here, Erfe tested Drew Clemons’ reaction time with pool noodles. Posterior Chain owner Kyle Truitt, left, and rising eighth-grader Matteo Chaiten looked on. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)
Local boxing class pulls no punches
- Published: August 8, 2023
A proud featherweight and standing at just over five feet tall, village resident Anthony Erfe is not a big man. But he sure knows how to pack a punch.
So do Erfe’s biweekly boxing classes at the Posterior Chain gym at 144 Cliff St.
Every Tuesday and Thursday since last February, Erfe, 52, has led intensive boxing classes at the local personal training gym, open to those of all ages and abilities — people looking to stay in shape or those wanting to learn self-defense.
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Each hour-long class costs $10, but the first one is free.
While his classes typically draw only a handful of attendees to each session, Erfe told the News that he’s already worked with a wide array of would-be boxers — from middle schoolers who’ve never laced up their gloves, to fighters who really know how to knock around the bag.
“It’s all about health,” Erfe said in a recent interview. “Even though boxing is a ‘sweet science’ — that is, the science of hitting and not getting hit — it’s still a sport and a great way to exercise.”
A believer in the importance of establishing a good foundation, Erfe always starts with the basics: keeping your hands up — “defending the castle,” as he said — and having a proper stance. He builds from there, moving on to cultivating reaction time, pivoting, dodging, dipping, hooking, jabbing, sparring and more.
“There’s a lot to learn,” Erfe said. “It’s like a dance.”
To accomplish all those moves, Erfe has a number of teaching tricks. For footwork, he places rings on the ground and has his students quickly step in and out in various patterns. For defense, he breaks out short pool noodles with which he tries to bop students who must maneuver away from his soft blows. When it’s time to punch, Erfe breaks out the bag or dons training mitts that students hit based on his commands.
“One-two, bop! One-two, one-two, bop! Good!”
From there, Erfe pivots and moves onto the next student, while the previous one is left to practice what they just learned.
Longtime boxer Anthony Erfe, right, brings his skills as an instructor and fighter to the Posterior Chain gym — owned and operated by personal trainer Kyle Truitt, left — every Tuesday and Thursday evening at 6 p.m. Classes are $10, but the first one is free. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)
A recent Yellow Springs transplant, Erfe came to the village in 2021 from New York City to be closer to family — a move that came not long after he retired as a project manager for Con Edison. He’s a lifelong lover of mixed martial arts, or MMA, and started with Taekwondo and Chinese Kung Fu, eventually moving on to kickboxing and boxing. Although Erfe has always been an amateur, he is well-known in the MMA community and holds several accolades. In addition to being a certified kickboxing instructor, he was the 1993 southeast kickboxing champion.
When Erfe came to town, he quickly fell into the local fitness circles. He has taught a number of self-defense classes at the Antioch Wellness Center, and can still be seen there regularly conditioning and training. According to Erfe, those classes are set to resume in September.
Posterior Chain owner and personal trainer, Kyle Truitt, had always wanted additional trainers at his gym, as previously reported in the News, so it was only natural that Erfe would eventually begin teaching there.
“I do have aspirations of opening up my own studio one day — maybe in Yellow Springs, maybe elsewhere,” Erfe said. “And it wouldn’t be just boxing. It’d be Jiu-jitsu, kickboxing and more. Things that young people could get involved with.”
His love for teaching goes deeper than his personal passions for boxing and kickboxing, Erfe said. As a Filipino man, Erfe’s desire to help others — especially those younger than him — is embedded in him.
“So, in our culture, if you’re older than me, you’re ‘kuya,’ which is Tagalog for ‘senior,’ or ‘older brother,’” he said. “You must respect someone older even if you’re not related to them — and that’s the same in the martial arts where there’s always a junior student and a senior, or kuya, student. The goal is to always teach the junior. Exactly how life should be, right?”
To that point, Erfe sees what goes on in the ring as having real-world applications. For him, boxing teaches discipline, sharpens mental acuity and builds confidence. Perhaps most importantly, it’s a way to foster physical well-being.
“I know I have more years behind me than ahead,” Erfe said. “The older I get, I’ve realized that health is one of the most important things to me. So, I think everybody should find something they like to do to stay physically capable. That could be boxing.”
Anthony Erfe’s boxing classes are every Tuesday and Thursday, at 6 p.m., at the Posterior Chain gym, located at 144 Cliff St. in Yellow Springs. Classes are $10 and attendees are encouraged to bring their own gloves, hand tape and exercise apparel. For more information, go to the Posterior Chain website at truittfitness.com or follow Erfe on Instagram at @yskickbox.
2 Responses to “Local boxing class pulls no punches”
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Typo in the link at the end of the article. Should be truittfiTness.com
Cheers@
G
Thanks for the article! The website address listed is missing a letter. I believe it is https://www.truittfitness.com/