Man, this whole idea hit me while watching UFC last Saturday night. Thought to myself – man I wanna try that someday. Just straight up walk into a boxing gym Monday morning. Still wearing my stupid office clothes too. First thing I smell? Sweat. Old sweat. Like really old. Kinda gross actually.
The Shaky Start
Coach looks at me – skinny dude in button-down shirt – and just shrugs. He points at a corner where three other newbies stand like scared chickens. “Jump rope” he grunts. So I grab this nasty rope that feels like it’s been dipped in glue. Trip over it about twenty times in five minutes. Legs feel like wet noodles. Seriously embarrassing.
Gear Headaches
Had to buy stuff right away:
- Hand wraps that felt like trying to fold origami with sausages for fingers
- Gloves that smelled like someone died inside them
- Mouthguard that made me gag like crazy
First time putting wraps on took me 15 minutes. Coach just laughed at my tangled mess.
Finally hit the heavy bag. Swung like a drunk bear. Missed half the time. Bag barely moved. Arms felt like lead pipes after two minutes. Seriously considered running out that door.
The Painful Reality
Next week was worse. Sparring drills with this girl half my size. She tapped my head like I was standing still. Couldn’t see her punches coming at all. Kept getting hit in the same spot on my ribs. Took shower that night – saw huge purple bruises. Looked like rotten fruit. My own fault for lifting my elbow wrong.
Kept showing up though. Every Tuesday/Thursday like clockwork. Two months in – this weird thing happened. Stopped flinching every time someone moved. Footwork actually worked sometimes. That heavy bag? Started making that real punching sound – that THWACK noise. Best feeling ever.
Where I’m At Now
Sparred three rounds last week without dying. Actually landed two clean body shots. Ribs still hurt like hell next day but different kind of hurt? Like earned pain. Saw myself in gym mirror yesterday – shoulders look kinda different now. Not huge like those Instagram guys, but tighter somehow.
Mouthguard doesn’t make me gag anymore. Learned to wrap my hands in like 90 seconds flat. That nasty gym smell? Now smells like… work. My work. Still get punched plenty though. Probably always will. But hey – I’m throwing back now too. That’s something. That’s damn something.