Kickboxing can lead to the biggest makeover in your life

To women who do not train kickboxing: What is your opinion of kickboxing? Would you ever try it? To women who chose to train kickboxing: Why did you choose it?

Iwill start by recalling the story behind one girl’s decision to train kickboxing before going into some other opinions of those who don’t and those who do kickbox.

For this one particular girl, kickboxing wasn’t just a sport but it was ‘the sport’.

From a very young age, together with her father, she would watch shows such as Walker Texas Ranger and Power Rangers that involved action and the idea of ‘the good’ defeating ‘the bad’.

She dreamed how one day she would become fearless, not by having any supernatural powers but by knowing how to deal with life. She used to downgrade herself by considering herself shy, non-assertive, interdependent, insecure, unattractive and powerless.

She felt like being a nobody! But deep inside, all she ever wanted was to overcome all these self-negating thoughts. Be- cause of her negative self-beliefs, she let others control her.

Her deepest desires were to change, to be different, to be a strong independent woman. She wanted to feel in control, assertive, powerful, secure and, most importantly she wanted to matter!

Even though she had a family that supported her, she still felt alone. Even though she enjoyed having her comfort zone, she longed for responsibility and independence. She wanted to prove to herself that she could do whatever she wanted, even if that entailed going against the norm.

It was then that she took the decision – which for her was very challenging – to start kickboxing. Kickboxing wasn’t just a sport for her but it was a means of growing up - to attaining selfworth and self-esteem, in addition to the health benefits of physical activity.

She chose kickboxing because it is a challenging sport, where one needs to fight for one’s own self.

Interviewing other women, I have found out that for many of the females who do train this sport, kickboxing is stress relieving. It involves good cardio, selfdefence and fitness together with a huge dose of concentration and discipline.

Kickboxing involves techniques and sparring which train the mind to constantly be alert. It’s all about focus, trusting yourself, fighting your fears and believing you can actually do it. It disciplines you and helps you to be both mentally and physically strong. It teaches you how to survive.

“Kickboxing is not an easy sport to train. It’s quite challenging and that’s the beauty of it and worth a try”. That was one of the answers I got from the women who love the sport. One actually said she hates routinebased sports such as tennis, netball and basketball. She argued that kickboxing requires a great deal of thinking and concentration, especially when trying out the techniques, the combinations and sparring. Other female participants said they had always been into some kind of sport, and that they had a particular interest in martial arts. Hence, when the opportunity came along, they just took the leap.

Interviewing girls who do not train kickboxing, my main objective was to lean their views about the sport. I had my own assumptions, and wanted to check whether they corresponded or not.

Some told me they felt such sports were mainly associated with men because it is a rough and tumble activity. Because such stereotypes, they rarely considered trying it out. Other female non-participants see kickboxing as a dangerous activity rather than a healthy one. They see it as a sport where men release their frustration and anger, where men can be ‘legally’ aggressive in the ring and can express their machismo. Others were concerned about health issues due to long-term training and about the injuries that may be result in full contact competitions.

Photographs: John Borg