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Review by Joanna Bounds for Sunday Telegraph's "Body and Soul" Magazine Fight Club Boxing classes are about more than bulging biceps, says Joanna Bounds. They'll give you a full-body workout, too. Is it me, or are women becoming more aggressive? Everywhere you look they're tottering around on skyscraper heels, vodka and tonic in hand, whacking their fellow females into submission. Biff! Ironwoman Candice Falzon punches a woman in the face outside a Coogee pub. Pow! Sharon Osbourne allegedly smacks a Hollywood agent in a restaurant. So, while I might be up there in the stiletto-wearing and shandy-drinking stakes, what's missing from my repertoire is obviously a killer right hook. Yep, I'm going to have to learn how to box. The only problem in my bicep-building plan is the fact that my muscles could appear on a "missing" poster. I need some help. Which is what Jeremy Webb promises to give me when I turn up to his K-box class on a chilly Monday evening. Webb understands my plight and tells me that K-box will give me strength, flexibility and aerobic fitness - everything I need to transform myself into Elle Macpherson with an Anthony Mundine-style upper cut. He explains that a normal aerobics class won't make me strong, lifting weights won't give me flexibility and yoga won't up my aerobic fitness - whereas K-box will do all three. Which means I can cancel my gym membership and burn my yoga mat. Hard Hitting I'm very excited. Even though Webb hasn't mentioned the words "lean", "mean" and "fighting machine", he instils me with confidence when he tells me that being able to box isn't about body mass and muscle size, but your style of swing. "You just have to know how to use your body," he says. "It's how little people can hit incredibly hard". And, as he's an Australian Institute of Sport-accredited martial arts instructor (with huge muscles), I know I'm in good arms. We start by warming up, which involves the class running around in a big circle in an attempt to keep up with the person in front. After just a few minutes of chasing each other's tails I'm, quite frankly, exhausted. And we haven't even started yet. The Big Bash When everyone's looking a little rosy, it's time for some boxing action. I put on my gloves and after showing the class what kinds of punches we're going to be doing and in what order - right jab, left jab, right jab, left upper cut - Webb lets us loose on our opponent. At first I'm nervous about hitting the pads too hard and sending my partner Jade reeling back - but I needn't have worried. She punches her way through two K-box classes in one night, while I have trouble opening a jar of Vegemite. Webb tells me to hold my stomach tight and work from my legs - which is the key, apparently - as it will tone my middle and lower body as well as my arms. Then it's time to swap roles. Holding the pads isn't as easy as I thought - you have to quickly move them into different positions and let them "give" slightly when pad and glove connect. One wrong move and I'll be sporting a lovely shiner. Then we swap back again to puncher and punchee as Webb takes us through another boxing round. And another. And another. My arms start trembling. As I practice my baby punches, I look on in envy as the rest of the class start to incorporate some kicking moves into their routine. What's good about this class is that Webb moves around and instructs people at different levels, meaning you can turn up for the first time and still get as much out of it as those who've been coming for weeks. Body Talk I'm relieved when the gloves come off, but then the press-ups and sit-ups begin. My body doesn't seem to be listening when Webb tells us that "your body does what your mind tells it" - as he impresses the class with his one-legged, one-arm press-up. Something to aim for perhaps. As I leave the class, every muscle in my body feels like it's been severely tested. And, although I'm not yet of the "C'mon if you think you're hard enough" mentality, I reckon I'm on my way to being able to bash with the best of them. |
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