If you’d told me at the start of 2024 that I’d take up boxing, it wouldn’t have even made the bingo card. I would have laughed at you as I never once in my life every contemplated that. I’d had enough of combat hobbies getting whacked by grown adults when my dad forced me to learn kendo as a kid.
And yet here I am. To be precise, it’s VR boxing: headset on, gloves tracked, and opponents matched online. It actually feels stunningly close to the real thing, or what I assume is the real thing if I’d actually stepped in a ring before. The ducking, weaving, striking, all compressed into the tiny 4×3 meter space in my living room, delivers the kind of high-intensity cardio I’d never imagined I’d look forward to. I know, it still sounds a little ridiculous and more than a little weird.
But here’s the reality. Sometimes I find myself wide awake after the rest of the family is asleep. The weight of future responsibilities, current deliverables, and the clouds of the past come all at once sometimes. So I put on the headset, spar a few rounds, and end up collapsed on the sofa, drenched in sweat and somewhat at peace.
Does it help? Without a doubt. The headset isn’t cheap, but I convinced myself a single doctors visit costs more. And for someone who never quite gets a runners high, doesn’t have time for regular visits to outrageously expensive Bay Area gyms, and lives in a small condo with limited space, this is the closest thing to a godsend. It saves me monthly gym fees and I even find myself browsing the game’s subreddit more than I’d like to admit.
Not surprisingly, the whole experience brings back memories of my middle school kendo classes. Did you know you actually can smell the sharp scent of burning bamboo when strikes land on your helm during sparring? Grown adults at the dojang showed zero mercy. At the time, I didn’t understand it, but now? Maybe they were just trying to shake off the stressors of their own lives, just like I’m doing now.
Anyway, I’ll probably get a few more rounds in before winding down for the night and preparing for morning meetings. And to the developers who built this game: thank you. You created something incredible, and are improving the physical and mental health of many, many, people.
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