Invisible and silent armies, legions of women are kicking, punching, lifting, elbowing, grappling, and sweating their way across the mat, in the ring, or around the gym. From all backgrounds, ethnicities, and economic classes, we come from every corner of the world.
We are made of fire and heavy metals—broken glass, magnetic storms, and grit.
Try to pin down our ages and I’ll wager $20 you can’t. We might be in our twenties, thirties, forties, or beyond…but what does it matter? Regardless of who we are, what we do, or the shape of our bodies, we show up day in and day out to stay fit and tackle our demons.
Sitting Ringside is a new feature from Not Made of Glass. Every so often I’ll interview a female ‘fighter’ in order to take you outside my experience with boxing to showcase other, seemingly, “average” women who are heavily invested and engaged in combat sports.
In each clip, we’ll learn more about what fuels these quietly fierce females to hold their ground in male-dominated fields like Muay Thai, boxing, Jiu-jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Judo, Tae Kwon Do, and weightlifting. For women on the pro or amateur tracks, we’ll get to the heart of why they do it. As for the others, we will learn why a woman who has no intention of competing for a living agrees to take part in intense workouts. What reasons could she have for juggling her personal and professional commitments so she has a few hours every week to grind it out?
Whatever the reasons, each woman is committed to putting in the time and effort to achieve the goals she has set in her sights. Readying ourselves for battle, we step up and come out swinging. Ours is a subtle declaration, this is tribal warfare on a smaller scale.
We’re not going anywhere. It is time you see us.
Kindly sit back and salute our ferocious undertaking.
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NOT MADE OF GLASS 