The day starts with kickboxing, and I have to admit, it feels like something out of Terminator. I throw a few practice kicks, testing my range. Maybe I should have dialed it back to five. Sticky stick, come on.
Let me show you what I picked up from a few kickboxing lessons in LA. It’s all up here, like this, before we even get to the horse. I’m going to open on the other side. Honestly, it is not that big of a deal.
But at the same time, wait. Leg day, here we go. Oh my god. Watch this, see if I can still do it.
Yeah. This. In my text messages, you didn’t mean. Where did you mean?
Wait, is this moving? I love the gym. I really do love the gym. My hope is that you will always be happy and healthy.
If there’s space later, I’m going to use the fitness room to dance and practice some K-pop routines. Right now, we’re hitting all the leg machines. I’ll just put this on the floor. Put this here.
Let’s go. You are unforgettable. I’ve got my green tea, which is basically my essential nutrient. Beast mode.
Oh, nice. Yeah. Kick. Kick.
I lost weight? Even more weight? I think I gained weight and then lost it again. I don’t know.
Thank you. Leg day means kicking. She’s like me, like it’s giving main character energy. Main character training to beat up the bad guys.
When I think about Resident Evil, you can play as Leon or the other girl. I haven’t actually played the game, but it makes me sad because as a female character, the only option you have is to run away. I always think, can’t she be a badass too? I tried it the other day, but then I fell.
High kick. Kick up. That’s why flexibility matters. Cowgirl, welcome.
A lot of this I got from Taekwondo, especially the kicks, because Taekwondo is mostly kicking. It’s with my knee. Kick. Like a DLC for Resident Evil.
When you’re kickboxing, the kicks are basically meant to push people away from you, because technically you’re not actually hitting with force. It’s like this. One, two, one, two. It’s just remembering the movement.
One, two, uppercut. One, two, uppercut. Or you can do the other variation. I might not be the fastest.
I might not win the race. But you will always find me with a big smile on my face. Let’s see. Thank you so much.
Thank you for the 500 babies. Also, the key is, thank you. I hope to cut many things with this. Hi, Jordan.
Oh no, I’m a brown belt in Taekwondo. I just haven’t had time to continue. A lot of it is just general health and fitness, especially when you’re not a kid anymore. I took kickboxing classes in LA.
I was actually supposed to do a live fight with someone from Glo Gang. What’s her name? I think her name is Yasmine. She’s one of the Glo Navy girls.
Let me check my messages real quick. It’s not Stefski. But yeah, I was meant to do a stream fight, but it was on Kick, so my mods were like, no, you can’t. Yeah, it’s good to work on form.
Okay, fair. I’m doing the best with what I have. It’s hard, especially if you haven’t worked out your legs in a while. The balance is a little off.
It’s also because my arm can’t counterbalance with it. Like this. Or you can do it the other way. I’m not confident about that one.
But I’m going to try. Left back. Yeah, it’s important. I feel like as long as the assailant doesn’t come at me from behind.
That’s why I’m so frustrated with video games. I mean, yeah, you have games where you can play a strong female character, but so often it’s just running away. No, you can protect yourself. I like warming up like this because it gets my blood pumping.
This way for a sidekick, then the other kick this way. Oh my gosh, my legs. Would my mom yell at me for wearing these short shorts? The key with punching is that you don’t want to just punch at the target.
You want to punch through it. That’s what makes you strong. One time I injured my butt because I kicked like this and slipped onto my ass. That’s the risk.
This beast mode, welcome. From horse riding? Yes, it’s mutual. So welcome, my Francine.
Hulk energy. No, so let me explain how you do it. When you’re riding, regular riding is just sitting. You’re sitting on the horse and it’s going like this.
But when you’re jumping, you’re not sitting. This is the horse’s butt. You’re like this. You’re in a squat the whole time.
And actually, my legs are a little weak right now, so let’s see what the best I can get is. My favorite thing is when the bag swings side to side. But I did do shadow boxing with a bunch of guys. Well, there was one other girl, but most of them were guys at an LA gym.
That was a good workout. Do you guys like working out? So for kickboxing, these are the kicks I learned from Taekwondo. A roundhouse is like this.
It’s going to look really bad because I’m pretty out of practice. Thank you for the follow. You hit out with the side of your foot. Would you say leg strength or arm strength is more important in your sports?
I want to kick high because I want to be able to reach their face if I really need to, in self-defense mode. Taekwondo teaches you that you get strong, but you only get strong in so far as you can defend yourself. It takes both, honestly. I feel like legs are more important for riding, but your core, sorry, I’m a little puffy because I ate a lot of salt last night, your core is what stabilizes you and your spine.
And your arms, well, I’ve been functioning with a limited arm in whatever sport I do, you know what I mean? The problem is my horse has been getting annoyed with me because when you’re riding, you need even tension, like a steering wheel, both hands. The crazy thing is with my horse, because this side has trouble with the knee, the edge brace, this arm moves very reflectively, but this one is slow. So the balance is off, and the horse feels it.
She’s been giving me attitude because one side is pulling while the other lags. It’s like trying to steer with one wheel loose. I’m trying to get back into rhythm, but it’s a slow process. The kicks help, the squats help, and the core work helps, but there’s no shortcut when your body has been through its own adjustments.
You just keep showing up, you keep practicing, and you hope the muscle memory comes back. Some days it does. Some days you feel like you’re starting from zero. But the smile stays.
That’s the part I refuse to lose. I remember the first time I got into the ring, or at least the idea of it. The stream fight was supposed to be a big moment, something to prove. But my mods shut it down fast.
They were looking out for me, even when I wanted to push through. There’s a difference between being brave and being reckless, and I’m still learning where that line is. The kickboxing lessons in LA taught me more than just form. They taught me how to stand my ground.
When you’re in a room full of people throwing punches, you learn fast that hesitation is your worst enemy. You commit to the movement or you don’t move at all. The Taekwondo background helps with that. You train your legs until they respond without thinking.
You train your body to move when your mind is still catching up. I got to brown belt before life got in the way. Work, travel, the everyday stuff that pushes training to the side. But the fundamentals stick.
Even now, out of practice, I can feel the old patterns when I kick. The hip rotation, the snap of the leg, the balance on the standing foot. It comes back in pieces. I think about why I do this.
It’s not just fitness. It’s preparation. It’s knowing that if something happens, if someone comes at me, I have options. I’m not just a runner.
I’m not just someone who freezes. I can protect myself. That matters more than the weight loss or the muscle tone. It’s about feeling capable in a world that often tells women they should be fragile.
And the horse, she’s my other teacher. Riding is its own kind of training. You have to be present, aware of every shift in her body. She responds to the slightest tension, the tiniest signal.
If I’m off balance, she knows. If I’m distracted, she tests me. The connection between us is mutual. She keeps me honest.
When I’m in the saddle, there’s no room for doubt. You commit, you trust, and you ride through it. The leg work blends into everything. The squats I do in the gym are the same squats I hold when we jump a fence.
The core strength I build is what keeps me upright when she moves underneath me. The arms, even with their limitations, hold the reins steady. It all connects. Every piece of training serves the next.
That’s what I love about it. Nothing happens in isolation. The kickboxing makes me stronger for the riding. The riding makes me more aware for everything else.
I’m puffy today from the salt, but that’s fine. It’s just water weight. I’ll flush it out with green tea and movement. The machine work is straightforward, but I don’t mind.
There’s comfort in the repetition. Set after set, kick after kick. It clears my head. When you’re focused on your form, on your breath, on the burn, there’s no room for the noise.
It’s just you and the work. I think about all the girls who don’t get to feel this way. Who are told they’re too weak, too soft, too fragile. I want them to know they can be more.
They can train, they can fight, they can stand their ground. It’s not about being aggressive. It’s about being ready. It’s about knowing that you don’t have to run from every threat.
Sometimes you can stand and face it. The punch-through idea applies to more than the bag. You don’t just touch the surface. You push through it.
You commit fully to what you’re doing, whether it’s a kick, a jump, or a goal in life. Half measures don’t build strength. They build hesitation. And hesitation is what gets you hurt.
So I keep training. I keep showing up, even on the days when my legs are shaky and my balance is off. I keep working through the injury quirks and the asymmetrical arms. I keep smiling, because that’s part of the discipline too.
You don’t have to be perfect. You just have to keep going. The bag sways, and I watch it. My favorite part is when it moves side to side, because it forces you to time your strikes.
You can’t just throw punches in a straight line. You have to adapt, adjust, and find the rhythm. It’s the same with everything. You plan, but you also have to be ready to shift when things don’t go the way you expected.
I’ll get back to the full routine eventually. The high kicks, the sparring, maybe even another attempt at a live fight if the opportunity comes up. My mods still won’t love it, but I know they’ll support me. They always have.
For now, I’ll take it one day at a time. One kick, one squat, one set. The smile stays. That’s the rule.
And when I’m done here, I’ll go see the horse. We’ll work through her attitude and mine. We’ll find our balance again together. That’s the best part of the whole thing.
No matter how much time passes, no matter how much I forget, the connection is still there. She remembers me, and I remember her. We just have to find our way back to the rhythm.
