Boxing, the key to a happy life

I have tried most sports. I love to be challenged but it wasn’t always that way. In high school, I was that big-boned kid. I loved my food and sugar but what I didn’t realise at the time was that I was eating my feelings.

Just after high school, I knew I needed to make a commitment to exercise so I bought some exercise videos from one of those Morning Show infomercials. I chose Tae Bo – an at-home workout I could do anytime.

Tae Bo is a total body fitness system that incorporates martial arts techniques such as kicks and punches, which became quite popular in the 1990s. It was developed by American taekwondo practitioner Billy Blanks.

Love ya Billy.

Tae-Bo was the fitness of the future. Fondly enough, my best mate Billy Blanks was kinda right.

Picture this. Billy Blanks in tight bright blue lycra numbers ripping up my living room with martial arts moves that replicated dance moves. His sessions were kinda like morphing an 80’s aerobic dance video and Rocky.

I felt I was too “fat” to go to the gym so dancing at home like it was 1999 (which it was) made me feel good. I was on cloud nine. I felt like a kid again.

You know what happened!? The excess 20kg of weight/emotional pain I was carrying simply melted off. I literally danced the weight away. Martial arts did wonders for my body, but more importantly, it did wonders for my mind. I LOVED my sessions with Billy because it made feel happy.

Fast forward to 2018, I am now a member of a boxing gym called Tribute Boxing in Abbotsford. It’s like F45 and boxing in one, so functional fitness + boxing. From the moment I walked through those doors for my very first session I knew I was going to love it.

For me, boxing isn’t just about fitness, it’s a meditative experience. It’s for the mind as much as it is for the body and soul. It feels like I am escaping life and just being. I have a very active mind so finding a practice that allows my mind to quieten and be at peace is euphoric. There is something that happens when I punch a boxing bag or pads that releases my internal suppressed aggression and anger. For that moment in time I am in the present, the now. I’m not thinking about what I have to do for a client. About how much washing there is to do or about taking my toddler to a billion activities. It’s almost like the world stops.

Exercise for me is a must. It curbs my anxiety and depression but boxing in particular really takes my mind, body and soul to the next level. When punching a bag/the pads as hard as I can, it not only releases happy endorphins but builds my confidence. Boxing allows me to push past limiting beliefs.

What I love about Tribute Boxing is that I feel like part of their community. I haven’t felt that much in my life. I have mostly been an outsider as I think differently to most. I feel like part of their family.

In addition to the classes, I also train once a week with Jay Milf, who is a legend. I have learnt so much from him. When I started, I was like an uncoordinated giraffe. A year later, after focusing on technique, I feel strong, which is so empowering. Together we do a combination of boxing techniques and weights, which I am not a huge fan of, however, I do understand the necessity of them.

I even got my hubby to join and it’s an activity we do together. Since starting, I have seen a massive shift in him. He looks and feels stronger and has more confidence in himself. He loved it so much he went on to fight. I don’t really agree with the fighting element of boxing, I’m a lover not a fighter. Luckily for me, after Jesse ticked that item off his bucket list, he made the decision not to fight again. In his words: “Sparring is one thing, but an actual fight takes it to that next level. It was brutal”. He also said that he “worked out in one fight that he could and couldn’t do it”. In other words, he learnt that he was strong enough and could hold his own, but also that he didn’t have that level of aggression to do it again. He, too, is a lover not a fighter – and thank goodness for that.