love Chris! He's a blue belt." She giggled as if she was imagining something. "He's definitely wearing a gi. Chris Stratford doesn't do no-gi—that's mostly for fighters."
She pointed in the direction the guy had run. "They're in the main gym. I'll take you in there in a minute."
"Chris said you have other classes if I didn't want to try grappling."
"For sure! We have lots of striking classes from basic kickboxing for cardio and fitness to more specialized things like Muay Thai. We even have some MMA classes that combine striking with ground work."
I smiled and nodded even though I had no idea what she was talking about, and she gestured with a wave of her hand for me to follow her. "Come on, I'll take you through the striking gym before we go in there to see Chris."
I followed her into a huge, open room. The floor was completely covered in mats and the walls were lined with punching bags. There was a class going on, and I couldn’t help but feel like we were intruding, but no one seemed to even notice we were there.
The students were working in pairs, all suited up, wearing gloves and shin pads. One partner was throwing punches and the other was catching them on padded hand mitts. The coach was walking around critiquing their technique and calling out instructions.
There were two girls in the class, and both of them looked like they could and would knock my lights out in about two seconds if I made one wrong move. It seemed intense, and I felt overwhelmed. I seriously doubted I would give something like this a try.
"This is a level two class," she said. "The level one class starts at eleven. If you hang out till then, you can sit in on a little bit of that and see what you think."
"Yeah, this looks pretty serious," I said.
"Don't let 'em scare ya," she said. "They're all a bunch of teddy bears."
I smiled, but thought to myself that I'd never describe any of these people as teddy bears.
Jordan motioned for me to follow her again. "We have a couple of women's-only kickboxing classes if you're more comfortable with that," she said from over her shoulder.
We walked down a hallway through a door that opened into an even bigger gym. This one had bleachers on one wall that overlooked a huge area with wall-to-wall mats. There were at least fifty people on the mats, all of them wearing that karate suit she called a gi.
They were working in teams of two just as they'd been doing in the striking gym, but these guys were laying on the ground together with their bodies pressed up against each other and their limbs entangled. I had a feeling Jiu Jitsu would be out of the question. It was hard to tell who was who with so many people wearing the same thing, but there seemed to be at least ten girls on the mat.
My eye went from pair to pair, seeing if I could find Chris. "Chris is in the back corner wearing a black gi," Jordan said, reading my mind.
I smiled and nodded when I found him, but didn't really know what else to say.
"How do you guys know each other?"
"We work together at Miller's."
"Ooh, yum. I love that place."
"Yeah, it's good," I said. "I'm just there part time in the evenings."
I watched the action on the mat intently as we spoke, and Jordan must have seen how overwhelmed I was because she brought me to a spot on the bleachers. She spent the next half hour explaining the principles of MMA, exactly what they taught at the gym, and how it could apply to me. By the time she finished talking, I felt considerably more comfortable and thought I just might try to get my feet wet with one of the intro-level striking classes.
Chapter 3
I decided to hang out till the level-one striking class started at 11 o'clock just to see what it was all about. Jordan went back to the front desk after we talked, leaving me in the bleachers to watch the Jiu Jitsu clinic.
The students took a few water breaks while I was there, and Chris came over to talk to me and introduce me to some of the others. He made a point
She pointed in the direction the guy had run. "They're in the main gym. I'll take you in there in a minute."
"Chris said you have other classes if I didn't want to try grappling."
"For sure! We have lots of striking classes from basic kickboxing for cardio and fitness to more specialized things like Muay Thai. We even have some MMA classes that combine striking with ground work."
I smiled and nodded even though I had no idea what she was talking about, and she gestured with a wave of her hand for me to follow her. "Come on, I'll take you through the striking gym before we go in there to see Chris."
I followed her into a huge, open room. The floor was completely covered in mats and the walls were lined with punching bags. There was a class going on, and I couldn’t help but feel like we were intruding, but no one seemed to even notice we were there.
The students were working in pairs, all suited up, wearing gloves and shin pads. One partner was throwing punches and the other was catching them on padded hand mitts. The coach was walking around critiquing their technique and calling out instructions.
There were two girls in the class, and both of them looked like they could and would knock my lights out in about two seconds if I made one wrong move. It seemed intense, and I felt overwhelmed. I seriously doubted I would give something like this a try.
"This is a level two class," she said. "The level one class starts at eleven. If you hang out till then, you can sit in on a little bit of that and see what you think."
"Yeah, this looks pretty serious," I said.
"Don't let 'em scare ya," she said. "They're all a bunch of teddy bears."
I smiled, but thought to myself that I'd never describe any of these people as teddy bears.
Jordan motioned for me to follow her again. "We have a couple of women's-only kickboxing classes if you're more comfortable with that," she said from over her shoulder.
We walked down a hallway through a door that opened into an even bigger gym. This one had bleachers on one wall that overlooked a huge area with wall-to-wall mats. There were at least fifty people on the mats, all of them wearing that karate suit she called a gi.
They were working in teams of two just as they'd been doing in the striking gym, but these guys were laying on the ground together with their bodies pressed up against each other and their limbs entangled. I had a feeling Jiu Jitsu would be out of the question. It was hard to tell who was who with so many people wearing the same thing, but there seemed to be at least ten girls on the mat.
My eye went from pair to pair, seeing if I could find Chris. "Chris is in the back corner wearing a black gi," Jordan said, reading my mind.
I smiled and nodded when I found him, but didn't really know what else to say.
"How do you guys know each other?"
"We work together at Miller's."
"Ooh, yum. I love that place."
"Yeah, it's good," I said. "I'm just there part time in the evenings."
I watched the action on the mat intently as we spoke, and Jordan must have seen how overwhelmed I was because she brought me to a spot on the bleachers. She spent the next half hour explaining the principles of MMA, exactly what they taught at the gym, and how it could apply to me. By the time she finished talking, I felt considerably more comfortable and thought I just might try to get my feet wet with one of the intro-level striking classes.
Chapter 3
I decided to hang out till the level-one striking class started at 11 o'clock just to see what it was all about. Jordan went back to the front desk after we talked, leaving me in the bleachers to watch the Jiu Jitsu clinic.
The students took a few water breaks while I was there, and Chris came over to talk to me and introduce me to some of the others. He made a point
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