Boxing

The interview below was conducted by Irish fighter Niamh Griffin, a freelance journalist who runs the site Inspiring Sports Women. Niamh has written about women’s sports for Oxygen, International Kickboxer and Life and Fitness in Australia and Ireland.

The video was created by Rachel Healy, a journalist and online media professional who did a story in the local paper about my boxing.

You can also read my most recent posts about boxing on my blog, The Glowing Edge.

How long have you been training?

I discovered boxing entirely by accident. A few years ago my husband saw heavy bags on sale at our local sporting goods store. He brought one home and hung it in the garage, thinking our boys would enjoy it. They weren’t all that interested, but I was fascinated. But I also didn’t know what I was doing, so a friend connected me with world-champion professional boxer Bonnie Mann at LA Boxing. I worked out in the gym there for about a year before I decided I wanted to get in the ring, and once I made that shift, I was completely and totally sold on boxing.

You say yourself you’re a little older than most novice boxers. Can I ask how old you are and what made you take up boxing now?

I had (and won) my first fight after I turned 45 in 2010. I wouldn’t say boxing is a young woman’s sport, but it’s definitely true that boxing takes a toll on your body. I pay close attention to the various stresses that I encounter while training. For example, I know I can’t spar hard more than twice a week; my body just needs recovery time after something like that. But the simple fact is that I’m lighter, faster, and stronger right now than I ever was in my 20s or 30s. I’ve never trained harder for anything, and I’ve also never been healthier. I wish I had discovered this sooner!

Could you describe the process of moving from the first class to realizing you wanted to fight?

I never had any intention of getting in the ring when I started this; I was simply looking for a way to get fit. I loved the first workout class I took at the boxing gym – it was fast-paced, incredibly varied, and there was no way in hell I could possibly finish it. The workout demanded my entire body rather than just one part. I loved the challenge of it.

And maybe I was looking around for the next challenge, I’m not sure, but I started watching some of the people sparring in the ring.

I had a lot of misconceptions about boxing before I got to my gym. I assumed it was simple brutality – two men beating the crap out of each other with their fists. I had never seen nor heard of women’s boxing, and I had absolutely no idea how many complicated skills and mental abilities the sport demanded. I watched the team coach carefully train her fighters in the ring. I saw her intense mentoring, consistent care, and the powerful work she was bringing out in her boxers. I was terrified, but I believed she could teach me how to be in the ring for real.

And she did. I was amazed to learn that I could hit someone, hard, and take a hit as well. I had no idea I could do that! And it became very quickly apparent that it would take me years to learn how to move, defend, throw punches, and strategize under pressure for an entire round, and an entire fight. I was in!

What’s the best part of a training session for you?

Being in the ring, after the first round.

I’m always incredibly anxious before a sparring session. So many things have to come into play before you get in the ring – eating right, training right, good cardio, no injuries or strains. But even when I know I have all those other things I’m scared, going over strategy in my mind, reminding myself that I can do this, telling myself that I know how to take care of myself in the ring. I have to psych myself up, every single time.

But once that first bell rings and I begin to box, I feel incredible. Powerful, strong, capable. It’s worth all the struggle and anxiety. When I come out of the ring I feel like a superhero. I feel like the most amazing woman in the world!

How do your friends – from your other life of writing, marketing, and music react to this new boxing you?

It was weird at first. I got plenty of strange looks and odd reactions – most people were simply baffled: why on earth would I do such a thing? A few people reacted more strongly, chastising me for being irresponsible. I encountered many of the same misconceptions that I myself had held about boxing.

But I actually found I could use my writing to help bring people on board and open up the world of women’s boxing to them a little bit. In fact, it was largely writing about my boxing experiences that began to draw attention to my blog. I went from a handful of readers to several thousand, and now my boxing content gets republished on Women Talk Sports as well; that makes me feel pretty awesome. I never imagined I could help bring boxing to the attention of more women and men.

How has training and competing changed you?

I know for a fact that boxing has made me take better care of myself. But I would like to say that learning to fight has made be believe in myself more. Before boxing I rarely did anything for myself – I put all my energy into supporting my family or other people. In fact, I was feeling pretty fed up with neglecting myself to care of the rest of the world when I discovered boxing.

When I’m competing in the ring it is emphatically not my job to take care of anyone else.

When I’m sparring, the only time I’m looking out for the other person is if I’m training someone new, but most of the time I’m in with my trainer or men who are all bigger and stronger than I am.

Boxing forces me to care not only for my body, but to put my body and brain to hard work under incredibly difficult circumstances. If I don’t keep my guard tight, I’m going to eat a punch. If I don’t move my feet I’m going to get clobbered. If I don’t have a stiff jab, a powerful right, a solid strategy and a wheelbarrow of guts I won’t make it in the ring.

And I can’t get to the point of competing without a trainer, team, and sparring partners I can trust.

I still struggle with self-doubt, but I get in the ring and that’s a win, every time, against the part of me and the rest of the world that doesn’t believe I can do it.

That translates beautifully to life, work, and everything else. I wish I had learned it years ago, but I’m learning it now and it’s worth all the blood, sweat, and bruises that I’ve paid into boxing. Every bit.