Kickboxing: Working out, having fun

They punch, bob, weave and kick on Monday and Wednesday afternoons as the Orland Recreation Center is turned into a kickboxing gym.

Participants do not actually hit one another, but they do go through an hour of moves as if they were boxing for competition.

Instructor Eileen Mason puts them through the workout to the tune of 1960s classics as 20 to 30 people come to get some exercise.

"We do kickboxing to get in shape and stay in shape in a fun way," Mason said.

She added "everybody's more motivated in a class."

Students have fun and there are a lot of repeaters, Mason said.

The workouts include stretching beforehand then getting down to business with mock punches and jabs.

It provides good cardio exercise, strengthening, toning and body core work, she said.

Mason teaches the class at Butte College, but she also works at Orland High School and finds a lot of her former high school students come back for this class.

"I do it because it's obviously good exercise," student Maureen Kraemer said.

Of Mason, Kraemer said "She's very positive and encouraging to who ever joins the class."

There is a "big gap" between Butte College's classes that end in November and do not start again until February, she said, so the Orland class helps students stay on course.

Kraemer said she worked with the recreation department to get the classes there, so "we could get something going so we are not all dying" when the Butte course resumes.

She has done the class for four years and it took two years to get it offered at the recreation center, she said.

"I've been doing it 8 years with my wife," Gilbert Goedhart said. "It's a stress reliever. We both enjoy it."

The workout also provides weight control, he said.

"I have been married 30 years and am within three pounds of the day I got married," Goedhart said.

During the course of the class, students kick up their legs, do air-punching exercises and even run from one end of the gymnasium to the other.

They also use thick plastic or rubber bands to do leg exercises and jump up and down as Mason calls out instructions.

Of course, she performs the same movements, too.

The class is open to people of all ages and included everyone from teens to the middle-aged.

Goedhart was the only man there Monday, but he did not seem to mind.

By the end, it appeared most participants were getting tired but seemed pleased with the results. Mason, on the other hand, remained full of energy and provided encouraging words as she walked out to help individual students.

This class runs through Feb. 18.

The Orland Recreation Center is at the end of Hambright Avenue behind Lely Aquatic Park.

It offers a wide variety of sports leagues and activities for children to adults.

For more information, call 865-1630.