Remember Rocky? Well, I think everyone felt inspired to train like a demon and be the best boxer out there after watching that movie. I’m a girl and after my dad had me watch that, I was knocking his punching bag sideways in the garage for years to follow! There is something about letting your frustration out in the ring, on the bag or with the mitts; that is why Ringside Boxing Gym offers you that time out, that amazing, gruelling exercise session and of course, results! Now, all in a new and improved gym space! Chatting to Kate, I could gather one of two things: a) I felt like I should head to the gym after our interview and b) she is completely and utterly involved with hers and her husband, Tyron’s, business.
Ringside’s gym space in Ballito was the place to go to knock off some frustration after or before a long day and sweat off those unwanted kilos (Ringside knows how to smash calories, let’s just say!). It started to become the ‘it’ place to gather with your gloves on, and the only real place where you could get in the ring and smash the mitts with one of the trainers, Rocky style! So those who felt like me, post-Rocky, were thrilled that there existed a gym for the die-hard boxers, the enthusiasts and the amateurs- a place finally dedicated to the internationally-loved sport of boxing!
As we know in Ballito, when something is good, people talk and we love to try new things! So, obviously word of mouth got around and Ringside became as popular as ever! With their challenge ‘Shed that Spread’ taking place in the gym three times a year, as well as with the regular gym-goers, the classes became very, very busy and people were becoming wary of space, parking, class capacity etc! “We never want any of our clients to feel as if there isn’t enough space for them or for their training sessions; this is why we just had to take the plunge and move premises!” Kate and Tyron took the massive leap of faith to complete the move on the 21st of December 2018 and re-open in the Umhlali premises on the 7th of January 2019!
How has the community reacted to the move? “We’re a big family at Ringside, so no one really minded. We had some of our members actually just arrive to help us move! I think the greatest gift is that our worries went unjustified. God has truly blessed us since our move and we have actually grown! The support has been overwhelming! Everyone loves the new space and we have so many new faces becoming part of the family!”, Kate pours out excitedly.
The new premises have allowed Ringside to accommodate many more people by splitting the classes, so that women and men are split up with the men doing boxing for 30 minutes while the ladies do weight training and then they swap over, allowing double capacity of people, the same personalised training approach and the same results! With the new space, came the gorgeous new weight section which is available for use at any time by members to do their own training! A new cardio section is on the cards for downstairs too…
What I love about Ringside is the abundance of classes on offer at different times throughout the day – every day! I am one of those five am people who drag themselves out of bed to whip our bodies into shape as I can’t make the eight am classes. However, here you have the five, seven, seven thirty and eight am classes as well as the 5 and 6 pm evening classes- how is that for choice! Chatting to Kate had me itching to try a session, so I opted to train one morning, psyching myself up for a gruelling hour of boxing, and that is exactly what I got!
The vibe is infectious in the morning with everyone firing on all cylinders! I was given my gloves for the session and my hands were wrapped up, feeling extremely Sylvester Stallone-ish, I went on to punch, kick, squat, lunge, push-up, punch some more and eventually run around the car park ‘til I was sweating more than I realised was possible! The training programme is high-intensity mixed with weight training and cardio, can you imagine the state I was in afterwards? I am somewhat fit, I’ll give myself that, but boxing fit? Nuh-uh!
The new gym is everything you envision a boxing gym to be: the trainers are hardcore which I love (had me in military mode for the morning) and the classes are continuously changing so that your body can never get used to one form of exercising! Your body is fired up, your metabolism boosted and my endorphins were flowing nicely as I grab a cup of coffee from Heys Café on my way to the car. Ringside- bigger and better than ever!