Benefit #3
The Doctor Prescribed….
A flurry of punches. Beats that literally move you to the next level. A tribe of 22 other individuals sharing the same experience. That’s more effective than any medication; in most cases. Exercise, a natural anti-depressant in and of itself, releases endorphins, allowing your body to feel naturally, “high.” In these fast-paced, ever-changing, technology-driven times… people are being driven to exhaustion, burn out, and worn out from the, “daily grind.” With social media, Instant Messaging, e-mails, texts, voicemails, and countless other ways to be “readily available” for “incoming” information, solicited or unsolicited, our brains are on overload. We are perpetually accessible to the outside world in one way or another. Think about the urgency you feel when the phone rings. What’s your first instinct? Answer it. Right? Never mind what you were in the middle of… you’re a master multi-tasker, we almost have to be in order to survive these days. So you answer the phone, one of countless interruptions you will experience throughout the day.
In the Irish Journal of Medical Science
(2016), it is reported, “The cognitive losses from multi-tasking are even greater than the cognitive losses from pot-smoking.” So instead of waiting for medical marijuana to become legal in Texas, get high on 6th street. (1211 West 6th, right in the heart of downtown Austin). Careful on the way home; don’t want a, “DWI,” or, Driving While Invigorated. Or its sister “offense,” Driving While Inspired.”
Benefit #4
Don’t Get Defensive…
That’s right! Go on the offense. Learning how to execute a jab properly, or any combo for that matter, not only trains your body, it inadvertently trains your mind simultaneously. Self-defense, an innate property of Kickboxing, lends a certain, “walk tall confidence,” to those who practice it diligently, and, if you ever find yourself in a position where you have to defend yourself, throwing a confident punch will keep you on the offense. That’s not a green card to go punching random people in the face on your Saturday morning jaunt around Town Lake, it’s simply an added benefit of your workout. So go strut down the street with your sweet, hard-earned sweaty swagger. (Go ahead and shower first, though).
Benefit #5
Only the Strong Survive …
Although landing countless jab-hook- jab combos against your opponent; the heavy leather bag, tethered to the floor, drenched in your sweat… can take your punches without flinching, it’s actually doing you a favor. Executing your punches and kicks with proper form creates an exceptionally strong upper body; all the punching combos strengthen your shoulders, back, chest and core, adding roundhouse kicks, front and side kicks, and some token squats and lunges… the perpetual movement, the changing tempos, the demands required of the body to master the art of kickboxing push your body to a limit you never thought possible.
BE A KNOCKOUT
By Amy E Lawrence, ACSM, MFA