Repton Boxing Club is recognised as one of the most famous amateur boxing clubs in the world. Through its candid portrait of Tony Burns, the club’s legendary former head coach of 60 years, captured before his death in 2021, Learning the Ropes presents a singular account of his impact upon the institution’s boxers past and present. It also explores the role of the amateur boxing club as a means of understanding social and community life and, on a wider level, the human condition.