This week I learned how to hit like a girl: a professional MMA fighter girl.

As I warmed up on the treadmill, she asked me why I wanted to train. The answer was one I’m sure she’s heard a million times: “I’ve always wanted to know how to fight… It looks so cool in the movies.”
I’d asked myself the same question before I ever gave her a call, why would I want to learn how to fight? The answer had simply been that I was curious. It looked cool. A person who could fight was in control and powerful before ever throwing a punch. And how was I ever supposed to find out if this was for me if I never tried it?
When I did finally call her, I’m sure my voice was shaky in the message I left. Trying anything new often leaves me with sweaty palms and a racing heartbeat. Yet, despite my nerves, I committed; and hardly slept the night before our first session from excitement. Would I show up that morning and flail myself about with no hope of improvement? Or would my secret hope of being a natural badass become a reality!??
So, back to the treadmill, and her curios question of, “why?” She briefly tells me her story, skimming the surface of domestic violence in her own life, and though I’m hardly one to open up while shaking your hand, I felt a kinship. Wanting to be in control when sometimes I have felt like I was not.
When we finished our lesson and I drove home, I was elated and filled with energy a typical workout has never given. I cried halfway home because I could barely remember the last time I had felt the kind of joy and excitement