Punching is Easy....Boxing is Tough

The instructors at Krav Maga, Inc. have taken a well deserved vacation until September 12th...which leaves Carrie and I without a means to kick, punch and generally get some serious conditioning done. At least that was what we thought until three nights ago.

Our gym, The Rock, in Astoria has an entire room filled with a full-sized boxing ring, heavy bags, speed bags (which look really cool....but I have no idea how to work them), gloves and even kicking/kneeing pads. Basically everything we need to carry on our efforts to get in shape and kick ass at the same time is located conveniently around the corner from our apartment. Not only is this convenient....but it also gives us a chance to work on the Krav Maga moves (so we can get a higher belt like all the other big kids). Yellow belt here we come.

Not those to simply go the easy route (at least lately) we wanted to take this fitness journey to the next level. Why not enroll in one of the boxing classes offered Monday through Thursday nights? So we did...and our bodies have not let us forget this fateful decision over the last two days of recovery. One hour and fifteen minutes of weighted pushups, situps, squat thrusts, medicine ball routines, jumping jacks and various punching & moving routines left our bodies drenched in sweat, twitching from exhaustion and left us amazed that we made it through the entire workout alive. It was awesome. My legs are still so incredibly sore, my back is sore, my arms are sore...but my pride....oh, believe me my pride is still intact!

Actually the first time we wrapped our hands up with the boxing handwraps I felt immediately like a different person. Somewhat like when one puts on a suit to become a businessperson...the wraps made me feel like a boxer. It must be noted however that a high level of body fat, lack of conditioning and clumsy punching technique keep me from embodying the real "Boxer" status...but it felt pretty great for that one hour and fifteen minutes. I have to recommend this type of exercise to anyone looking for a fairly extreme cardio experience and also a little confidence boost as well. Trust me...everyone looks pretty cool in their fighting stance with hands wrapped, squinting their eyes at the opponent in the mirror...snapping out quick jabs and combinations as if they were the next Ali...be it Laila or Muhammad.

The hardest part about the boxing experiment for Carrie and I wasn't even the exercise itself...it was getting up the confidence to walk into a new class, without any knowledge of what would be asked of us, and still giving the appearance that we were in the right place. My tip....walk in, wrap your hands in full view of classmates (who will be doing the same), punch the bags lightly a few times and stretch out. Everyone will just assume you know what's going on already....just avoid an invitation to spar...one punch and your secret will be out! When considering confidence I tend to subscribe to Muhammad Ali's thought on the subject, "To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you're not, pretend you are. " Enough said...the man was the greatest after all.