My First Fight!: Kickboxing Friendly @ Windrush Club

Oxford vs. Windrush

My first fight in a ring - the kickboxing "friendly" fight (Oxford University Kickboxing Club vs. Windrush Kickboxing & Boxing Club) was a thrilling experience! Although I initially thought I'd be fighting someone my height, I ended up with a girl who was much taller (and much more skilled, as that club fights in many competitions; one of the girls in their club is a world champion!!!) 

While I did manage to corner her in the ring once or twice, and throw a few shots to the body, I did take quite one shot in the head (disorienting!) and had some trouble getting under her guard. The coach, Jan, said I did pretty well though, which is great ---anything is great for a first fight, I suppose. I will say though, that the axe kick is the worst ---well, the best, if you know how to throw one properly.  I definitely didn't see that one coming, and my opponent was really good at them! With someone that much taller, I can usually divert a roundhouse or side kick, but the axe kick to the head just comes out of nowhere!

At any rate, I am SO glad I signed up to spend my day there today; it reminded me how much I really love competition. Maybe I will be ready to fight in varsity on March 2nd, after all. 

Check out the slideshow below of a few shots that Catherine, one of our members who didn't spar today, took. (Sorry about the blurriness - motion pics are hard to edit!)

We spent a couple hours when we returned to Oxford this afternoon at Jan's place, admiring his many trophies, watching the pictures we took on a slideshow, and enjoying sandwiches, cookies and coffee and tea. He told us of a proverb in Bratislava, which says that "having a guest in your house is like having God in your house" --very hospitable! As per my new year's goals, this term is definitely not just about studying, and I am really enjoying the Oxford experience (fingers crossed that I will get a DPhil place and funding, and be here next year).

Oh and one other note - I am definitely going to order an OUkbc hoodie and a couple of t-shirts now :) We should all be in uniform at our next competition, I think --the Windrush club looked very smart in uniform.  There is competition next weekend as well, but we'll see how much work I can cram in before then to find time to spend another Sunday fighting. Go team!