抖阴短视频

JEDDAH: Saudi female participation across the sporting landscape may be blossoming these days, but in many cases the seeds for the current success were sown decades ago.

Boxing and other martial arts have always been male-dominated sports globally, and across the Middle East and in 抖阴短视频.

But women in the Kingdom are becoming increasingly adept at breaking stereotypes and celebrating their own achievements in sports, and beyond.

Halah Al-Hamrani has been teaching boxing for 20 years and, in 2016, opened her first gym, Flagboxing, in Jeddah. Before the 2020 lockdown following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, she followed that up with a second center.

However, her journey as a boxing trainer began at her family home, as public gyms for women were rare.

Things have changed rapidly, according to Al-Hamrani, who has seen women鈥檚 participation in the sport rise by up to 70 percent in the last two decades.

But more recently, thanks to social media as well as social and cultural changes in the Kingdom, that there has been an explosion in the number of women lacing up their gloves.

鈥淲hen I first started training people, it was apparent that women were very much interested in combat sports,鈥� Al-Hamrani told Arab News. 鈥淚 started getting on social media in 2014, and that鈥檚 when I started to realize just how many women were interested.鈥�

She said that one reasons women sign up for boxing, beyond the fitness benefits, is that they find it therapeutic.

鈥淵ou get a lot of different reasons why people join, but most of the time it鈥檚 just that they have a lot of internal struggles that they want to let out when they come to the gym,鈥� said Al-Hamrani.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a way of letting out annoyances that have been going on in their life, punching it out.鈥�

From a health perspective, the trainer said that boxing鈥檚 physical benefits are holistic. 

鈥淚n general, boxing is a full body workout, you鈥檙e targeting a lot of the (upper body) muscles, but the legs are involved as well,鈥� she added. 鈥淵ou can reach your optimum shape and fitness levels, but you have to be very patient with the skill aspect of the sport in order to reach your goals.鈥�

Al-Hamrani鈥檚 classes benefit from the years of experience she has had tailoring specific routines and exercises for her female students.

鈥淚 do a 100 percent work skill and footwork right off the bat,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f you go to any other gym, they鈥檙e going to put you in front of a bag, have you punch the bag without understanding anything about the sport itself. It鈥檚 just to release whatever pressure you have, which is great.

鈥淔rom a fitness aspect, that鈥檚 fine, but at the same time, you have to develop better (technical) ability standing in front of the bag,鈥� Al-Hamrani added. 鈥淚f you want to burn more calories or you want to stay injury free, you cannot neglect the skill part of the sport.鈥�

More than 90 percent of the women who join her classes may not be looking to fight competitively, but she highlights the importance of body form and footwork nevertheless. 

鈥淭he better your skill, the better you鈥檒l be able to work, the more calories you鈥檙e going to shed and the fewer injuries you will develop,鈥� Al-Hamrani said.

With those good, long-term habits in the bag, it won鈥檛 be long before we see young female Saudi fighters making their mark competitively in the ring.