The Sydney headhunter getting her kicks from high-intensity Muay Thai

Roxanne Calder is founder of the recruitment agency EST10. She lives in Sydney.

First memory of kickboxing?I hated group fitness – I was never into anything that involved music, coordination, mirrors and fancy gym wear. Until one Sunday morning in 2009, when I wandered into my local gym at the time, Bulldog Gym Balmain. The owner and trainer, Steve Guinane, encouraged me to try the kickboxing class. He handed me some smelly old gloves and told me to remove my shoes as the class was on tatami martial arts mats. That’s when it all started. AC/DC and similar high-intensity, relentless, bass-heavy music was playing. I didn’t have to dance, do aerobics or be in sync with the rest of the class. And the icing on the cake: after a week of huge stress, I could punch something. It felt great. I was addicted and never looked back.

Gift articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.