Photo: Courtesy of Palm Heights Athletics
At Ato Quarshie Boxing Club, they ran a number of laps on the outdoor basketball court, then returned indoors to do a combination of freestyle bag work and pad work. Later that day, we trained at the Seaview Boxing Gym, where the coaches and athletes changed and learned the combinations again. In both gyms, the combinations became increasingly complex. “Jab”, “hook”, “jab” is finally “jab”, “jab”, “hook”, “uppercut”, “jab”, “uppercut”, “uppercut”, “duck” , changed to “slip”. “Jab” My arm turned to jelly as the temperature hovered around 90 degrees as I followed orders to punch over and over again. The next morning was the hardest training of the week. We did a 10 minute lap around the sandy beach, followed by a 10 minute walk up and down the steep stairs outside. This was covered in high knees and jumping jacks. The next day we finished our fitness tour and trained with the Ghanaian national boxing team known as the Black Bombers. They led us on a run around the Accra Sports Stadium, up and down the stadium steps, more times than I can remember. I still think about the otherworldly stretch my partner helped me do afterwards.
Although the sessions were tiring, they didn’t feel like a chore, as they often do in my workouts stateside. I think this is partly due to the hospitality of each gym (we were guests and were treated as such), but also the obvious passion for boxing that made the fitness experience much more enjoyable than at other gyms. He made it into something. So was training at a gym with a lot of people who looked like me. She’s a black woman living in downtown Manhattan, but that’s never the case when she steps into her boutique fitness studio. In many cases, I am one of the only or very few women of color. The athletes we trained with in Accra were generous with their time and skills, meeting us where they were physically and mentally and sharing the sport they love. Every session ended with singing, dancing, prayer, or all three. It was grounding and fun, and I felt those elusive endorphins coursing through my body. I slept like a rock every night.
