Inner Dialogues

Kickboxing!

It's been just about 6 weeks since I signed up for cardio kickboxing. It started out two evenings per week, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8-9 PM, and I suppose it has helped in my attempts to get fit. I say "I suppose" because I don't see results, per se, but combined with the daily yoga at home, I'm feeling some improvement. Better flexibility, more strength, and improved endurance. Just not seeing it where I want to see it most, which is in the waistline. Oh, who am I fooling? The waistline itself is shrinking; it's everything else in the immediate vicinity that needs work.

We have a different instructor for each class. One is just 28 and has been doing intense fitness for 13 years, including 10 years of tae-bo. She comes to us straight from her own tae kwon do class and puts us through a regime of mainly girly aerobic stuff, with a few kicking and punching moves thrown in, and it tends to be a fairly good overall workout. The second instructor is a very young black belt in tae kwon do; he's been with the centre since he was just a kid. His class is bit more oriented toward the martial arts.

Then, three weeks ago, the centre added a Saturday class in authentic kickboxing -- the real thing with a world champion. Although I wonder what the hell he's doing in Laval teaching anywhere between 3 and 6 ladies (ages 20 to.... me). Surely he has more prestigious things to do. Whatever -- I'm there. He is a fine specimen -- arms like tree trunks, as graceful as a cat.

The Saturday class began with the basics, and it can become boring and repetitive after the first hour, but that's OK. A lot of footwork is involved so far, with the result that my ankles ache pretty much all the time, as though I'd gone ice-skating after a 20-year hiatus. More like 30. (Maybe by this time next year I will have gone skating, seeing as I have a beautiful pair of high-tech skates sitting in a closet. Also: untouched inline skates; dying to learn that!)

When I'm not at the centre (it's not a "gym"), I do a variety of stuff at home -- the aforementioned yoga, ab work, weights, whatever I can do that requires little space. This apartment is laughably short on floor space. My next dream is a larger place with room for a treadmill and a stationary bike, and yes, one of those hanging punching bags...

Meanwhile, I got some focus mitts a week ago, but have yet to enjoy a real workout with them. That would require Alex's presence and some of his spare time, as well as a trip to the nearby school grounds, where I could practice my punch/jab/hook/uppercuts and kicking to my heart's content. He puts the padded mitts on his hands and basically moves them around in sort-of random fashion so that I can hit them, thus improving my reflexes and strength.

I never thought that his love of the martial arts would bring me to this point, but it's different and fun! It's also way cooler than saying, "I do Zumba."