It was Free Train Friday today which means, with the exception of our Crossfit Circuit class, there is no one-to-one coaching. Members are to train at their own pace and do their own thing. Snickers doesn't work on Free Train Fridays, it's just me. And because there is no coaching on Fridays, it means that I really get to socialize with our members without having to scoot away to do padwork, keep my eye on someone weight training or weigh-in anyone. Fridays are a lot of fun for me because I do get to socialize more with our members, my body gets to relax from the week's worth of hard padwork, and I get to crank up whatever tunes I want and however loud I want -- I love my Free Train Fridays at Hulk's. It was perfect timing too for it to be Friday considering just last night I was involved in a car crash.
I went to the hospital today and was told to hold off on training because my back muscles are very tense. The doctor told me to relax my back, I was so tense, but when I told him that I was relaxed he responded with a "Oh,... ohhh wow" and then he said I was quite the strong lady, nice. It feels like I just seriously killed a wicked back workout, minus the workout that is, because my back muscles are in a kind of perma-flex. Itt lasted all day today so it was quite uncomfortable, to say the least. But you just got to love Korea -- got into a car accident at 12:18am and recieved the insurance pay out at 5:07pm, just a few minutes short of 17hrs after the situation.
Today I was pleasantly surprised by a group of our high school boys. A small group of three of them stopped by the club for what I anticipated to be just another regular day of training for them. They did their usual crowd around the coal thingy-a-ma-jiggy like usual. I assumed they were waiting for their two other buddies that typically join them for training so I poured them some barley tea while I waited with them. Their buddies seemed to be taking longer than expected, or so I thought, so I threw on some sweet potatoes for them to enjoy. A couple of cups of barley tea, a tray full of sweet potatoes, and an hour and a half of talking later and I realized, their buddies were never coming.
"Are you guys going to train tonight?" I asked them.
"No, we're tired. We came to say hi" one told me.
I had a good giggle and was flattered. I joked to them, telling them I think they just wanted the free tea and free sweet potatoes... hahaha. Honestly though, it felt good, having them come by to talk. Snickers and I really want this place to be a hangout, a kind of clubhouse, for any and all who want to accept it as that. The other day I know I gave these boys quite the lecture about their behavior at the club but I had also told them that I'd help them if they had a problem, regardless of if it's with other member or something beyond our club walls. It felt good to know they think of our boxing club as a kind of after school hangout, that's perfectly fine with me and I'm flattered by it.
Opening Hulk's was never about making a profit, I'm still living very much on a budgeted life style. It was about using our passions and our talents to make a job we love and a job that can make a difference. And in sharing our passion of boxing, health and fitness, we've really learned just how interconnected the mind, body and soul is with regards to being healthy. Losing weight and getting healthy is very much an emotional thing as it is a physical thing and the more I try to push members with the physical, the more they feel comfortable with letting us also help them with the emotional baggage that hinders them.
I've had members cry during weigh-ins -- both tears of happiness and tears of frustration, members curse at themselves when they can't do that extra rep they did the week before, and the other week we had a member totally give up during in Crossfit class. Her knees dropped to the floor and she just completely shut herself off from everyone. It really had nothing to do with the class itself but with an issue she's been dealing with. Many of the emotional journeys our members go through are quite eye-opener and more extreme than others. And in trying to make all our members feel wanted and very much a part of our Hulk family, many of them have turned to us for additional help beyond teaching them boxing or working on their weight training form.
There are a lot of behind the scene phone calls, hospital visits, house calls and meals out with members that have become a big part of our job title as coaches. There are days when it definitely feels I do more emotional coaching and tending to than physical training with members. Two of our members are under suicide-watch with one having just experienced their second failed attempt. And though these are the two most extreme cases, this is some of the emotional baggage that I am now helping to carry and tend to. I don't simply clock in at 2pm and then clock out at midnight. This job has become my life -- there is no line between personal life and business life. And though I absolutely love it and feeling incredibly blessed by it all, I often at times have to remind myself to stay strong. I consider myself to be a very mentally strong person but just as strong as I am I am also equally sensitive. It's hard to be both but I know I have to stay strong, not just for my own sake but because there are others leaning on me.
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