Jab With the Right!

After trying weight machines for a couple of months (boring) and then pilates (too slow) I'm going a whole new direction with my "Getting-In-Shape 2007" campaign (whoops, I guess its a 2008 campaign now): Tae-Bo! Three mornings a week I punch, karate kick, and jab, jab, jab with a right, then the left, and throw in a hook for good measure.

To say I feel ridiculous is an understatement. Marcela, the instructor, is intense, sweaty, and looks like she could give George Foreman a go. I try my best to imitate Marcela's left hook but I lack all resemblance of a fighter --more like a junior high cheerleader. But this cheerleader gets an "A" for effort, though. Luis thinks it's cool (he hasn't seen me in action) and says maybe all this punching will bring out something new in my personality. I personally don't think it's to anyone's advantage that I "discover" my aggressive side. I'm an anti-war, anti-violence soul, and the world would look a whole lot different if everyone shared my ideas.

I sure work up a sweat, and that's the point here. Plus the combinations of moves can get interesing, and a bit complex, and the part of me that always wanted to be a dancer likes that.

The is a year of discovery, and this class counts as one of them. But even if my puny jabs do get a little less pathetic over time, I'm still not giving up my pacifism. That would be taking "discovery" a little too far. I'll stick to punching the air. (at this point, the air is the only opponent I could beat in a fight)

Jab, jab, jab, karate-cha!