Curious about kickboxing

Alioth

Hey-hey. For the new year, I'm thinking of taking up kickboxing. I'm interested in it because I'm a single woman and would like to learn some self-defense. Also, there's that element of fitness.

Those of you who take classes, how often do you go?
Do you need to go every day?
Do any of you guys compete, or do you kickbox for other reasons?
How long did it take for you to feel comfortable and love it?
Did you start as kids or as adults?
And ladies, did you feel awkward ever?

I've always been a horses/tennis/swimming sporty girl. Contact sports and martial arts seem really cool but intimidating to me. I think I'd rather invest in something like kickboxing than gun ownership though. (Not that I'm anti-gun.)

Last week I visited a Muay Thai kickboxing training center that also teaches jujitsu. They didn't offer individual classes, just packages that ran $135/mo for unlimited classes and start-up gear. Signing up also required a $65 private lesson. It seemed awesome, but I don't have that much money to throw around every month. I'm not sure I'd be motivated enough to do it every day. Twice a week seems more likely to develop as a habit for me. So I'm sniffing around for other options but keeping the monthly membership in mind.

robbie1968

Hi :

I do kickboxing and Taekwondo . Taekwondo is my main discipline and I find it a great blend of cardio, fighting skills and self defence. Our kickboxing classes never centered on any self defence mostly punching and kicking combinations so it may be something to check out first before you join. You mentioned you are single and wanting to learn self defence so It may be a good idea for you to add a self defence class to your kickboxing if it is not part of the training cirriculum.

There is a fantastic element of fitness. The best cardio workouts I have ever done where in TKD and kickboxing classes. Plus I supplement my martial arts with weight training. It's great to know how to defend yourself but you need some power to go with it.

To answer some of your questions :

1. I attend classes 2 times per week and practise 2 more times per week at home in my martial arts home studio. So about 4 times per week in total.

2. I do not compete - it's just for my own personal defence and fighting skill.
3.I felt at home on the very first night. And I was late starting - I am two tests away from my black belt in Taekwondo - I am 42 and I never started until I was 38.

4. Started as an adult as above mentioned.

Don't feel intimidated as there are many women in our classes and they can kick my butt. LOL The instructors - make sure you go to a good reputable school - the instructors are really sensitive to age, size, gender etc. in the classes.

Let me know how you make out and I hope this helps you. Add me as a friend if you like ....

Rob

TaraMaria

Hey there hunny!

My mom just researched a ton of these options for my sister. She wanted to take it for the self defense aspect and I LOVE it for the fitness aspect. Its plain spectacular. She found places that offered it very simillarly priced and packaged to how you mentioned. But she then did more research and found places that you paid per session, something like $8 dollar. So if you went twice a week for a month you'd be looking at something around $64 dollars. They offered classes once or twice a night and then several times during the weekend. She found another place that was $120 for an 8 week course.

I love my DVDs. I appreciate the classes at the gym but I really love my kickboxing dvds. Its not so much the self defense aspect (what to do when someone does this) but typical kickboxing moves. So awesome!

Those of you who take classes, how often do you go?
I go to my gym's offered class once a week, but I do Zumba once a week as well.

Do you need to go every day?
I do my kickboxing dvd's nearly every day. I have two and I do one or the other. I don't feel the need to do it, but its such a great workout, love the burn and the difference I have felt in my arms is amazing. That is why I keep up on it! On days I do other high cardio activities, I pass. But at least 2-3 times a week I make this my main calorie burning activity.

Do any of you guys compete, or do you kickbox for other reasons?
When my son gets older, I want to put him in it. Its so amazing! When he is able to participate, the whole family will do it because my husband loves it too!

How long did it take for you to feel comfortable and love it?
The first couple of weeks, I was pouring sweat and trying to keep up. Now I can do all of the motions, jump around, pour sweat and have fun! I love it!

Did you start as kids or as adults?
I started as an adult. My sisters took it as young teenagers and that is what piqued my interest!

And ladies, did you feel awkward ever?
Since I started with the dvd's in my home, I had a base understanding of what was going on. I think that really helped with going to the gym. I use Netflix streamed to Wii for one of my favorite kickboxing dvds! )

NightOwl1

I do boxing and martial arts, and am looking to get involved in kickboxing, so hopefully my experience is mostly relateable even if it's not exactly kickboxing.

If you are looking at self defense, a martial art is definitely the best way to go. Boxing and Kickboxing will definitely help with self defense, but I use classes like that to suplement my martial arts training, not replace it. Martial Arts that are heavy in self defense (I train in Krav Maga, which I can't rave enough about) will teach you much more useful skills. It will teach you where on the body to strike to inflict the most damage, how to protect yourself from an attack, and how to use your body weight to your advantage. This way, you'd be able to defend yourself from a much larger/stronger attacker.

Classes can be a little bit intimating at first, but all classes are designed for people of wildly different fitness and experience levels, so its pretty easy to catch on and work to the best that your body will let you. I've only been doing it about a month, and I already feel much more comfortable than I did when i started. For martial arts, boxing, or kick boxing, you're not required or expected to make every class. Instructors will usually work with you to fill you in on what you missed. Obviously the more you go the more you will get out of it, but missing a few classes won't put you behind.

I train at a regular gym that has boxing 3 times a week, kickboxing once a week, and martial arts once a week. I get all of those included in my regular gym membership which is 50 bucks a month. That's going to be much cheaper than going to strictly a martial arts/boxing gym. If you train at a gym already, hopefully they have classes like that. If not, you might want to look for a different one that has those classes as well. It's a much better deal for your money.

Hope this helps!

denitraross

I stared a few weeks ago at my local YMCA...they have classes once a week....I absolutely love it...it is a fantastic cardio workout...and also a great stress release...nothing better than hitting the mats ...check around and try a class out first before committing to any long expensive memberships (if the class is any good at all, they should offer you one free class to try it)...I love a challenge of something new so it is great learning how to kick and punch properlly......and the instructor we have is great - he actually participates in the workouts the whole class and always talking to you about your technique.....give it a try!

Alioth

Aha. This is all very helpful. It helps to know what's out there.

denitraross>> Yes, a YMCA or gym membership would probably work better for me than joining a dojo. Up until yesterday, I was living in an apartment complex that had its own fitness center where I could work out any time I wanted. But now I'm moving into a house with some other girls. The neighborhood isn't the best, so I really am interested in the martial arts training aspect as much as having access to a gym. There's no way I can set up a home-gym or space to train in as I'm only renting a bedroom.

Rob>> I'll have to keep Taekwondo in mind. I don't know anything about it, but it sounds interesting. I think it's awesome that you have gotten so far so quickly!

TaraMaria>>An $8 class a couple times a week would also be a lot easier for me to do while I'm only working part time. I'm a poor student until the spring. I'm really terrible about doing DVDs. I've tried them with dance aerobics and I can't seem to keep up or see if I'm moving correctly or see what I'm doing wrong. But maybe once I get started I could use them?

longy49>>Where does Krav Maga come from? They offer that at your regular gym? $50 a month sounds cheaper than even a YMCA membership. I'll have to keep looking around!

NightOwl1

longy49>>Where does Krav Maga come from? They offer that at your regular gym? $50 a month sounds cheaper than even a YMCA membership. I'll have to keep looking around!

Krav Maga is Hebrew for Contact Combat. It was a self defense system that was originally developed to teach Jewish villagers how to protect themselves from the Nazi's, and now it's the combat training that's used to train all of the soldiers in the Israeli Defense Force. I like it because it's all about self defense in practical, street fighting situation. IMHO, if you do a martial art like karate. kung fu, or taikwan-do, you have to become an expert in it before it really gives you the tools you need to defend yourself. Krav Maga is all about techniques like groin strikes, palm strikes, hammer fists, eye gauges, and whatever means necessary to defend yourself. It's not about winning a technical match. It's about fighting dirty to protect yourself and your family. It also focuses heavily on how to train yourself from attacks from multiple attackers.

The big downside is that since it's not a very well known martial art in the US, it can be hard to find around you, especially if you live in an area that doesn't have a Jewish population. You might want to google it to see if there's any around you. My gym is the first time I've ever heard of it being offered in a regular gym. I really lucked out, since I used to train in it years ago, but then I moved and never started it back up again. Then the day after i join this gym, I find out that they're starting their first weekly class that week! It was almost like it was meant to be!

If you can't find Krav Maga, try to find another martial art that focuses heavily on street fighting/practical self defense. That will give you the quickest, most effective self defense training.

And don't think I'm writing off boxing/kickboxing. They'll definitely help get you there. I know I would never want to cross my boxing instructor in a fight. But I also know that my Krav Maga instructor could drop my boxing instructor in about 2 seconds flat.

Alioth

They have Krav Maga in the area I live thanks to all the military bases. Now that you mention it, I have heard of it before. I'm sure it's effective. *lol* I'm going to check with the gyms in my area and see what they offer.

Alas, my local YMCA doesn't offer any kind of martial arts or self-defense beyond cardio kickboxing.

bstamps12

I have been a little curious about it too. My gym is starting a weekly kickboxing class for all ages. I'm a little intimidated but it would be something new to spice up my exercise routine...

Alioth

If you do it, please let me know how it goes.

puddles76

I was big on kickboxing in my late teens and early 20's. It is a great form of exercise and a good solid work out. You can add weights in the form of wrist and ankle bands to push it up even more.

That being said please do not think that this will be a strong canadite for self defense. Classes are based around the punching and kicking and the arobics of the movements. Look into it for a great form of exercise but save the self defense class for a professional in that field. You need to learn pressure points, target areas on the body that will do the most damage and allow you to get away. You also need to feel what it will be like to be attacked and see how fast someone can over take you. You will leave a kick boxing class high and thinking you can take on the world but the fundementals are not there if you're not training to compete.