Despite my aversion to exercise, see post here, I do love kickboxing. I have done it twice. Each time I loved it. And each time I couldn’t walk for days. Or I could walk, but very painfully.
My husband loves boxing. He is the very athletic without trying type. Grr. He chooses to channel his emotions physically, through running, boxing, etc. The story of how he roped me into it can be found here.
What I like is how it makes me feel that my body isn’t useless. How I feel that I’m not defective. That my muscles and bones and joints and tendons can all work together like they are supposed to. I don’t feel sick in the one hour that I am trying to keep up with the class, although I’m sure I look pretty sick. In my head I look like one of those MMA chicks.
Also, what is important for me as a rape survivor, is that I feel like I could defend myself. I feel like, if I were in a situation again where I was powerless, I could do something to protect myself. That is so important to me. I do still have a goal of actually attending krav maga classes one day, just right now financially and health wise it is not realistic. Hopefully one day I can get to a place where I can make that happen physically/financially etc.
The exhaustion from that kind of exercise is different from the usual exhaustion. It is a PRODUCTIVE exhaustion, if that makes any sense at all. Normally, just walking around all day exhausts me. But that kind of exhaustion makes me feel like I’ve earned it. Like I’ve battled for it.
It’s on the goal list…
true life is stranger than fiction.. 