Los Angeles, US - 16 May 2017
1. Mid of instructor punching bag to the beat of the music
2. Wide of two women punching the bag
3. Mid of woman punching bag
4. Pull out of woman punching bag
5. Mid of instructor punching bag to the beat
6. Mid of women punching bag
7. Wide of class doing cardio jumping jacks
8. Wide of women doing exercise move lunges
9. Wide exterior Box Union building
10. Wide interior lobby
11. Close of schedule card
12. UPSOUND: (English) instructor giving Mindfulness speech
"I want to set you a goal and a purpose, I want you to live in that goal, live in that purpose."
13. Close zoom out of co-founders Felicia Alexander and Todd-Waddler at the Box Union reception desk
14. SOUNDBITE: (English) Felicia Alexander and Todd Waddler, co-founders and co-owners BoxUnion
"Box Union is boxing reinvented. We're equal parts, mind body, music and boxing. We box to the beat of the music as the rhythm changes, the movement changes. We are basically a punch party filled with passionate people."
15. Wide of women punching bags
16. Pan of people doing leg exercises
17. Tilt down of people behind the punch bag
18. SOUNDBITE: (English) Felicia Alexander, co-founder and co-owner BoxUnion
"Most of the people walking through our doors are women. I'd say today we are 80% female, and three-fourths if not more, have never put on gloves in their lives and they're feeling leaving empowered, energized, enthusiastic and they all consistently say the time absolutely flew by and that was so much fun."
19. Wide of woman punching bag
20. Mid of woman punching bag
21. Mid over the shoulder of woman punching bag
22. SOUNDBITE (English) Todd Waddler, co-founder and co-owner BoxUnion
"We're really creative, what I call the space's meditative fitness. We're giving this unbelievable opportunity to work out your body and we do that through both the strength training that we do which is all body weight driven, cardio as well as boxing and in the boxing you're really getting a dynamic experience where you're also able to actually learn a skill. So as you progress, as you get better, you enjoy it, it becomes even more fun and more challenging but very importantly we focus on the mind."
23. Mid of woman punching bag
24. Close of woman's face while punching
25. Mid of woman punching bag
26. Wide of women punching bags
27. Close of Melissa Bowden taking part in Box Union class
28. SOUNDBITE (English) Melissa Bowden, Box Union devotee
"Music is everything. Everything. I kind of judge instructors by their music and so if I feel that I can box to the beat which these guys are pros and know how to bring it with the music and so I'm kind of dancing with my legs, boxing with my arms, singing along sometimes so it's always fun."
29. Close of Dana Kotler boxing in class
30. SOUNDBITE: (English) Dana Kotler, Box Union devotee
"Honestly, the music, it's so fast paced, the energy is so good in the class, I like the darkness of it because you're kind of in your own space and just getting it done and it's really for getting aggression out and its fun and the whole crowd crowd kind of moves together."
31. Close zoom out of Ellen Braun taking part in class
32. SOUNDBITE: (English) Ellen Braun, Box Union devotee
"I love coming here and just taking a moment to give thanks and reflecting, I love that. My body, I feel euphoric when I leave here and I don't with anything else. I'm just literally feel so good."
33. Low wide of woman punching bag
34. SOUNDBITE: (English) Kenneth Best, D.C., Sports and Holistic Chiropractic Center
"Well, I think that it's a really good idea that this class is combining cardio, speed, agility, hand eye coordination. It sounds like it's a fun class. I understand they do a good pre-warmup and a stretch afterwards which is great. I think with boxing you need to make a commitment to doing it more than once a week because it's a heavy program that's jarring on joints and when your body is just doing it once a week, it doesn't adapt and get used to it. Again, you also don't want to overdo it because you end up with things like tendinitis. It creates a lot of impact in the joints and the shoulders. The other thing to consider is to look at the stance. A lot of times they have a one fixed stance in boxing. You might want to change that up so that you keep balance in the body."
35. Wide of class
36. SOUNDBITE (English) Kenneth Best, D.C., Sports and Holistic Chiropractic Center, West Hollywood, California
"What I like about this program is that it brings in a holistic component combining the body, the mind, the spirit, which a lot of other exercise programs don't really and it's probably the first that I know of that combines it with boxing. It's bringing in the music and the spirituality and your energy to a hole other level that's opening up the chakras of the body which gets the energy flow going. It clears the mind. It gets you into a Zen space and you can take that away from the activity and take it into your home, take it into work."
37. Mid of instructor punching bag with woman
38. Wide of women punching bags
The beats are heavy, the space is dark and the exercise is relentless, but there is also a meditative side to this high energy boxing class.
This 45-minute heart-pounding class is still gentler than a normal boxing class, combining shadow boxing with heavy drills on the bag - with mindfulness and reflection.
The instructor is keen to take class members on a journey of reflection and empowerment.
"I want to set you a goal and a purpose, I want you to live in that goal, live in that purpose," he tells the class.
It's all part of a multi-sensory class that aims to bring together the mind, body, boxing and music.
As you box to the beat of the music, teachers talk about intention-setting goals and desires.
The class is being held at Box Union in Santa Monica, California, a progression from another fitness trend called SoulCycle which uses same motivational instructional element.
It's not just working out the arms, the session here is a well-rounded body workout with cardio, core work and plyometrics, which basically means exerting explosions of energy like jumping.
The idea though, is to be more focussed while you work up a sweat.
Felicia Alexander and Todd Waddler, co-founders and co-owners of BoxUnion say the class enhances strength and camaraderie with everyone connecting in a welcoming place.
"BoxUnion is boxing reinvented. We're equal parts, mind body, music and boxing. We box to the beat of the music as the rhythm changes, the movement changes. We are basically a punch party filled with passionate people," says Alexander.
With music pounding, and in sync to the tunes, the movements aim to be more mindful as students pound away to the beats in rhythm with other classmates.
Ten minutes before the session begins trainers review the basic punches with class members and ask each person to reflect before the lights are dimmed and the action begins.
With boutique fitness centers opening up quickly in recent years, Alexander and Waddler wanted to create something completely different.
They came up with a class that appealed to all and say the overwhelming majority of students have never put on boxing gloves in their life.
"Most of the people walking through our doors are women. I'd say today we are 80% female, and three-fourths if not more, have never put on gloves in their lives and they're feeling leaving empowered, energized, enthusiastic and they all consistently say the time absolutely flew by and that was so much fun," says Alexander.
Eighty per cent of Box Union's clients are female.
The punch bags here are filled with water making them easier on the joints than regular bags and the floors are heavily padded to absorb the impact in the lower body joints.
Waddler says the body and mind workouts are what is needed today because boxing has an aggressive intimidating association so they wanted to create something special.
"We're really creative, what I call the space is meditative fitness. We're giving this unbelievable opportunity to work out your body and we do that through both the strength training that we do which is all body weight driven, cardio as well as boxing and in the boxing you're really getting a dynamic experience where you're also able to actually learn a skill so as you progress, as you get better, you enjoy it, it becomes even more fun and more challenging but very importantly we focus on the mind," says Waddler.
Melissa Bowden says the group environment helps provide stress relief and the music takes it over the top.
"Music is everything. Everything. I kind of judge instructors by their music and so if I feel that I can box to the beat which these guys are pros and know how to bring it with the music and so I'm kind of dancing with my legs, boxing with my arms, singing along sometimes so it's always fun," says Bowden.
Dana Kotler says she's addicted to the classes and attends two to three times a week.
"Honestly, the music, it's so fast paced, the energy is so good in the class, I like the darkness of it because you're kind of in your own space and just getting it done and it's really for getting aggression out and its fun and the whole crowd crowd kind of moves together," she says.
Ellen Braun likes the fact that the exercise goes beyond boxing drills.
She says: "I love coming here and just taking a moment to give thanks and reflecting, I love that. My body, I feel euphoric when I leave here and I don't with anything else. I'm just literally feel so good."
Kenneth Best is a chiropratic doctor at Hollywood's Sports and Holistic Chiropractic Center.
According to Best there are no studies to show the boxing relieves stress, but it does release endorphins and helps improve mood.
Best is often asked to treat boxing workout injuries and warns about the importance of a proper warmup.
"Well, I think that it's a really good idea that this class is combining cardio, speed, agility, hand eye coordination. It sounds like it's a fun class. I understand they do a good pre-warmup and a stretch afterwards which is great. I think with boxing you need to make a commitment to doing it more than once a week because it's a heavy program that's jarring on joints and when your body is just doing it once a week, it doesn't adapt and get used to it. Again, you also don't want to it because you end up with things like tendinitis. It creates a lot of impact in the joints and the shoulders. The other thing to consider is to look at the stance. A lot of times they have a one fixed stance in boxing. You might want to change that up so that you keep balance in the body."
He says adding in the holistic empowerment element is a perfect combination for today's fast-paced world.
"What I like about this program is that it brings in a holistic component. Combining the body, the mind, the spirit, which a lot of other exercise programs don't really and it's probably the first that I know of that combines it with boxing. It's bringing in the music and the spirituality and your energy to a hole other level that's opening up the Chakras of the body which gets the energy flow going. It clears the mind. It gets you into a zen space and you can take that away from the activity and take it into your home, take it into work."
