City of Angels Boxing provides fitness alternative for students

With a huge mural of great fighters such as Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali, City of Angels Boxing is hard to miss. New to the USC area, but not to boxing, City of Angels opened a location in downtown L.A. just a few months ago. Just blocks from campus, it’s no wonder the gym has become a favorite of USC students — one look inside, and you’ll catch a sea of cardinal and gold USC shirts in the class and USC tags decorating the gym’s walls. Students aren’t the only ones to take note of the gym; City of Angels has developed quite the celebrity clientele. Actors, actresses and models have frequented the classes, and in its off hours, the location has become a set for photoshoots and music videos.

With the new semester starting and its attendance shooting through the roof, City of Angels has recently started a new schedule. The gym offers boxing classes Monday through Friday at noon, 6, 7 and 8 p.m., and Saturday at 10 a.m. and noon. It also just added a 6:30 a.m. class on Wednesdays during September.

The first class for new customers is free — including free wraps and gloves, which City of Angels usually rents for $1 and $3, respectively. Each class after is $20, with the gym offering a 10-class package for $150, and a monthly unlimited membership for $99 per month.

The gym is owned and run by Alex Brenes, also known as “The Costa Rican Warrior” or “The Freakin’ Costa Rican.” Brenes started teaching boxing 14 years ago in Florida, eventually developing a client list and starting his own gym, which went through several moves between Miami and the club’s current location on Hill Street. One step into the gym’s office, and it’s clear who runs the show — though it’s hard to miss Alex and his loud personality, it’s his wife Jesse who runs most of the gym’s day-to-day operations.

My first time at the gym I was nervous, to say the least. Though I sometimes boast of my “athletic potential,” I was worried I’d end up embarrassing myself with my lack of strength and noodle-like limbs. Either Jesse and Alex have gotten pretty good at identifying newbies or I wasn’t doing a very good job of hiding my anxiety because Jesse immediately called me out, asking if it was my first time. However, Jesse’s warm personality and welcome immediately put my fears to rest as she handed me the waiver and set me up with some wraps and gloves.

Each class at City of Angels is mixed with new faces, beginners and experienced boxers, with instructors adjusting the workout to account for different experience levels. The gym rotates through three instructors — Alex, Dawn and Zac — but Alex teaches the majority of the boxing classes.

I set my gloves down under a bag and prepared myself the best I could for Alex’s class, something that quickly became the most intense workout of my life. The hour-long class was pretty manageable at first: Alex begins every class with five to 10 minutes of stretching and warm-up exercises. Next, shadowboxing took a while for me to master. Alex took this time to go around the class, explaining the proper stance to newbies and helping other students perfect their form. He really emphasized the concepts of the power of punches coming from your core and moving your entire body with each punch. Simply punching with your hands or arms will cause you to tire quickly, but with the combination of a strong stance and twisting your whole body, you’ll be able to move faster and fight longer.

The high-intensity workout really started with the conditioning part of the class, during which students complete intervals on the bag, straight punches or combinations, and cardio exercises. On any given day, students can expect a combination of squats, jump squats, lunges, mountain climbing, pushups, planks or anything else Alex can think of. Sometimes, this would even incorporate weights, medicine balls or resistance bands. Each four-minute interval felt like an eternity, and water breaks like small slices of heaven.

Though my body wasn’t used to the exercise, I was so pumped up by the music and Alex’s jokes — Donald Trump is a common theme — that I pushed myself, trying to keep up with the class’ regulars. I was burned out enough from my first class that after the first 40 minutes I took advantage of the four-minute jump rope cool-down to take a seat and rest. The last five to 10 minutes of class concluded with ab exercises on the floor — by no means easy, but a welcome rest for my spaghetti limbs.

Alex wasn’t lying when he said I’d feel the burn, and as he says, boxing really is a total body workout. Like almost every student in the class (even the biggest, buffest guys and most experienced boxers), I left the gym dripping in sweat. Almost every part of my body was sore for five days after my first class; I worked muscles I didn’t even know I had, but I liked it. The class was absolutely brutal, but a total blast and a welcome departure from my usual workout. Though by no means did I feel ready for the ring after one class, learning how to properly perform jabs, hooks, uppercuts and combinations makes you train and feel like a real fighter without getting beat up like one. City of Angels stays true to their slogan: “Get fit, not hit.”

Jennifer Drysdale is a senior majoring in communication. Her column, “Gym Class Hero,” runs every Wednesday.