Fight Do!

Move aside, hot yoga, I’ve fallen head over heels for a new kind of workout.

Okay, okay, perhaps that is a bit rash. I’m not ready to thrust aside my beloved yoga, which has served me so well for over two years now. But, it will certainly be sharing time in my workout schedule with a newcomer: kickboxing.

I would have never ended up participating in a kickboxing class in Japan if it hadn’t been for one of my students inviting me to his gym after my Sunday morning class. I somewhat reluctantly agreed.

My reluctance stemmed from a rather disastrous experience at a dance class I attempted last week. I say attempted, because by no dictionary’s definition did I complete a single dance step correctly. I was a horrible whirlwind of spastic motions flailing about the studio, posing a massive hazard to those around me like a renegade tornado.

I felt crushed after and vowed not to attend a dance class in Japan ever again. Sticking with yoga seemed a safe option: despite my lack of comprehension of the instructor’s directions, my previous knowledge of the postures enables me to succeed to some degree.

So, back to the story at hand: kickboxing class. The class is actually called Fight Do, or フアイト゛ウ, because it is a brand name like “Bikram yoga” or “P-90X.”I should prefix this by saying we attended a yoga class beforehand. So, I was already a bit tired physically, thus augmenting my anxiety about my ability to do “Fight Do” class. Yet, my anxieties were, as usual, completely unnecessary.

I plan to.

Jabbing, punching, elbowing, and kicking the air is one of the most cathartic and stress relieving workouts I’ve ever done. Also, focusing on the instructor meant I had no extra mental capacity to think about my daily woes.

I hope I look this cool...

Not only did I enjoy the experience, but it also turns out that I am shockingly apt at doing the moves properly. That has never happened before, as I am completely uncoordinated. In middle school, I had to stay late after the rehearsal for musicals because I needed extra lessons to learn the dance moves. The only dance class at which I have ever slightly succeeded is Zumba, because it requires no grace whatsoever. Or, perhaps it does, but it also doesn't matter if you flail around like an uncoordinated baboon, like I do. On that note, are there graceful baboons? I always think of primates as flailing creatures. Especially when I think of myself.

Thankfully, my gym has its own Fight Do classes. And I plan to attend every weekend.