I’m going to break the first rule of Fight Club
BY: JACOB POLITTE
Managing Editor
When I was younger, I could never really fathom punching and kicking things virtually every day. I was definitely a pro wrestling fan, but my mom and dad ruined the illusion that pro wrestling was real very quickly, and while that’s probably for the best, I can look back on my childhood and acknowledge that I was kind of a giant wimp. I was definitely that kid who would prefer a nice book and a glass of soda to calm down, and that’s not a bad thing. But at the end of the day, if I ever needed to defend myself in a physical way, I wouldn’t have known the first thing to do.
In the interest of my health but wary of going to a traditional gym, I started participating in kickboxing lessons in October 2019 at a local Martial Arts gym in Affton. Now, two years later, I still attend kickboxing classes there, but I also do a few private lessons with my friend and training partner Irfan Mulabitinovic every week.
Irfan is a professional combatant, with a pro record of one win, one loss and one draw (the draw shouldn’t have been ruled a draw but a victory instead and the state athletic commission’s rule book proves that, but that’s a whole other article waiting to happen), and an amatuer record of six wins and one loss.
While Irfan trains at and has previously been a coach at the facility, he also has built, essentially from scratch, his own personal dojo to train in, both on his own and with other people willing to learn. I’ve been training there consistently for almost a full year now, and in that time, I’ve become increasingly more skilled at it.
Kickboxing isn’t your typical workout, but it requires a lot of movement and full awareness of your body and surroundings. In addition to the physical aspect of the workout, it also has helped my focus: often times, Irfan and my other coaches focus on specific drills to run for a few minutes at a time, and focusing on what those drills entail as well as making sure they’re done crisply and correctly gives me a goal to work toward. I’m someone whose mind can wander often if I have a lot on my plate (which essentially is all the time), so the incentive to improve my focus helps me, and not just when it comes to kickboxing drills.
Here’s something weird to say (especially if you’re my mom or one of her friends reading this): there’s something so liberating about getting punched in the face. Now, obviously, Irfan isn’t full throttle punching me in the face as hard as he can, and the objective is to avoid getting hit there. Most of the time, I meet that objective. But sometimes, if I let my guard down and drop my hands too far down, I’ll take a light hit to the face from another set of gloves. It’s not devastating, and it may not even leave a mark, but for a few seconds… it is noticeable.
I think the liberating part, though, comes from the realization that even if I take a punch to the face… I can dust it off and keep going. It doesn’t faze me like I once thought it would. That I’m ok, and not the fragile wimp I thought I was.
Growing up, my parents basically insinuated (and sometimes even outright told me) that I should avoid confrontation as much as I could. And to some degree, that paid off: I never got into a fight in High School. But in the long run, that didn’t help me very much.
Of course, violence is never the answer (unless you’re a competitor and it’s your job). But sometimes, when backed into a corner, it might be the only option. I didn’t know how to defend myself before, but I do now. Better late than never.
There is one other way that kickboxing training has helped me, and it’s not in a physical way. As I’ve detailed extensively in some of these Jake’s Take columns… I’ve had a pretty tough year and a half and I have dealt with some pretty tough losses, among other challenges.
Getting out of the house has been imperative to my mental health over the last year; sitting at home dwelling on my personal losses did nothing to snap me out of my funk.
During one of the darkest periods of my life, training with Irfan and others has done wonders in helping with my self-esteem. It’s really helped me feel a lot better and more confident in my abilities.
And the network of great and supportive people that I have been introduced to, not just at Irfan’s but at the gym too, have really been a joy to be around. They have helped me to feel welcome, like I’m in a friendly community of sorts. I’ll be forever grateful for that.
So yeah, in conclusion: kickboxing is wonderful.
