Boys who fight

My dad told me I need to write more.  I told him I didn't have anything to write about.  He said find something to write about everyday.  I said while I admit I'm a narcissist I am not enough of one to write about my life everyday.  So, I truly haven't had anything interesting to write about, but I finally thought of something yesterday.

I recently joined the gym at Derby City Mixed Martial Arts.  The Ex has been doing Jiu-jitsu there for over 3 years.  I always thought I wanted to join but the cost, plus lack of childcare at the gym, left me to do my workouts at the Y.  When The Ex started, the gym was a room full of mats next to a room with a cage and some punching bags for boxing.  Now they have expanded their area and are offering more classes like, kids jiu-jitsu, yoga, and BOOT CAMP!  My workout buddy Jennifer (we've been going as hard as the Y will allow for about 3 years together) signed her son up for kid's jiu-jitsu.  While she was there someone talked her into taking the Boot Camp class.  She kept telling me to look into signing up.  I wasn't really convinced to do it.  I knew that I needed a change in my workout routine but I didn't realize how much of a change was needed until about 3 weeks ago.  One morning at about 5:30am I was at the Y getting my workout in when I saw Clay (Jennifer's husband) and he showed me a video he took of Jennifer at DCMMA.  Keep in mind that are fitness levels are similar (she is thinner and she can run further that I can).  What I saw on the video was MY workout partner climbing a freaking rope.  I saw that on a Thursday and I was in Boot Camp on the following Monday.  I've been going for two weeks.  It's a HARD workout everyday (Monday-Thursday), and after 2 weeks, I feel stronger already.  I have yet to climb the rope, but I have gotten to the point where I can hang on it with my feet locked in.

Since I've joined, I have taken a jiu-jitsu class and a boxing class (in addition to the boot camp classes).  What I notice most about the men teaching the classes- they are extraordinarily calm.  You would think that people that can break your neck with a few moves, choke you unconscious in seconds or punch your head off would be a little more excitable.  Really they're patient and calm.  I have determined this to be the case because they are confident in the bodies and they desire to get along with others.  They know what they are capable of, yet only want to use their knowledge and freakish skills to compete or teach.  They seem to be soft spoken yet you realize their confidence immediately upon meeting them.

The Ex and I took boxing on Saturday.  We were partners and worked on very basic combos like jab-cross and jab-jab-cross.  I realized immediately that I did not like to have my husband practicing punches on my face.  (And, it wasn't even directly on my face, we were also working on covering our faces to protect from punches).  But it really wasn't fun, I need someone else to punch me in the face.  We jumped rope for 9 minutes to warm up and that was fun, but once the punches to the face came- I was ready to go home.  It didn't hurt, but it felt totally unnatural to have your man practicing jabs at your expense.

This week my goal is to continue getting stronger while limiting the amount of think time I give myself.  What I mean is that if I don't climb the rope or get a pull up, I won't go home and be mad at myself and think about what a loser I am.  I have no idea why I mentally punish myself like that.  Eventually I want to climb a rope like so: