I've never done kickboxing before nor have I stepped foot into a boxing gym. I was so nervous about this class! Well, more like terrified. First of all, I have two left feet and I stink at any type of choreography. In my mind, kickboxing was probably going to be a series of choreographed punches and kicks that the rest of the experienced class members were familiar with and I'd be standing in their dust, lost and confused. I was a little bit right, but the class was a lot more than just punching and kicking a bag. Secondly, I was worried about how tough the class would be...and rightly so...
The receptionist welcomed me and wrapped my hands properly and handed me boxing gloves.
The instructor, Thomas, looked like he'd be one of the good guys in the hipster version of Mortal Combat complete with an asymmetrical haircut, thigh tattoo, and satin boxing shorts. He introduced himself and warned me that the class would be challenging, but he'd stick close to me and make sure I was getting the moves done correctly.
There were 9 of us in the class and we warmed up by jogging around the mat and doing a few other cardio moves. By the end of the warm-up, I was huffing and puffing and even more worried than I was before!
The class is really a circuit training class with kickboxing mixed in. There was never a moment of downtime outside of the three water breaks. As promised, Thomas stuck by me through all the kickboxing portions of the class and made sure that my form was correct and that I wasn't messing up the choreography too badly. In between kickboxing combinations, we did planks, sit ups, push ups, and jumping jacks. The boxing gloves actually made those easier to do because they padded my hand during push ups and acted like a pillow during the sit ups. The downside is that as the intensity built, I began to feel claustrophobic in the gloves. Luckily, every time I was about to give in and take them off, Thomas would call a water break or we'd move on to an exercise without the gloves.
I'm proud to say that I was able to pretty much keep up. The only time I needed to take a break was during the portion where we were jogging with medicine balls, then holding them above our heads while doing lunges, then holding them eye-level while doing leg lifts. The lightest ball was 12lbs and I couldn't hack it! Instead, I did the moves without the ball and took an extra water break. Just recounting the experience makes my arms feel like Jell-O.
Overall, I had fun, but it was the toughest exercise class I've ever taken. Thomas was awesome. He's energetic, engaging, and encouraging. The music was great too. He said that on weekends and evenings, the classes are very full and he cranks the music and the intensity. The downside of the entire experience for me, was the smell! I know that gyms are smelly places, but between the hand wraps, the gloves, the floor mats, and 10 sweaty humans, it got really bad. The funk can only be described as what I assume Shrek's armpits smell like. A friend of mine used to use the colorful term, "swamp ass" and I think I finally know what he was talking about. I don't think it's an issue of cleanliness, because they were spraying down the mats and mopping. I think it's just a byproduct of a really intense work out in that type of environment.
Cost: First class was free. They are going to contact me about pricing for more classes.
Fun Factor: High
Difficulty: Extremely High
Phew! I did it!!!
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