Yesterday, my ‘teamie’ Kelly and I embarked on a new challenge and attended our first Martial Arts class. Together we decided to give Kickboxing a try!
I’m not sure we could’ve chosen a hotter day to start our journey into Martial Arts as it was 32°c! As you can see, we were both already extremely warm before we had even started the class (we’re not usually that red!).
I’m nearly three months into my new role, and a lot of my time is spent shouting about the greatness of Martial Arts, so it was about time that I practiced what I preached.
We went along to a free trial and it was the sweatiest time of our lives, but one of the best activities I’ve personally done to date!
Typically I’m the ‘girly girl’ who hates exercising. The worst part of exercising for me is feeling sweaty, potentially breaking my nails and feeling like the unfittest person in the room. I went along to this class thinking it was going to be the longest hour of my life but I was pleasantly surprised.
I didn’t feel uncomfortable about my fitness levels as nobody even looked in my direction, let alone stared. Everybody was also super friendly and there was a variety of fitness abilities across the class, we were also paired accordingly. Although…the last few agonising squats ensured I couldn’t think about anything else!
Surprisingly I didn’t break any of my nails, and I was punching the pads as hard as I could (albeit, probably not very hard). I found that learning the correct techniques for jabbing, punching and kicking was the most exciting part of the class. I was most motivated during this time because Kelly and the Instructor, (who was fantastic and supportive to all students not just us newbies), were very encouraging.
Both Kelly and I were struggling to hold our giggles to begin with at each other’s attempts to kick and punch the pads – it’s a lot harder than you think, but I don’t have much hand to eye co-ordination so perhaps I’m not the best example!
Once the pad sessions had finished I was already feeling less stressed and a lot happier, another benefit of Martial Arts. I’m surprised how different your mood can be once you’ve spent half an hour punching and kicking something!
At the end of the lesson we were very sweaty, you can see this from the photo taken at least 5 minutes after the class had finished. However, I was still feeling motivated along with a sense of achievement, I genuinely really enjoyed myself. After just one lesson, Kickboxing opened my eyes, there’s actually a fun side of exercise, and sweating might actually be worth it!
Next week Kelly and I will be a fully-fledged members of our local Kickboxing school and we’ll be attending twice a week (hopefully not in 32° heat every time) so watch this space for both of our progress updates.
It’s probably also worth mentioning that it’s not an all-male orientated environment which some people, myself included, think (thought). There are also classes for females only if you’d prefer, but I wasn’t slightly intimidated by participating in a mixed gender class (despite all of the loud and unusual grunts).
Overall, I really enjoyed my first Kickboxing lesson and I’m already looking forward to my next one despite aching all over and feeling muscles I didn’t know even existed!
Make sure you visit our Get Into Martial Arts Facebook and Twitter pages. You’ll be able to see some of the benefits you could experience by attending your own local Martial Arts class which can be found here, and don’t forget to book your free trial lesson!
So that’s it until next time,
Hannah!
