PUNCHING bags

Mothers and fathers, men and women, if you do not go already, I advise you to go to martial art self defence classes no matter what your age, shape or fitness. It is good for you.

Yesterday we started the class with a run. Once more, a double expresso and two cigarettes are not ideal before such a thing, but no matter, your fitness will improve.

I struggled with the run, my breathing was laboured and raspy. I returned to the hall out. of. breath.

"Right, grab a kicking shield," said the Master.

"Aren't we stretching first?" I pleaded.

The slowest in the group, I had to partner with someone who already had a shield. Mistress Psychic had one which was lucky as she is the same size as me and I remember when she used to be not so good, which isn't the case now.

It was murder; twenty rounds of forward pushing kicks with both legs, so 40 roundhouse, 40 forward to the 'groin', and 40 knee kicks. Change partners. Thank God. But you need strength for this too though not powerful lungs.

The class took on a different routine today. He told us, in pairs, to grab a punch bag. Mistress Psychic and I stayed together.

The punching bags are big, about a metre long, and fat, and heavy. I LOVE the PUNCHING bags. The punching ball tends to whack me in the head. I haven't figured how to avoid that yet.

We did different sequences. First; left foot forward, left punch, right hook, remember to pivot on the right foot.

"You're angry about something!" says Mistress Psychic, who's 'holding' the bag which I'm driving all my fury into.

"The Foca DID THIS. The council's DOING THAT."

Go on, CHANNEL that anger, SPEND it on something that can TAKE it and won't LAND YOU in ANY.... TROUBLE.

At each bag (there are five) we did a different technique, the Master demonstrating them clearly first. Forgive me if I do not know what all the punches are called.

Left punch, right hook, left punch to the 'ribs', then a new one; a punch 'up' with the right glove, first to 'ribs' then to 'face'.

"Imagine it's a shovel," says the Master. "You are shovelling. Down and up."

"I like that imagery," says Mistress Leader, so called because she 'leads' in the Master's absence.
"The shovel, boxing for gardeners!"

So you see mums and dads, guys and girls, this works for everyone.

I've read in the papers recently of men who have killed the women who dumped them. One, in an arson attack, killed the three year old neice of the woman who spurned him.

I do not know what to think when I hear such things. I do not know what to say. I do know however that MARTIAL ARTS is WORKing FOR ME.

Push away with both hands.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOFFFFFFFFFF