The world's gawn mad! Aye, I tell thee ...

[XmisterIS]

I go to the gym for the freeweights, the bikes are my cardio workout (real bike on a real road!).

Anyway, today I was checking the exercise classes timetable online, apparently all classes are free with my membership, and I spotted something called "Boxercise" and another thing called "Body Combat". I liked the sound of that and I used to do kickboxing, then kung fu, so I thought I'd give it a go.

I turned up with my old mitts, headguard, gumshield and shin protectors, expecting to get stuck into some sparring ...

... how wrong I was! Oh my, how very very wrong! Oh my God ...

It turns out it's just an over-amplified aerobics class with some "moves" from various "martial arts" thrown into the routine. I could hardly keep a straight face. It was when the instructor, in all seriousness, shouted "Kung Fu Pose!", stood on one leg and stuck his arms out sideways, that I lost my composure and collapsed in a heap of uncontrollable hysterics. I almost peed. I had to hold myself to preserve my modesty. The instructor thought I was in difficulty!

Come the end of the class, there were "executive" type guys congratulating each other and loudly saying, "Good job, good job! What a workout!"

I'll admit, I was sweating, but I wasn't puffed. It was nowhere near the exertion required when you're near the top of a bastard great hill, in the granny ring, legs burning, heart pounding away like a good'un. Now that's a bloody workout!

Needless to say, as I unlocked my bike, I watch the "executive" type guys getting into their "executive" type cars and zooming off - on a gloriously sunny day which you'd be mad not to enjoy by bicycle!

After the class I asked him whether there were any classes involving real sparring rather than the poofter shite I had just witnessed - he told me, "No, there used to be, but health and safety said it was too dangerous".

The world has, I tell you, gone completely insane.

 

[biggs682]

what has the world come to .

there are loads in our office thay pay each month to gyms but never go , why !!!

 

[Yellow Fang]

I haven't done body combat, but I've done box-fit a few times. I'm not sure how box-fit differs from boxercise; I suspect it doesn't much. Box -fit involves lots of punching into pads, lots of skipping, lots of sit ups and lots of press ups. I find the press ups the killer. We had to do a minute of wide arm press ups followed by a minute of narrow arm press ups. Then about five minutes later we had to do it again. The punching can be hard, can be easy depending on how much welly you give it. It depends a bit on who you partnered with.

I used to do karate and a bit of kung fu when I was in my 20s. They called it semi-contact, i.e. you weren't suppose to hit each other hard. Even in competitions, you scored points for making contact, not punching someone out. In a way, it was the best you could do because during training you could not really go for it, because of all the other people around you. You'd be knocking little kids over. Unless you were sparring with someone a similar size, weight and skill level, it was not really on to punch hard. Also it's painful. One or two of my sparring partners were a bit rough. If you're in a proper fight and you're angry, you don't feel it, but if not it hurts. One consequence of this semi-contact stuff was that I'm sure a lot of people were not really learning how to defend themselves. Some of the punching was truly pathetic.

 

[smokeysmoo]

Avoid ZUMBA then, it has nothing to do with African warriors or the like

 

[Lucheni]

I have a friend who took up the Body Combat sessions at her local gym. After a few weeks she became a martial arts legend in her own mind. Oddly, this never happened when she was just following Billy Blanks Tae Bo dvds at home.

 

[Judderz]

I do the Body Pump class every week, this is like aerobics, but with a barbell. Doesn't get you puffed out, but it works the muscles a hell of a lot.

 

[Archie_tect]

There's an exercise class that the lad who works with me goes to twice a week, it's fairly relaxed, they call it, "The Keep Fat Club".

 

[wiggydiggy]

I know a couple of lasses that go to 'Body Combat' and they are under no illusions that it is anything more than a glorified aerobics class, made me laugh think of a bunch of gordon gecko types shouting 'YEAH! Fight Face On!' whilst posing....

 

[Melonfish]

lol, my son does pee wee Ju Jitsu he'd wipe the floor with these body combat types.

If you ask me, which you didn't, a good 2 hour Aikido sesh would teach all them aerobic types the meaning of knackered. it is the subtle art of destroying your knee's whilst allowing people to hurt you in many ways
you also spend 90% of your time getting up off the floor after being thrown, flung, flipped, tripped, pulled, pushed and generally knocked over

 

[perplexed]

A friend of mine used to teach something along those lines. I saw the class put on a display at a fete once, and I nearly died laughing.

Not from the comedy element of the class, more the fact that one of the instructors was dressed up like an extra from Rambo. Complete with combat trousers, olive green vest and a bandana...

 

[Seigi]

I remember about 5/6 years ago I used to do a form of martial arts, I think it was Taekwondo, but not 100% sure. I used to be pretty knackered after every session, I also remember that every session we used to have get with a partner and hit each others side-wrist/forearm area off one another for about 5 mins, they used to absolutely ache.

 

[Dave Davenport]

I've been to a couple of boxersize classes in the past and thought they were a pretty good workout, depends how much you push yourself I suppose. If you want a proper full contact experience you couldn't do much better than to join a boxing club.

I boxed for 15 years and was an ABA coach so I've got a fairly good idea of what goes on in a 'real' boxing gym.

 

[Norm]

Xmister, it might just be me but you come across as a bit of a snob in that OP.

If peeps want to call their poses after martial arts, films or children's books, it's no big deal, is it?

Maybe the mad one was the one who expected body contact rather than 'poofter shite' in an exercise class.

 

[guitarpete247]

Some one I used to work with ran a Boxercise class at school for staff and pupils. As far as I know it was simply aerobics but using boxing moves. You had to keep away from others in case you hit them. So not boxing.

 

[Hover Fly]

I've been to a couple of boxersize classes in the past...

Are they the ones where you learn what size underpants you take?