#BoardroomBoxing - My Boxing Journey

Needed 3 weeks to digest the fact that I won my first official (amateur) boxing fight ever. What a feeling! Thank you for all encouragements! Happy to share #myboxingjourney

It is kind of something, I feel on top of the world and mentally as well as physically at my fittest at the age of 45 and that is an amazing feeling! 

If 4 years ago some-one would have told me that one day I would enter a ring as a real boxer in an official box camp (amateur) and fight against another real woman boxer, I would have laughed and called you crazy. Nobody around me would have believed this, and certainly not me. 

Since 3 years you can call me sporty. Before that I was (on a physical level) the laziest person in town. I was also 20 kilos heavier. First, I fell in love with running. Since 1,5 years I combined this with all-round workouts to become stronger in general and not having to skip all obstacles in my favorite obstacle runs. Also when exaggerating (f.ex. running 21 km on a concrete road) this led to injuries. My thoughts at that time were “when I ‘ll also like other sports, I will not be disappointed when it comes to not being able to run daily anymore.” And so, yes my introduction with boxing gloves was a fact, as a small punching part of the workouts that I combined with running. 

So when I accepted the #boardroomboxingchallenge last december, I thought I kinda knew what (English) boxing was. I knew boxing workouts haha. Hum. Let me tell u, I was wrong. Oh boy. 

NOW I know what it is to be a boxer. To be allround. To learn how to defend the body and head. And to cross some serious boundaries. Jeezes, my respect for boxers and boxing as a sport has grown incredibly. 

On the allround part —> Let me try to explain (apart from the punches and hits) what it means to become a boxer. You need to train your core, heavily work on keeping your arms up all the time, whilst moving your legs and feet almost all the time. For a strong position, it is about moving all your body and shoulders from your core, and run around on your tows (not your heels) while keeping your body balanced in the middle. In one training session I run 4 to 5 km (!). You’ve probably seen the sweat dripping after some rounds in the ring hahaha, no surprise. Your condition needs to be good and improved to keep up when tired. You need to be prepared for intensive rounds of 2 minutes “giving everything” in the ring. And I found that you can push your body far more than you initially think you are capable of. Training and persistence, that’s what you need. 

When preparing for a fight, you need to learn to defend your body and head: mostly with your gloved hands, elbows, low chin and shoulders, so ducking and slipping, while your head is up and your eyes are open. 

When going for the real deal (a fight) you start to realize one important thing: no matter how well trained, no matter how prepared you are, you will get hit. Yes, even when you are the best. You get hit. Hard! By another human being. And you have to hit back.

On the getting hit and hitting part —> for me this was a very important struggle. I had a HUGE mental barrier to cross. You have to hit another person. And not only towards the body. Also to the head. And that person will hit you, and not just once. This person also wants to win the fight. Boxing is indeed a violent sport, controlled violence, that is. 

I do not know about you, yet I have never been in a physical fight before. As a woman, age 45, gentle and girly at heart, I have never ever punched someone in the face before. Ever.

The most violent thing I remember doing to another person was pulling my sisters hair at the age of 11 hahaha. So my experience was null, the barriers I had to cross in this area, HUGE. I had the feeling the guys in our group had less of a problem with this. Maybe they had been in street fights or perhaps it has to do with testosterone?

Anyway, without adding hormones and drugs to my training, I was stuck with this peaceful mindset for weeks and weeks while the box gala came closer. Stress levels went up. 

Another aspect of the hitting and getting hit part —> one needs a strategy. This is a combination of watching your opponent and defining your reaction to him/her. The best thing is to try out the combo’s (a combination of punches) you learn at training. And figure out when to use your best punches and combos. The expression “Everybody has a plan until you get punched in the face” from Mike Tyson, is very true. Apparently, for most, “your native instinct is naturally punch back”, well … I had a problem for weeks and weeks, with this. When, during sparring (friendly training fights) I got a punch in the face, I closed my eyes and completely forgot about any strategy. I blocked and this went on for weeks and weeks.

So how did I overcome these barriers?

HITTING: At a certain stage my condition was okay. I felt strong and on a technical level I kinda got the basics right (beginners level). I could give and receive punches to the body and felt at ease with it. I had no problem hitting a boxing ball and pad.

Hitting somebody in the face was the only problem. My trainer tried to make me angry and pushed me to hit him in the face. I tried to see him not as a person but as a boxer, who knew what it was to receive hits, so I started to hit him gently. I was ok with baby punches. For the next weeks, I could not hit other people, yet I could give gentle punches to my trainers face, hahaha. It has to be said: the trainer does not hit back.

GETTING HIT:

My son was never afraid to hit me. He used to look at me with a sweet smile and calls me “oh my sweet mummy, I love you” and next “KABOOM”, I got his right fist in my face”! For hits in the face, we are protected by a helmet, no worries. Yet I could not make myself punch back for a long time. People said to me“Imagine what is the worst thing that can happen?” Well … if I answer that question: It is my son who arrives at school or a family gathering with a broken nose. People asking him what happened, and he would have to say “My mum did this” (!!!!) This would have been my worst case scenario … . 

So getting hit in the face (by anybody) remained a huge problem for weeks. Imagine: I signed up for a box gala, an official fight with many friends, family and business relations attending to watch my fight. And I seemed to be a boxer who would not throw any punches herself and would turn her back to her opponent when getting punched. I felt like a little chicken that would run away. This was not good at all. If I wanted to survive in the ring I needed to find the solution.

I could only imagine myself becoming instinctively aggressive when somebody would threaten the lives of my children. Than I would become a protective lioness who would not have mercy. The problem was, of course, that my son was also in the training. It did not help. What did help was persistence and accepting this stage in the process. I kept going and (while travelling for work) booked a lot of personal sparring sessions, with different opponents all over the world, and always with the words “please help me I have a fight coming up”. I definitely wanted to receive punches and feel the hits, upfront, I did not want to wait for the real fight to experience this. And every sparring partner and trainer gave me tips and tricks. Most of them I forgot (remember the Tyson quote hahaha) anyway I ll share some of them —>- Practice longer minutes and shorter breaks, so the real fight will feel short and easy

- Practice with heavier gloves, you can even add weights to it. When putting on your fight gloves, they will be so light!!

- Breathing is very important for your overall feeling, you can use your breathing as a strength

- Always practice your left arm more than your right

- Keep those arms up all the time during your warm up/exercises

- Flat shoes are so much better for ground stability

- Rope skipping is best done with non-curled ropes, keep your hands low and do it fast

- Not all punches need to be strong

- Give the first punch, and follow your opponent

- Move move move in the ring

- Never show emotions to your opponent

- Enjoy it as much as you can

The most memorable quote (for me) I got in San Francisco: before the sparring session my trainer advised me “If you do not know what to do, punch!”. And that is exactly what I did, and (really!) after the sparring (with gear —> protective helmet and mouthpiece!!) his nose was bleeding … ! OMG I did that!!! This was something to digest, really. The peaceful me was in slight shock. And it did gave me confidence, too. I kinda grew into “becoming a boxer”. So the lioness was definitely out.

After that, it was “beast mode on” and train train train. I have to be honest: since mid december I trained every day (6,5/7) for 1,5 to 2 hours. All of this preparation, for 6 minutes (3 times 2 minutes) in the ring. Pfieuw. Was it worth it?

The days before the fight I had no more stress about the fight itself. I just felt I did what I could, and trained hard. So I would take it as it would come. And keep calm. I had more stress about the intro song (me and music!) hahaha. The moment you enter the room filled with 450 people (and 550 watched our live stream) of which you know a lot, is epic. You are out there as a boxer, a role you have never experienced ever before. Kinda special, really! In this new role, to walk down the red carpet with bodyguards and many friends shouting, I felt rather insecure. When entering the ring, no more insecurities were my part. My state of mind: I knew this, this is what I trained for, and my trainer was in the corner having my back. All lights and heat and new elements that were added, added no stress. I was actually very calm, and listened to only 3 things: the sound of the gong, my trainer and the crowd. And I enjoyed every second of it.

This journey, this process, I honestly loved every minute of it. Also because there was this other part. The reason WHY we started this out of our comfort zone journey. As we boxed for a good cause (to inform more and thus eliminate colon cancer) I wanted to turn this into a success. So I looked at it as a new project: raise money for my very first fundraiser! How to start? I always get energy from starting something new, and love to learn how to proceed and make a success of a new challenge. Luckily we received many tips and some tools on how to spread the word. And yet, I wanted to raise the bar a little higher. I already knew that much more is possible when you believe in it and decided to aim a bit higher. My personal goal was 15k. Could I reach this?? It is a lot of money, and yet the cause so important! I analyzed what might make it interesting for companies to participate and contribute. So I made a first sponsorship-file. I was not afraid to adapt it when the first version did not convince people. After all, this was my first time. Why not being honest about “trying”? And the second file was a huge success, my boxing robe and the companies that contributed to it was worth 16.000 EURO's. Really! This support, next to the many personal donations (+3000k!), gave me wings, especially during the weeks in which I was struggling. Wauw, so many people with a big heart …

 These are the companies with a heart that helped knock colon cancer down by sponsoring my boxing robe:

SYNETON - We love accountants

TELENET - Helping you stay one step ahead in the digital world

LEASEPLAN - Any car, Any time, Anywhere

ALYCHLO - We invest in You

SCIO PRODUCTIONS - Taxshelter partner of market leaders Eyewinks and Warner Bros

ACCOUNTANCY SERVICE - Your certified accountants

CARYA GROUP - Be the reference in Automotive & IT

REYNAERS ALUMINIUM - Increase the value of buildings and enhance the environment of people worldwide

And also a thank you mention for BMW Verstraeten, PAYROLLbuilders and HRbuilders, for their contributions.

And last, certainly not least —> the many friends and family attending the box gala. You probably shouted me to victory, hahaha.

Oh, yes, I won my fight. Boom!