Trying New Things -- Kickboxing

Patty - 3rd grade

Never in a million years did I think I would walk through the doors of a Martial Arts & Kickboxing business.  And yet I did!  My son Joe and I attended our first ever kickboxing class, last night.

Before I go forward, allow me to go back in time a bit.   In 1969  I was in 3rd grade at St. Johns Catholic School in the Bay Area of California.  My teacher was Sister Mary Mercy.  I'm not so sure I had much fear in my life up until this point.  However, in California at this time there was a notorious killer called the Zodiak killer.  His prey was school children.  So EVERY day, Sister Mary Mercy would release us at the end of the day and say, "Beware of the Zodiak killer!"  I was scared to death every day walking home with my friends.  It did teach us to be aware of our surroundings, but that fear stayed with me for a long time as you will see.

Before I started the 12 week challenge (before Jan 2016), I would want to go for walks in the neighborhood for exercise, but I was literally afraid to do so.  I had fear and I had NO self-confidence.  (That may be hard for some of you to believe as I am quite sassy these days.)  I would go for a walk IF my husband Dave would go with me.

I remember in the spring of 2016 (when the weather had warmed some and I had lost some weight), I started venturing out on walks by myself.  I actually have neigbors that will tell mutual friends, "I saw Patty walking last night.  She's losing all kinds of weight."  I remember mentioning to Ryan that I had been sooooo afraid to walk by myself and he said something like "with your weight loss, you are gaining confidence."  I was gaining confidence, but I still was always aware of my surroundings and I always ran through my head my exit plan if anything was to happen.  But I also knew I was getting pretty dang strong and I could fend for myself better.  This may sound silly coming from a 55 year old, but old fears die hard.

So, Ryan is now going to be teaching kickboxing at MARS.  So I was like, "what the heck."  I'll sign up for a trial of 3 classes and see what I think.  My son Joe was totally into it too, so he came with me.

As I listened to Gina instruct the class, I began to see this was much more than just a cardio workout.  This was a form of self-defense and that actually got me pretty excited about what I was learning.  I am always striving to grow and stretch myself and putting myself in a kickboxing class was definitely doing that, but to realize the benefit to my life-- that was like frosting on the cake.

Another really cool benefit is how it strengthens my hips.  When I started the 12 week challenge in January 2016, my hips popped out of place daily.  By March, they were pretty stable.  The whole movement of kickboxing involves your hips and strengthens your hips.  For me, that is a HUGE benefit.

I know the owner of the gym and I asked her how she would explain Kickboxing, because I had no idea it would be this awesome.  This is what she said--  "One way to look at it is a bag-pounding, sweat-pouring, stress-relieving workout program while learning moves that will Skyrocket confidence and learning a few self-defense techniques along the way.  It also helps in strengthening muscle, in flexibility and in mobility. I also believe that it is great and helpful for people of all ages and of all abilities."

I concur!  And friends, Mr. Shigematsu (AKA Mana) will be teaching here as well.  Mana will be working with the kids.

They have a great trial program if anyone wants to try kickboxing with me.  3 sessions for 19.99 and you get a pair of boxing gloves thrown in. There are morning and evening classes.   I signed up via their website -  http://www.grandjunctionmartialarts.com/index.php.

Big thanks again to Mana and Ryan for instilling some confidence back into me.  I've come a long way since January in that category.  There may be times you are sorry you did that for me as I have a hard time shutting up, but all and all the confidence is a great benefit to my life!