I just attended my first kickboxing class today. It was held in the sweat-smelling basement of a bodybuilding gym half-lit by a couple bare lightbulbs. Which is awesome--feels like a real fight club. The huge guy upstairs apparently ripped me off taking double the monthly rate of about $8, but my new coach, who's maybe 30 and very martial-looking and unbelievably flexible, is honest and seemed embarrassed until we decided the huge guy must have just taken 2 months up front. I kinda wanted to pay double though.
The students from boys of about 8 to men of about 30. There was brief sparring at the end, and they (including the eight-year-olds) fought hard, full-on head kicks and multiple stoppages for bleeding. Two of the young'uns were reduced to tears. Offense seems to be prioritized over defense at this club: hands low they just charged and destroyed each other without blocking anything. When someone landed a particularly resonant head kick or dropped their opponent everyone applauded, but there were none of the constant reminders from the audience to keep hands up and keep up evasive head movement that I'm used to from my gym in the US.
This might be a bad idea--black eyes will likely be frowned up in interviews I conduct and at the archives. But for the moment I'm very much enjoying the endorphins and kicking back with a non-alcoholic beer.
I managed to commit the big old faux pas of stepping on a prayer rug in my sambo shoes right in front of a guy who I hadn't noticed was praying, and another, who had been kicking the heavy bag (literally a giant sack bulging with I don't know what) in a shalwar kamiz, jumped forward to lead me off the rug shaking my hand saying No problem no problem as I stammered an apology.
Still I think I made a decent first impression as foreign novelty, though my Persian anatomical/athletic vocabulary needs--and will get--a lot of work.
The students from boys of about 8 to men of about 30. There was brief sparring at the end, and they (including the eight-year-olds) fought hard, full-on head kicks and multiple stoppages for bleeding. Two of the young'uns were reduced to tears. Offense seems to be prioritized over defense at this club: hands low they just charged and destroyed each other without blocking anything. When someone landed a particularly resonant head kick or dropped their opponent everyone applauded, but there were none of the constant reminders from the audience to keep hands up and keep up evasive head movement that I'm used to from my gym in the US.
This might be a bad idea--black eyes will likely be frowned up in interviews I conduct and at the archives. But for the moment I'm very much enjoying the endorphins and kicking back with a non-alcoholic beer.
I managed to commit the big old faux pas of stepping on a prayer rug in my sambo shoes right in front of a guy who I hadn't noticed was praying, and another, who had been kicking the heavy bag (literally a giant sack bulging with I don't know what) in a shalwar kamiz, jumped forward to lead me off the rug shaking my hand saying No problem no problem as I stammered an apology.
Still I think I made a decent first impression as foreign novelty, though my Persian anatomical/athletic vocabulary needs--and will get--a lot of work.
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