I first learned about the opportunity to pick up boxing a few months back. A friend, whose name will not be stated, mentioned that he had been frequenting the aerobics room after school where he was learning how to box from a fellow pupil by the name of Carlos. He suggested that I join him one day to see if boxing was something that I could get into. Not wanting to displease my beloved friend, I agreed to his proposition. Boxing had always intrigued me, and as a big fan of the Rocky and Creed films, I figured I might as well give it a shot. The date was set; the following Thursday I would be training in the martial art of boxing.

     My friend introduced me to Carlos for the first time in the locker room, and he immediately made me feel welcome by giving me a free shirt that he made himself. The shirt made it very clear that he was teaching the best style of boxing: Mexican. Carlos sought no compensation for imparting his knowledge upon us; he was just excited to have another person to teach.

     The first day in the aerobics room was pretty, pretty vigorous to say the least. Right off the bat, Carlos had us jumping rope, doing push-ups, and shadow boxing. My boxing form was god-awful, dare I say laughable, but Carlos did not have the time to judge; he just focused on helping me improve. Even with no background knowledge in fighting whatsoever, I was able to quickly pick up on how to throw a jab, and the correct footwork behind it thanks to Carlos’ clear and efficient teaching style. It’s one thing to be good at something, and another to be able to teach it effectively. I felt like I had learned so much about boxing in just the first class, and despite being completely and utterly exhausted, I was hooked on coming back for more.

     Over the course of the next few weeks, I continued to go to the aerobics room to learn boxing more frequently. What began as a once-a-week thing soon evolved into me going three or even sometimes four times in a week. Eventually my friend and I were able to convince more and more of our other friends to join us after school, and by the end of the month, we had a amassed a pretty sizable boxing crew. Carlos never put a limit on the number of students he was willing to teach boxing to. He was always glad when someone else decided to come to a lesson, and encouraged us to invite more people.

     Realizing our little boxing gig was gaining traction quickly, Carlos decided to take things up a notch by starting the official boxing club. He put together a video about the club and made posters that we plastered around the school. Carlos was dedicated to growing the boxing club, and his efforts were paying off. Soon enough, we had new students joining the club every week. I asked Carlos about his thoughts on how far the club has come, and he told me, “I didn’t have anything, but now I got this.” He bought the equipment for the club with his own money, made the posters and shirts, and brought his knowledge of boxing to the table. None of it would have been possible without Carlos.

     A lot of people think that boxing is a one-way road to brain damage or Parkinson’s, and are reluctant to pick it up as a result. You don’t have to worry about that in the boxing club though, because the school won’t let us hit each other in the head anyway. I never had any intention of becoming a professional boxer, and I still don’t, but that isn’t what the club is about. At the very least, the boxing club offers an extreme full-body workout schedule that will get you in the best shape of your life. Anyone is welcome to join the boxing club, regardless of your gender or how fit you are. Carlos takes the time to adapt his training intensity to everyone’s specific level so that no one gets left behind. Whether you are interested in the sport of boxing, you want to be able to defend yourself, or you want to get physically fit, the boxing club has something to offer everybody.

    One last thing. That friend who first suggested I get into boxing? Yeah, it was none other than Colby Delano himself.