Today marks the conclusion of UBC Recreation’s Free Week for drop in classes.  Unfortunately, I did not meet my goal of going to a new class ever day, but I did make it out to 5 classes, most notably a Street Kickboxing class.  I know next to nothing about kickboxing, but always thought it would be a fun class to try, at the very least for its cardiovascular benefits and to learn something new.  Unbeknownst to me, the class had a strong emphasis on how to actually injure your opponent (truthfully, I did not know what I thought would happen in a martial arts class, but I did not think it would contain graphic details of smashing your opponents nose into the back of their skull).  After warming up with standing twists for literally over five minutes, we spent the rest of the class shadow boxing, which meant that in practice I did not actually have to smash anyone’s nose in.  But in order to actually get something out of this class besides a bit of sweat, I thought I would try to apply the lessons the instructor emphasized to my own life and university.

Be Intentional

Every few minutes, the buff, scary looking instructor would stop to ask where we are aiming for.  The entire class of newbies would just gaze around awkwardly like “I don’t know, you tell me. I’m just here for the free class”.  He would then proceed to tell us where we are aiming and how it maximizes the injury to the opponent.  Although the details were a little too gory for me, it helped to put a objective behind it.  As soon as I started connecting those jabs with an actual reason, they became more purposeful.  Instead of punching someone in the gut for no reason, I pretended that it was what I would do if I was stuck in a dark alley and had to defend myself.  Or that the hair I was supposed to be grabbing to knee the person in the groin was really all the homework assignments I did not want to do.  By connecting the action with a reason, the action automatically became more deliberate.  Just like how all these first year courses seem so general and useless sometimes, by connecting them with my greater purpose (getting my overall degree), they seem so much more important.

Breath

This is the simplest, most fundamental advice in sports and in life.  Any task seems accomplishable with some good breathing, from doing 20 more jabs when I cannot feel my shoulders to stepping into a room where I do not know a single soul. Proper breathing technique can enhance endurance and help relax the body.

Make it Count

After doing what seemed like a billion jabs, hooks and kicks, apparently our punches were looking a little wimpy, so the instructor starting yelling to “Make it count! You only get one punch and sometimes that’s all you need! Make it count!”. Life’s the same way; some times you only get one opportunity, so what’s the point of just going through the motions?  Even the mindless, repetitive movements that seem like they don’t make a difference add up to something more. With things like little assignments, it’s so easy to shrug them off and say they don’t matter, but then all those events add up to the final product.  If you neglect the small things, then the end result suffers. 

Aim High

In kickboxing, you’re supposed to keep your non-punching arm up to block and arch your punch up to hit the temple for a knockout shot.  Again, a little too much for me (Why would I ever want to knock someone out?? What did they ever do to me?), but it is analogous to chasing your dreams in real life.  Why mess around with something you don’t need, like a punch in the stomach or kick to the leg, which will only inure the opponent, when what you really want is the KO? These moves do have a point, probably to distract or wear down the opponent; they are building towards the end goal.  In life, instead of messing around with things that your heart is not really in, why not go for that job you think your under qualified for? Or try out for that team that you really want to play on.  Aim high and who knows, you might just get that knock-out.