kickboxing 101

So, the girls and I got 5th place this past week in The Fat Busting Challenge at our ymca. I think 5th place is pretty good, considering all the gym rats that are participating in the contest as well. And, we beat the Shelby Cougar Association team.

In an effort to up my cardio for some additional points this week, I tried Kickboxing 101. It did not turn out so well. Sit tight for another episode of "Really God? Does my life have to be this embarassing/crazy" starring me as the main character.

I was in the middle of my strength training routine on Tuesday when my friend Sherry walked up to me. This is how our conversation went:
Sherry: Hey Blair!
Blair: (really out of breath) Hey....Sherry.....what's.....up?
Sherry: (overly energic) Nothing much. I'm teaching Kickboxing 101, you should come check it out.
Blair: (still out of breath) Well....I.....don't....know....I'm.....not.....that.....coordinated.
Sherry: (still a giant ray of sunshine) Whatever. You're like so coordinated. This class will be so easy for you. Please, please, please come.
Blair: (trying to end the conversation so I don't pass out on the smith machine) Sure....see....you....in....five.....minutes....(unless I've passed out in the hall)

I walk into the aerobics room and notice some really fit people and the nervousness really settles in. Then I notice some bigger gals and some rapper looking guys, hear Michael Jackson's "we are the world" and feel a little better. I mean really, if I can't do the moves, at least I'll burn some calories laughing during class.

Then we proceed to learn how to jab, cross, upper cut, something else, wwf move, donkey kick....slight break because my contact was messing up.....three stooges-type punch, Hawaiian looking dance and then we cooled down. (sorry that I don't really remember the technical names, lets be honest----I wasn't really paying that much attention.)

While I couldn't really execute any of the moves correctly and always seemed to be at least 4 counts behind everyone else, I'm still considering the class a success because I didn't pass out, get punched or accidentally kick someone.

The guy standing next to me was not so lucky. About halfway through class, just after we'd learned the scissor punch but weren't quite to the acl-stetching side kicks, the man screamed at the top of his lungs, grabbed his chest and collapsed on the floor. I was amazed that this 30-something guy who looked so fit appeared to be having a heart attack. The lady next to me and I ran over and checked him out. While she checked his pulse (I'm assuming she was in the health care field) I asked him if he thought he was having a heart attack. It turns out that he had a heart attack in 2006 and had a defribrillator implanted under his collar bone. He said that he felt like his defribrillator shocked his heart. Several icepacks and pulse-checks later, his doctor came and checked him out (do we live in a small town or what?) It turns out that he was fine and that the impant did what it was supposed to do---get his heart back on track and save him from another heart-attack.

Who knew the ymca could be so embarrassing and so much like ER?