Getting In Shape

I doubt if there is anything lessing intriguing to me than yoga. A lot of people I know and have known (wink) are into yoga. It's one of those things that has never been even remotely interesting to me. Almost as uninteresting is the gym. Uck. I prefer the dentist to the gym, with the cheesy guys and all those used machines. It's nasty. Running? Boring. Martial arts? Are you serious?

If it weren't for soccer and tennis, I'd be pretty hard pressed to find anything to do for exercise.

So it was today, while I was eating a Philly Cheesesteak after work at this place on La Brea and I look out the window and for the first time (I've been there several times) I notice a boxing gym. I've never actually been inside a boxing gym. I always pictured it like Million Dollar Baby or Rocky - dedicated street tough guys working with old wise black men on how to fight. Losers with nothing better to do. Perfect.

I pop my head in and am surprised to see a large, immaculate boxing ring. Wow. Along the sides are punching bags, exercise bikes, and a smaller ring. There were a few old black men, but also a bunch of young men and women doing jump rope and other exercises.

Finally, a small, but in very good shape, white lady comes up to me and I ask her about classes, brochures, and all that. They have open classes Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights. They stretch, jump rope, hit the bags. She promises it's a lot of fun. It sure looks like it.

I don't think I'll be able to swing it anytime soon. I've just committed to a new soccer season and my jobs have piled up and school is about to begin. But sometime.

I don't know if I'd step in the ring. I think I'd be scared. One on one. Boxing. Hardcore. I have always fancied that I'd be a pretty good boxer for my weight. I'm small, but quick, and not a weakling. My soccer coach said at our senior banquet in college that I was the best pound for pound player in the league. This was the same guy who pleaded with me for four years to hit the weights and put on 8 pound of upper body. I remember my teammates giggling at the the thought, knowing full well by that look in my eyes at the gym, that this place was not for me.

Boxing. Hmm.