Publication: www.sofeminine.co.uk
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Tell me please if you have any issues with the following: a chemical-free high and adrenalin rush of pure pleasure, from punching the life out of a bag or smacking a pair of pads held in front of you by a toned male….
Boxing has made me pleasant, both on and off-road along with a new-found confidence, a disciplined mind and a completely new body shape. After a few sessions, you too will feel mentally and physically stronger, with a sense of focus that makes the latest HD flatscreen TV look prehistoric. There is no preaching, no psychobabble and definitely no navel-gazing. Another thing, if you had told me a year ago, before taking up boxing, that I would personally show up at my (male) client's office to demand money he owed me, I would be petrified. I went to his office, demanded my cheque, it was handed over in an instant.
Is it not absurd that despite being emotional creatures, we've had to train ourselves to internalize our aggression, simply because it is deemed inappropriate to display it? We are labelled insane if we show aggression, so enormous is the pressure for us to remain calm, in control, and with a fresh blow dry to boot. We need to get things off our chest too, just like men, right? Interestingly, when boxing began in the Greek Civilization, women were involved in the sport, however the Romans banned them from it in 400AD and ever since, women have been put in their place. A man has plenty of places to vent, what about us? (FYI, for the first time, womens boxing will feature in the 2012 Olympics).
Training sessions consist of punch-bags, pad-work, skipping, mat-work, weights and (interminable!) press-ups, often two hours– you need a good coach to guide you through a suitable warm-up, warm-down and check your technique. Good hand-wrapping is key in preventing hand and wrist injuries. Gloves come in a variety of weights from 8 to 16 ounces. As with any sport, injuries can be sustained; headguards and mouthguards are obligatory in amateur and white-collar boxing. ABA (The Amateur Boxing Association) fights are closely referred and supervised by doctors, reducing risk of injury.
I needed to find out what makes boxing so effective for women. Countless professional women have been seduced, finding it the ultimate outlet after a hard day, proving that the old-school stereotype of women who box as something barbaric, is just that, barbaric. Whether you want to train alongside sweaty alpha males in mens' gyms or women only, the UK is your oyster.
Aimee di Marco, 30, Doctor at St Marys, London, Cambridge Graduate and ex-rower, regularly attends KO (Knock-Out) circuits at All Stars Gym, predominantly male. She loves the sweaty air, 'where you can feel the testosterone. I love the sound of the punch bag reverberating against its wooden stands, heavy ropes slapping the floor, a good method of escapism, the equivalent of your ultimate test, endurance, strength, will power'.
Naomi Gibson, 31, London, spotted a gap in the market for women-only boxing gyms and set up Girls in Gloves, 'not to alienate men but not all women want to train alongside men. Some women need to be be nurtured'. She tended to try to please people, and in turn, was taken advantage of. The moment she started boxing, her life started to shift. 'If I don't like the way someone is treating me, I don't get aggressive, I just walk away'. At a personal training course, she met 'a tyrant who made my life very difficult; I had a warped idea I needed him…as he broke me down I just got stronger, I'm not afraid now. When I don't box, I feel like things are closing in on me. I know so many women waiting for someone to rescue them, they come to box and you literally watch them transform. Boxing enables me to keep my head and I want to spread the word and get as many girls involved in boxing'.
Neil Perkins who runs Fighting Fit City Gym in Birmingham, finds women better co-ordinated than men and naturally move better! He trains Kate Lawler, 'Boxing Betty' - a grandma of 67 and Liz Thompson, 33, a mother and part-time HR Manager. 'I have completely changed my lifestyle, I am down 24 pounds and two dress sizes in three months and my body shape has completely changed. I love the atmosphere, the camaraderie and I am still amazed I have my own wraps and gloves. I don't imagine for a minute I will ever want to and get in a boxing ring, but as for the lifestyle, health and fitness benefits, I give it a 10 out of 10!'
Clive Gibson heads the F.I.T. club in Newcastle, welcomes women to his boxing circuit training classes. The majority of the women he trains are barristers, doctors, lawyers who 'all come in and have a great blast at the bags and leave stress-free' and five of his 'students' want to compete.
Rebecca Wright, 38, is transfixed with boxing, so much so she moved from her job at a creative agency to work at The Real Fight Club, started by Alan Lacey, ex boxer. 'It allows me to be in my body, be focussed and get rig of my angst. It is a complex sport, not merely thuggery'.
The Ring, established in 1909, is the oldest boxing gym in the country – and the world - run by Mark Burford, 42. 'Burf 'doesn't miss a trick with his East London charm. His philosophy? 'If you can't have a laugh at yourself, don't bother coming here'. He welcomes women, 'everyone is equal, boxing is judgemental and the masks are off – it's class-less', people from all walks of life turn up.' He says boxing always teaches you something new, once you've got the moves and you're fit, there's a little mind-field inside all of us. He recognises the gender gap and 'women can compartmentalise their technique at all times and men will naturally be a little more Neanderthal. Burf and his team organise calory-intake tests, body-type tests, and advise on nutrition and weight-loss.
Holly Keats, 23, is studying for a PHD in Neuro Biology at Portsmouth University, an acute asthma sufferer. (twice winner of British & English University Champion, Ambassador for BUCS, a Nike UK Girl, probably boxing for the Commonwealth Games in 2014). She can now run six miles without wheezing and with boxing, she has found everything naturally comes together and just works for her body. She is ecstatic that women are now able to compete in the Olympics and says the past five years 'have seen a huge surge for women, especially after all the bad press and reputation.'
Wayne Gardiner, 30, Sports Co-ordinator at Portsmouth University, trains Holly and says 'society does frown upon behaviour such as women boxing' and reminds me that womens football took many years to get accepted. 'You cannot box if you have been drinking at the weekend and bingeing on rubbish food, it is not like football or tennis where you can get away with it, in boxing you can never get away with it, especially in my gym (!)'. He has trained three women to for the National Championships, including Lucy O'Connor from the Royal Navy.
Steve Bunce, boxing commentator extraordinaire, (The BBC London Boxing Hour, http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0048tgj), backs the girls, he 'likes womens boxing more than any other British journalist'. Terri Kelly, 38, Chairwoman of Female Boxing, is integral in the Committee approving womens boxing for 2012. When she started to train, doors were shut in her face, 'there are of course a lot of older people involved in the sport, with their preconceived ideas and it was difficult to change the Establishment'.
Girls, get your gloves on and join me in the boxing ring. This is a fast-track way to sort out those bingo wings and get a great new pair of glutes. In our society of ipods and laptops, reality TV and box-sets, isn't it refreshing to get fit, release our angst and have fun?
FACT BOX
Female-Friendly Boxing Gyms Across the UK
Girls in Gloves
www.girls-in-gloves.com
tel: 07939 168800
89 for non members
79 for members
Mon: 7:30pm, Weds 5:30pm at Miguel's behind the Tate Modern, or at Slim Gyms, Shoreditch
All Stars
www.allstars-gym.co.uk
576 Harrow Road Paddington, London W9 3
020 8960 7724
£10 per class or £58 per month, for as many classes as you like
Mon, Tues, Weds, Thurs – 7:30pm
Sat – 10am
2 hours KO circuit (knock-out)
The Ring
www.cityboxer.com
The Real Fight Club
http://www.therealfightclub.com
2-6 Curtain Road London
0207 247 2358
Neil Perkins
Fighting Fit In The City
Cornwall House
31 Lionel Street
Birmingham B3 1AP
T: 0121 212 9461
www.fightingfitcitygym.com
Clive Gibson
F.I.T Club
www.fitclub.co.uk
10 High Bridge
Newcastle Upon tyne, Tyne & Wear
NE1 1EN
0191 261 7050
£8 per evening class
£7 daytime class
£50 a month during day, £70 a month evening
info@fitclub.co.uk
Wayne Gardiner
Sports Co-ordinator
Portsmouth University
Tel: 02392 843671
Mob: 07952 707468
Steve Bunce, from Radio London, Bunce's Boxing Hour and commentates for Sky Sports