Down for the count...almost

I am proud to say that both Daniel and I survived our first night of boxing 101. At the end of last night’s class, being able to stand even felt like a giant accomplishment.

It turns out that the instructor and I have a different perception of the word “beginner”. While we did learn some basic moves and combos, I was surprised to have gloves on within the first 5 minutes of the class. Things move fast, but I guess that’s to be expected in boxing.

The majority of our first class was spent practicing a series of different punches: left jab, right cross, left hook. These are recurring moves that we will need to know for sparring in the future. Dan and I took turns practicing our punches, alternating between the gloves and the blocking / focus pads. It was fairly intimidating being on the receiving end of Dan’s punches – this is where the whole male vs. female strength issue is totally validated. Dan wasn’t even hitting my pads with full force, and I could still feel myself being moved backwards. Meanwhile, my pitiful left jab isn’t strong enough to move tissue paper on a windy day. However, I do think that he felt some kick from my right arm…definitely something to work on!

Minus the aching muscles and shoulder blades, I think I’m really going to enjoy boxing. Daniel and I are excited to purchase our own gloves this week, so that we can practice at home. Luckily we already have some equipment from Dan’s jujitsu days so keeping up to par shouldn’t be too costly.

Irish dancing is on tonight’s agenda. I look forward to getting my feet stomping again as I was on a month-long hiatus throughout the holidays. Thank God Irish dancing doesn’t involve the upper body, otherwise I’d have a major issue on my hands…pardon the pun.

TTFN! Only 78 days until we leave for sunny Miami and our Caribbean cruise!