Don't ask me why... maybe I am just a glutton for punishment, but last night
(3/9/98) I decided to sit through one of the most annoying episodes of Ally McBeal.

Why did I watch this episode? Other than the fact that Jessee Martin (the original Tom Collins
from the musical RENT) was on this episode, it featured Ally and Georgia kickboxing.

Now, I have been boxing for the last 2 years at this pitiful gym called Gorilla Sports
(see my other rants)... so I feel that I have enough informaiton to rip this episode to
shreds.

The Gym
The McGym actually was the only thing in the episode that looked like a real boxing gym.

"I've been Kickboxing for 3 weeks..."
Ally asserts that she had been kickboxing for three weeks. The class that Ally was taking
is a martial arts aerobics class called "TaiBo" or "KwanDo". It does not teach you how to
box or kickbox, it is for aerobic exercise only.

"You're ready for intermediate sparring"
I have spent 2 years training... learning technique, defense... working on strength drills.
You are NEVER ready for sparring in only 3 weeks. You don't have enough control
over your punches to do this.

The actual sparring...
The match: When you start sparring, you want to spar against someone significantly better
than you so you can learn technique. If you put two first timers in the ring together, either
you will flail around for 2 minutes, or someone will get severely hurt because they were
not prepared .
The set up: Those headgear that they were wearing was NOT appropriate for full contact
sparring. A kick to the head would have left severe bruises.
More Equipement Problems: Why the hell were they not wearing a mouthguard?
A kick to the mouth and Ally would lose a few teeth.

What was that referee doing?!?
If in a match you ever push the referee, the match is over and you lose.
A gym owner could be sued for allowing something like that to happen.

--sigh--