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So today I signed up for a kickboxing class.

I’ve been away from martial arts for too long now, and my body is starting to show it. I figure it’s about time I got back into an exercise program, and one that applies some basic martial arts principals is appealing.

A local school called Martial Arts Family Fitness has a program called Kickboxers Ultimate Training (KUT) that is an intense 9-week program designed to whip students into shape using kickboxing and resistance training. Note my emphasis on the word intense — the program is apparently pretty brutal, but supposedly the pain will pay off with results. Okay, I figure that sounds masochistically fun, I’ll give it a go.

There’s a nutrition part of the plan, too. I always worry about things like that because of the menu of allowed foods they usually give you. I always expect a daily nutrition allowance that’s something along the lines of:

– 1 apple
– 1 cup plain yogurt
– 3 carrots
– 1 hideous tofu dish that smells strangely like pork
– 1 sprout
– a cup of dirt
– boiled cabbage
– a slice of 13-grain bread resembling tree bark

(Thankfully, it appears that the KUT program has a little better variety than this.)

Today we were given a fitness evaluation, then we’ll be given another one at 3 weeks, another at 6 weeks, then our last one at the end of the 9 week program. As part of the evaluation we were asked to do a bunch of sit-ups and push-ups, they weighed us, then took pictures of us. The “before” pictures. I did not get copies of my pictures, nor did I really want them, so you’ll just have to use your imagination for now. Maybe I’ll post them in 9 weeks if I’ve made significant progress. In the meantime, just assume that it’ll look something like this.

I’ll be sure to bore everyone to tears by posting progress reports and status updates throughout the ordeal. Assuming I will still be able to use my arms, that is.