She Sparred!

I should be in bed as I’m typing this, but I need to get it done now because I won’t have time later. This weekend was a busy one, but a very happy one. I began with taking Friday off for myself. I had planned to spend the day at rest. I was (am) quite burnt out and needing a full day of doing nothing in particular. Which is what happened. It was so nice.

Saturday was the usual training in the morning, puttering about the house in the afternoon/evening.

Sunday was different, though. I didn’t do nothing except chores as I usually do. No. One of my martial arts students had told us about an event happening at Boss Thai Boxing in Kemptville. They were playing host to a women’s only event called SHESpars.

What is SHESpars? Well, I’m glad you asked.

It’s an event by and for women, where we can all come together at all different levels and just… spar with one another. An it’s absolutely free.

It is, as a woman, so hard to find other women to spar with… less so now, but even just a few years ago, outside of my own classes which I lead, and therefore can very rarely participate in, finding women to spar with has been something of an issue.

This event looks to fix that. A bunch of women in martial arts gather and then spend an hour and a half at play. It’s technical sparring, not a match, so no one is going full ball. Egos are checked at the door. No one has anything to prove. It makes for a warm, inclusive and very instructive event. I sure learnt a lot.

I think I was one of the oldest folks there. I forget that I’m an oldie now, sometimes, until all the young ones start running circles around me. But I still managed to spar every round save one, when I was trying to fix my shin guards because the left one was giving my big toe a right rubbing. So much so that I bled a little bit. It was quite painful.

In any case, I’m glad the ticker was able to keep me going, but boy did I feel slow and heavy in most of the rounds. I really need to work on my speed, and also on my defences because boy I ate a lot of kicks - from one in particular who had fast legs and snappy kicks. She was so good. And I was not. There might be a bruise on my right leg now.

But I still had a blast. It was nice to prove to myself that despite not having properly sparred in yonks (an occasional round here and there with my students), I was not as terrible as I thought I was. Granted, I had no fight experience like many of the ladies there, but I did alright. I’m very glad they held back as much as they did. It helped me feel super comfortable.

I did not cry. Not even when I caught a smart uppercut to the nose. Excellent precision on that one!

It’s also so nice to see that my students did very well. I am now pretty certain they could take me in a fight. It’s a good thing, I think. It means I did my job correctly, and I am so very proud of them.

If you’re looking to get into martial arts, this is your sign. Do it. You’re not too old. And it’s so much fun!

SHESpars is an excellent initiative. An all-women crew is on of the best things ever, I have found. No egos, no one was underestimated, and no one had anything to prove… It was warm, welcoming, and a whole lot of fun. Did I mention that it’s free? Because it’s free.

Thank you to everyone at SHESpars, and the folks at Boss Thai Boxing in Kemptville for hosting. It was so awesome to be there. I am now thoroughly exhausted (it is Sunday night as I write this), so I’m going to brush my teeth and collapse into bed. I wish I could sleep for a thousand nights. Alas, I have work in the morning. Off I go!

Slán go foill!