Why am i here?

#suddenlynervous

That was then.....(publish failed)...This is now: i did it!!!More later..... :-D

How quickly later becomes now, and soon later will be earlier. deep thought. ok here goes...

So the title of this blog is why am i here? i am no longer asking that question, but am here to answer it for you. I was there to get my booty kicked, and kicked it was. Hands aching too. But I'm thankful for getting out of that car, swallowing my nerves and walking in that door, took my 3rd boxing class so far. Which means a third helping of humble pie. I love Body Combat, its aerobic and muscular benefits are huge, but this technique, punching it out on a real 150-lb. bag, is pretty new to me and really knocks me out of my comfort zone.

I like this teacher, though. My first time with her. She's a mom, too, about my age, so even though she's tough, she's got a touch of motherly-ness about her. She even brought her kid to class, he's 12. He's also just learning to wrap his hands, like me. He has his own personal trainer already.. According to "Mom", this trainer's motto is, "It's not a good day until you punch someone in the face." yikes! I"m not sending my daughter to this kid's middle school...ok so here's the class:

Warm-up with jump ropes, then we glove up and do a timed sequence on the bags, warming up the shoulders. Interval training is next. 5 minutes boxing, then 5 minutes training with kettle balls and medicine balls. "Maximum reps in the least amount of time", something like that. So if you get done early, your reward is a few seconds to rest. Stuff like burpees with a kettle ball lift at the end, frog-jumps while holding the medicine ball, a plethora of push-ups, and my favorite- holding the med ball overhead and SLAMMING it down on the floor as hard as i can, like smashing a pumpkin. What's super cool is, mine has a small leak in it, so the harder i throw it down, the more dust comes puffing out! fun! (simple minds are easily entertained!)

oh- must include snarky comments about other fighters, as is my custom...(snark,snark...) So there's this guy in there, he's actually a very good fighter and the instructor tells me later on to really watch him and learn from his form, but he's got this hilarious beard- it looks like this:

Like a long goatee with a rubberband half down its length, like a turnip someone just yanked out of the dirt. Plus he wears a mouthguard, which just adds to the overall silliness. I nickname him Weirdo-Beardo. Halfway through the class he loses his shoes & socks & works out barefoot; looks fun, but for now i'm just glad to be a safe distance from those smelly feet.

ok got that snarkiness out of me, let's move on...I'm definitely not one to critique others here. Hitting these bags correctly to avoid injury is a full-time job for me, and maybe I'm taking myself too seriously, because when Ms. Chopp (seriously! that's her last name! chop-chopp!!) comes by during a fighting sequence and mimics my flailing arms in an effort to show me what NOT to do, I guess i take it too personally and let out a mid-swing, sarcastic "thanks" at her. She's nice and jumps right in with good advice on my getting closer to the bag, practically hugging it, and using my CORE to hit, not so much my shoulders. So much to learn. And yeah, i know, I can be a Prideful Priscilla at times, lashing out when ridiculed. Guess its my crazy childhood creeping in,always the lowest one on the teasing totem pole.

Music: she's got great taste in fighting tunes. My favorite so far is Aerosmith's "Dude looks like a Lady!" How could you not love punching a bag to that song?? I'm also loving "Juke Box Hero" by Foreigner and "Pump it! (Louder!!)" by the Black Eyed Peas.

My favorite sequence- moving around the room, bag to bag...jab-cross-jab,hook to head, hook to gut, then spin around to next bag and WHACK it with a strong back arm punch. I'm finally gettin' it on this one, and as if to make it up to me for picking on me earlier, the instructor rushes over to pat me on the back and says, "See! There's one move you're a NINJA at!!"

Yes!!! a Ninja!!! I'm lovin that, and use it as my mantra as i continue to jab-cross-jab-hook-hook-spin-and-WHACK my way around the room to juke box hero. Nina the Ninja, naw, how about Niffer the Ninja...(Niffer was my camp counselor nickname 2 summers in a row, long ago..) Niffer the Ninja, Niffer the Ninja, I'm chanting inside my head, just like Bill Murray taught "Rudy" to say "Woody the Wabbit, Woody the Wabbit" in that old "Meatballs" movie... (yes, that was looooong ago...)

Ms. Chopp encourages us: "You're stronger than you think! Don't let your mind win!!!"

"Use up your tank! Get strength from your partner!! We're in this together!!"

Great class. Afterwards I stick around, cooling down and stretching a bit and getting some good advice from Ms. Chopp. Like how to engage my fist muscles to protect my wimpy wrists, and then a good explanation on the difference between Taikwando & Muay Thai...a real "aha!" moment for me, and I'm thinking I'd definitely prefer the latter over the former, can really put these motherly hips to work in those full-body SHOVES of Muay Thai, it seems... She also recommends I watch Karate Kid, esp. for the quote by the kid, something about putting all the strength of your body into your fist. hmm. Think I'll look it up on Netflix, show it to my kids, maybe they'll wanna join me for this class next week. We talk women fighters, shadow boxing, and more, and then she tells us all to go check out the "Bull City Brawl" in Durham this weekend. She says she herself doesn't fight "real people", but LOVES to watch others "get the crap beat out of 'em!!!"

Woo-hoo! I'll be back, Ms. Chopp!! See ya!!

 

 

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