Senior Alexa Fleming began her sophomore year’s second semester a kick, starting a new combat sport alongside her mother. Fleming, who had never participated in a sport before, made a bold decision and started kickboxing.
“Learning how to defend myself was a factor,” Fleming said. “My mom does it too, so she wanted me to join.”
Fleming practices at KickHouse in Baldwin. She said kickboxing is different from other martial arts, such as karate.
“I feel that kickboxing is different from other martial arts because it’s really just boxing with some kicking involved,” Fleming said. “Karate and taekwondo are a lot more focused on kicks than kickboxing is.”
It’s also different because the training style and classes in kickboxing focus more on drills, rather than much sparring.
“We’ll use the bag, then after two or three minutes the main coach will say stop and then we’ll do push-ups, sit-ups, and squats. After these, we go back to the bag,” Fleming said. “Classes are around an hour per day and you can choose which days you want to go. I usually go two days per week.”
Fleming’s mom chose kickboxing over other martial arts for several reasons.
“I got into kickboxing to learn self defense and to be healthy,” Nicole Pollock said.
While Fleming has not fought against any opponents, she still trains in case she eventually does or if she needs to in self-defense.
“I don’t want to get hurt, but I will fight if I need to,” Fleming said.
Fleming experienced a setback in her kickboxing training when she injured her leg last year. She was out of action for half of a year, but has recently gotten back into the sport.
“It took me six months to get back into it, but I didn’t have too hard of a time,” Fleming said.
Fleming explained that the sport is easy enough for others to get into and that no prior physical experience is needed.
“It’s going to challenge you a little bit, because I had never done any other sports. But I jumped right in and it wasn’t too hard,” Fleming said. “I’d say the biggest challenge was improving my form.”
Kickboxing is enjoyable for her because it helps her stay physically fit and is a good activity to pass time.
“The biggest factor that made me stick with it is that fact it keeps me healthy and fit,” Fleming said.
It’s also improved her confidence and self-esteem.
“It makes me feel like I can actually defend myself now,” Fleming said. “It’s definitely helped my confidence.”
