Flashdance meets Jackie Chan

The hour of aerobics last night flew by.

I’ve never done aerobics before - I’ve always opted to go for a run or a swim. But here in Potosí, where there is no pool and I have never seen someone off running (after all, I am living above 4100m and the city is on a hill…), I thought it was a good idea to go to aerobics when my friend Evelin twisted my arm into joining her.

When I got there for my first session, I was a little uncomfortable. While in Canada I am “average height” (okay, okay, I’m considered “short” by my closer friends), here I’m at least half a foot taller to a full foot than most other women. So that, in addition to my blonde hair / pale skin, makes me stand out in the class. Where this becomes funny, is that when I would mess up what we were doing, so would most people behind since they would be following me instead of the instructor!

I initially described the aerobics here as being equivalent to Flashdance. If you’re not following, let me describe my time-warp back to the 80s:
- Most of the women wear tights, down to mid-calf level.
- Socks are pulled up to mid-calf level if you’re wearing shorts. Otherwise, socks are rolled down to form a donut around your ankle.
- Shoes: a sneaker or something equivalent to a “keds” shoe. (Of course, there are the people that can´t afford "workout shoes", so they´re in their "every day shoe".)
- “Sweat” bands around your head are popular.
- The instructor, the only man in the room of girls, was wearing spandex shorts with running shorts over top, and a mesh tanktop.
- Some of the women wore a plastic jacket type thing under their shirt to encourage sweating during the workout.

Each night seems to be a different theme.
- Monday nights you get a block and it’s like step aerobics. The last 10 minutes you do an arm workout with a broom pole.
- Tuesday nights is just aerobics on the floor, with a killer 10 minute sit-up workout at the end.
- Wednesday nights is kick-boxing.
- Thurdays… repeat of Monday.
- Friday nights: salsa theme.

As per the theme of this blog entry, last night at “Flashdance meets Jackie Chan”, I burst out into laughter a few times. The women here all seem to take their aerobics very seriously. However, my laughter seemed to be a little contagious to the women around me after a few of the things we were supposed to follow along with. Let me explain…

I have never been to a kick-boxing aerobics class. So, for all I know, it MIGHT have been a “normal” class. However, there were a few moments that stood out above others.

First of all, the music. I felt like I was PART of the computer games that many of my ex’s have played over the years. On beat, there would be sound effects of people getting punched, hit, kicked, etc. At some points, there was even the sound of blood spraying after an especially good hit, or the sound of someone groaning.

Of course, the instructor had our moves all coordinated to these sound effects. So, we were giving our jabs or upper-cuts timed with audible results!

Then, came the “intense” moves. It’s not everyday that you get to run across the room and do a flying karate kick leap into the air. But yes, this was timed into a step pattern, where you jumped back a few times, fists in the air, “jumpy boxer” style, then with a knee lifted into the air, you started your forward return, a hop step, and you were jumping in the air, kicking your leg out forward with your arms above your head. Landing on your feet, you were back in your “jumpy boxer” stance, hoping backwards to start it all over again.

Oh, and you had another woman within 2 feet on all four sides of you, so you REALLY wanted to make sure you followed the moves correctly, or you’d have a foot in the head!

Of course, the instructor got REALLY into it, like he was actually a character in one of these computer games. I couldn’t help but laugh at him, being so into it that his facial expression showed satisfaction with the really vicious kicks or fear during the “defense” moves.

Now, the FUNNIEST part, that garnered a few laughs from around me, was this one set. We’d been fiercely fighting and defending for the whole class. But, this one “set” that we did, had us doing a few kicks and punches, then a couple jumps sideways to fall into a lunge… only to then shake our chest! What the hell!! Was that some fighting technique that I missed somewhere along the way? I didn’t even see that one in Charlie’s Angels to distract the people they were fighting!

Either way, I think the instructor appreciated my ability to find humour in what we were doing, since he came up to me after class, grinning and asked if I enjoyed it. I had to be honest: it was great! Ha ha. Now, I wonder if kick-boxing aerobics is this much fun in Canada! I’ll have to see when I’m back there.