Ukrainian Women Warriors, photo by Guillaume Herbaut
It seems that there’s some press around lately on the theme of “getting real” when it comes to fitness. For our friends in Chicago, Chicago Now has a piece about the Warrior Fighting Sports & Fitness gym and its affiliated Knockout Boxing Club in Downer’s Grove, Il.. As the author put it:
“What I was looking for: – I didn’t want to join a large gym and do a cardio boxing class. I wanted the real deal, the same workouts fighters do. – I refuse to wear makeup or dress up for the gym. – I don’t want to be treated like a girl.”
What she found was an environment of hard work, sweat, and the inspiration of watching a group of highly skilled, ranked women fighters across a spectrum of disciplines from Boxing to MMA to Kickboxing. Article link here.
New York City has also seen press lately about the idea of the urban warrior. In a recent article in the local Chelsea Now paper, women’s boxing is touted as one of a select group of “alternate activities to stretch your mind and body in more dynamic ways,” the others being target shooting and rock climbing. Article link here. I know from my own experience I didn’t walk into a boxing gym so much for fitness as to engage in a physically demanding full-contact sport.
When I search around for women’s boxing news, I inevitably find some press related to new boxing or MMA classes and programs for women every few days. That coupled with the upcoming debut of women’s boxing in the 2012 Olympics the sport is building a lot of momentum not only in the United States, but globally.
Andrecia Wasson
What’s cool is while I didn’t walk into a boxing gym until my early 40’s, girls like my daughter know the camaraderie and hard work of the gym starting as young as 8. Detroit fighter, Andrecia Wasson is a case in point. She first walked into the Warriors Boxing Club at the age of 12 and now as an 18-year-old Women’s Middleweight World Champion is starting her quest for Olympic gold.
The thing of it is, go to Gleason’s Gym on any Saturday morning and what you’ll find is a group of dedicated women boxers of all skill levels and ages plying their craft with heart and a lot of positive attitude — and then realize that those kinds of scenes are repeated all over the United States. Then consider that it’s also repeated in places like India, China, Jordan, Zambia and Afghanistan. That’s pretty heady stuff and something to feel very proud to be a part of.
I always wonder about people who make a point of saying they won’t dress up or wear makeup for the gym. Where are these gyms where this is standard? I go to a moderately fancy gym a couple of days a week and nobody’s ever tried to kick me out for wearing the same thing I wear to the boxing gym, nor do I feel out of place. And I only ever wear makeup when someone’s getting married or has died, so that doesn’t seem to be a factor either.
While I’m sure there’s a meat-market factor at some of the less boxing-ish gyms, everyone’s also there to work out and if you don’t want to be noticed and just want to work out, no gym worth its salt is going to penalize anybody for that.
Your point is well taken Jess. My guess is the author was trying to make a point about the workout as a “social” experience and a true “workout.” But your also correct in that while the aura of the gym has something to do with one’s overall experience of it (apparatus aside) — it’s really all about the work and while it’s nice to have the luxury of any number of boxing gyms available, sometimes you just take what you get and feel happy.
I remember I was interested in boxing when I was in my mid-twenties. I went into a place and the guy seemed a bit excited, then told me I needed to get on a diet and lose 20 lbs, then told me something to the effect of: we’ll train you well, then after you’ve won a few fights we’ll set up a sure thing then bet against you and you lose on purpose.
It was the most unreal thing I’d ever heard. Ridiculous and should only be in crappy tv shows. I quit immediately.
I started doing BJJ when I was 33. Have been doing it for 8 months now and I absolutely love it.
Just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say thank you for sharing our websites and passion for boxing and particularly women’s boxing. It is truly amazing to see the growth and development of women’s boxing. Whether a woman chooses to get in the ring to spar or compete or not, boxing training is transformative.
Great blog! Thanks again for sharing our sites! And thank you for supporting women’s boxing! We will continue to follow your blog.
Thanks so much for your comments. They are really appreciated — and given how important your club is to women’s boxing, it is my pleasure to be able to write about the great work you do. Feel free to contact me about upcoming events or bouts your fighters are in or other issues related to women’s fitness and the kinds of programs you run for women of all types/ages/sizes and abilities. My email is: girlboxing.wordpress (at) gmail.com
Girlboxing 
Stuff to be proud of, indeed. And potentially world-changing as a sense of empowerment grows.
That is so right!
I always wonder about people who make a point of saying they won’t dress up or wear makeup for the gym. Where are these gyms where this is standard? I go to a moderately fancy gym a couple of days a week and nobody’s ever tried to kick me out for wearing the same thing I wear to the boxing gym, nor do I feel out of place. And I only ever wear makeup when someone’s getting married or has died, so that doesn’t seem to be a factor either.
While I’m sure there’s a meat-market factor at some of the less boxing-ish gyms, everyone’s also there to work out and if you don’t want to be noticed and just want to work out, no gym worth its salt is going to penalize anybody for that.
Your point is well taken Jess. My guess is the author was trying to make a point about the workout as a “social” experience and a true “workout.” But your also correct in that while the aura of the gym has something to do with one’s overall experience of it (apparatus aside) — it’s really all about the work and while it’s nice to have the luxury of any number of boxing gyms available, sometimes you just take what you get and feel happy.
I remember I was interested in boxing when I was in my mid-twenties. I went into a place and the guy seemed a bit excited, then told me I needed to get on a diet and lose 20 lbs, then told me something to the effect of: we’ll train you well, then after you’ve won a few fights we’ll set up a sure thing then bet against you and you lose on purpose.
It was the most unreal thing I’d ever heard. Ridiculous and should only be in crappy tv shows. I quit immediately.
I started doing BJJ when I was 33. Have been doing it for 8 months now and I absolutely love it.
Just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say thank you for sharing our websites and passion for boxing and particularly women’s boxing. It is truly amazing to see the growth and development of women’s boxing. Whether a woman chooses to get in the ring to spar or compete or not, boxing training is transformative.
Great blog! Thanks again for sharing our sites! And thank you for supporting women’s boxing! We will continue to follow your blog.
Jess
knockout women boxing club
Hi Jess,
Thanks so much for your comments. They are really appreciated — and given how important your club is to women’s boxing, it is my pleasure to be able to write about the great work you do. Feel free to contact me about upcoming events or bouts your fighters are in or other issues related to women’s fitness and the kinds of programs you run for women of all types/ages/sizes and abilities. My email is: girlboxing.wordpress (at) gmail.com
All the best!
Your blogs proves me that girls are capable for boxing and they have enough will to fight during boxing…realy very nice, thanks for sharing…
Thanks for stopping by!