Kickboxing was my favourite thing

I joined a gym where they held a weekly kickboxing class. Somehow I ended up there. Perhaps another gym member told me.

I bought gloves (later signed by Chris Eubank), bag gloves, skipping rope, shorts, club t-shirt.

I really never fitted in with aerobics. I found it tedious and it was a drag. Whereas kickboxing somehow lit me up. I never missed a class.

The best classes were my Saturday 1:1s. It was the best workout. I was exhausted afterwards but felt that I had done something.

After the gym class I found a local hard core Muay Thai gym. We did the ritual dance and I trained for about three belts. Then I moved elsewhere and trained one to one. Later I trained at another gym where I worked with guys who were training to fight. That was interesting.

I really wanted to fight in competition. I sparred regularly in the ring. I'd never say I was going to win prizes, it was more the experience and to say I'd done it. Something ticked off my wishlist. They didn't get it at the gym. When I said I wanted to be in a competition there was a lot of sniggering, and whispering in corners.

I started kickboxing when I was 40 and trained for about 12 years.