(JUNE 17)  This week I had an opportunity to interview the co-founder of Machina Boxing Austin Saylor who talked about his company.

Blanca:  What is Machina Boxing and when did you get started?

Austin:  Machina Boxing (http://machinaboxing.com/) is a dedicated brand of boxing gear and workout clothing made exclusively for women. The idea for Machina began in 2011 out of a conversation between founders, Courtney and Austin, about the sad state of offerings for women who box. Courtney was unsatisfied with the unisex gloves and gear she was using at the gym and was unhappy that the only “ladies” options were pink.  So Machina was born and we couldn’t be prouder.

Blanca:   It takes a lot of commitment and dedication for any company to focus on the female aspect of the sport of boxing , with that being said - Why did you create Machina Boxing?

From a marketing standpoint, it was an opportunity too good to pass up. Some folks couldn’t understand why we were focusing on the tiniest segment of the overall market for fight gear, but there was simply no point to start a new brand of unisex gear - no way to penetrate without tremendously deep pockets and it’s not like there’s anything lacking in gear available for guys.

While the market for women who do boxing (or kickboxing or Muay Thai boxing) training is relatively small, they are a passionate bunch. The Machina brand will live or die through word of mouth and we are very fortunate that women who train to fight are very loyal and love our products. As we had long hoped and expected, they are starting to see the Machina brand, not only as legitimate, but as a serious brand for serious women.

And yes, we are committed and dedicated. We are committed to growing the business and building upon our accomplishments and we are dedicated to these magnificent women.

WBO World Champ Melissa Mc Morrow, JO ranked #2 Odalys Camacho, Beautiful Brawlers Champ Graciela Ortega, JO National Champion Lupe Gutierrez, #1 ranked Heavy Weight Martha Salazar

Blanca: The Beautiful Brawlers absolutely love your products. The gloves fit snug for women’s hands, the wraps are wonderful , the headgear is sturdy, what is your favorite product and why?

Austin:  It’s gratifying to be loved and appreciated. We are crazy about the Brawlers and we look forward to getting more involved with the BB scene!

We are very proud of our entire product line. Our gear and clothing is all very classic with some inventive touches here and there. We’ll always be looking to improve our offerings to make everything as well as it can be made, but we’re not really looking to reinvent the wheel. Machina is generally about keeping to old school style with quality materials and attention to detail.

If we have to pick a favorite, it would probably be our Carbonado training gloves. You’re right, they are cut slimmer than others, which for a woman with an average or smaller hand, means they feel better, they look better and they protect better. These are becoming very popular and ultimately they are the core product that defines us. We knew going in we needed an outstanding glove to make sure we could get trainers to take notice and be willing to recommend our brand, and we were very fortunate to find a quality manufacturer who was willing to work with us and get it right.

Blanca: We have introduced Beautiful Brawlers to Machina Boxing products – the girls love that you cater to female boxing and the products obviously fit well on females. We want to spread the word to other females out there to support Machina since Machina supports female boxers. Martha Salazar loves the Machina gloves. Melissa Mc Morrow loves the shorts and wants to know if you will be making more shorts that she can personalize for competition. What is your long term goal for Machina?

Austin:  We have been planning from the beginning to produce a line of competition clothing as a category of merchandise. While this would likely be a small part of the overall business, we feel its a great way to connect further with those women who may have the most influence in the gym. We have a designer that we love working with and we can take our ideas to her and she brings them to life with a lot of creativity. It’s a fun process, but it’s also complicated and time consuming, so we definitely have to get everything just right. We expect to begin introducing pieces - competition shorts, robes, tops, sports bras, etc - in early 2015. So tell Melissa we’ll be in contact!

What we want for Machina the brand over the next few years is to become synonymous with women’s boxing and to have every trainer recommend our gear to the women they work with. Our ultimate goal for the business, while remaining a boxing brand, is to be known more broadly as a lifestyle brand for strong, athletic women.

Blanca:  You created a blog to help female boxers find sparring , or fitness classes. This is a great tool to use if you are new in the sport and want more information. Who can contribute to this blog and when does it start?

Austin:  We’ve just recently launched our new blog, Fuel for the Machine (http://fuelforthemachine.com/), which is intended to be for any woman who is doing fight training, whether for fitness or for competition. This isn’t a site that teaches you how to box and it won’t push details about the latest fight outcomes either - we leave those things up to the trainers and the WBAN. As it says on the website, FftM is simply meant to provide women some information and inspiration towards their training. We understand that women fall in love with fight training and we hope FftM can be some kind of a daily source of added motivation.

The site does provide resources for finding a gym or finding a sparring partner or opponent. These are presently somewhat limited due to it being so new, but we hope more women and gyms will sign up to make the resources truly useful.

The content is mostly about fight fitness, fight technique and philosophy, women’s health and nutrition, and style. We want everyone connected to women’s boxing and kickboxing and MMA to contribute. We have already contacted a couple authors to be able to repost from their blogs and we’re on the lookout for more ways to make the site functional and interesting.