Everyone on Twitter and Instagram swears by it — from fitness guru Jillian Michaels to Victoria’s Secret Angel Adriana Lima. But did you know, boxing isn’t just for the elite? English teacher Ms. Missy Martinez has delved into the world of boxing and isn’t coming back anytime soon!

Ms. Martinez didn’t go looking to box — she stumbled upon it by mistake.

“I joined a gym over the summer and I went in to take a class called Body Drop, but it was full,” Ms. Martinez said. “As I was walking out I saw they were having a boxing class going on and I was looking inside and the instructor was like, ‘Come on in!’, so that’s how I started.”

After that, she was hooked.

“I love it! It’s a great workout — very intense! You get to work out your frustrations, and there’s a lot of skills that we learn,” Ms. Martinez said. “There’s a lot of different instructors, and my favorite one is actually a retired Navy SEAL, so he’s pretty intense on the workouts.”

Though she loves her former Navy SEAL instructor now, Ms. Martinez was skeptical of him at first.

“The very first time he came in, he looked like this California surfer boy — long blonde hair and everything — and starts telling us he just came from Australia and so on, and we were like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is going to be such a blow-off class’,” Ms. Martinez said.

But Ms. Martinez was in for a big surprise with this instructor.

“He started putting us through the stretching and had us do some drills, and then he said, ‘I just thought I’d let y’all know my credentials: I’m a retired Navy SEAL, I’m a master in Jiu Jitsu, Krav Maga, etc.’,” Ms. Martinez said. “I looked at him like, ‘What? No way!’. And sure enough, he was good — crazy good. We were just completely shocked. And he’s a great instructor — like, fabulous.”

Looks can be deceptive, as Ms. Martinez found out.

“Looking at him, you would never know that — you’d just think he’s very laid back and cool, but nope! He means business,” Ms. Martinez said. “He had us doing this one move — there’s a room with like 30 punching bags, and you had to wrap your legs around one of the bags and do your crunches. Then you had to wrap your arms around the other bag and bring your toes up.We do burpees, we do push ups — and he’s one of those where if he says, ‘How are y’all enjoying it?’ and you don’t yell loud enough, he’ll say, ‘Okay, 5 burpees!’. Then we’ll say, ‘Aw, we’re great! We’re awesome! We love the class!’.”

Not only is boxing fun, but also it’s an awesome way to keep in shape.

“When I first joined, I think I lost 7 or 8 inches around my waist in the first month, and then 15 inches overall. So it’s a great workout,” Ms. Martinez said.

Boxing isn’t only for young 20-something’s either.

“One of my concerns when I went was, ‘Okay, these people look hard core, and I’m not’,” Ms. Martinez said. “Then I look and see people that are not at my level even — there’s a lady there, I would swear she’s probably about 75 or 80, and she is rockin’ that gym bag! So I think I have a little while to go before I get there.”

This form of working out is catching on fast, gaining serious popularity from celeb endorsement.

“I honestly think that it’s probably Ronda Rousey. You know, she’s gotten such a big following and I think a lot of people are looking at her and thinking, ‘This looks like fun!’ — and it’s a good workout!” Ms. Martinez said.

One of the best things about boxing is the relationships you form — and some you rediscover.

“The weird part is, I went to one of the classes and there was this guy there, and he came up and said, ‘I think I know you from somewhere?’, and I was like, ‘No…?’,” Ms. Martinez said. “Well this guy kept on for a few weeks, and was saying, ‘No, I definitely know you from somewhere!’, and I said, ‘Well, the only place you might know me is that I teach at Westwood High School’, and he looked at me and he went, ‘When?’, and I said, ‘Well, I currently teach at Westwood’, and he said, ‘I went to Westwood!’. So we started talking and it turns out that I actually was his teacher in middle school, and then we both came over here to Westwood.”

Though boxing is hard work, it’s worth it.
“We had two or three high school girls come in one day and said, ‘Oh, these people are old’, and they stood in front of me and I helped them with their wraps and their gloves,” Mrs. Martinez said. “After about 45 minutes they looked at me, exhausted, and I said, ‘It’s okay, I looked like you when I started!’. I really love it — I have my own gloves, they’re pink, I love them — I can’t wait to go!”