By Courtney Oldwyn

Journal reporter

Rap music is blasting in the Friday Harbor Youth Boxing gym and instructor Booboo James is in the boxing ring teaching her student a combination “Right, right, left, uppercut,” she hollers. “Just a few more seconds, you’re almost done. Okay, well, maybe not really. But close.”

These are not amateur boxers, not young men throwing punches but high school girls with swinging ponytails and hot pink boxing gloves.

“I started this high school girl’s boxing class because I wanted to get those girls who maybe don’t do team sports, who don’t work out and show them ‘you can do this,’ and show them they’re strong. And to make them feel empowered really,” said James who started the class last October after having taught women’s classes over the summer and into the fall.

James’ daughter Julia Keane, 15, a sophomore at Friday Harbor High School, was never involved in school sports but over the winter began taking a few of her mom’s boxing classes.

“My first class, being with other women, and having that experience of being involved in something powerful really kept me going,” said Julia. “I’ve never really been interested in school sports. I felt like that was something that never called out to me. Boxing is different, I think, for someone who doesn’t want to do team sports. In boxing, you get what effort you put into it, and you can put 100 percent or 20 percent. It’s up to you,”

Others, like Beatrice Grauman-Boss, 17, a junior at Spring Street International School was looking for a post-soccer season workout when she saw fliers about the high school girl’s boxing class. “I was a little worried I’d embarrass myself since I’d never done anything like it before. After the first class I was no longer worried about that because the environment is so wonderful. Everyone just does their own thing. We all look gross, we all smell terrible, but we’re all feeling absolutely fantastic by the end of the class!” said Grauman-Boss.

James knew there was an under culture of young women who don’t consider themselves “athletes” but would still benefit from a class like this.

“I want those girls who may not be very confident in that way to feel good about themselves. They can learn a combination in the ring and they come out feeling so strong. I’ve had a parent whose kid doesn’t want to play softball or basketball, come to me and say ‘Thank you’,” said James.

The gym is tucked away in a cement floored building behind Larry’s Auto Body in Friday Harbor. “There are no windows, it’s private. Nobody cares what you wear. I want it to be a safe haven of sorts. I play really loud and kind of ‘inappropriate’ music really, and the kids are actually comfortable in that environment,” said James. “There’s none of that insecurity about what you can do. When you’re punching away on a bag you have no idea how many pushups someone else is doing.”

James sets up the 45 minute class in circuit training format: 1 minute at each punching bag doing a different combination at each one, then “something horrible” as James says, in between, like wide armed pushups or jump squats. “They’ve been very sore, but they keep coming back,” said James.

Sometimes James has the girls partner up and they take turns between bag work and other exercises such as twisting crunches while holding a weighted ball.

The partnering is building relationships between young women who otherwise may never have become friends, one of the things James is most proud of.

“I have girls from Spring Street (International School) partnering with girls from the high school. Girls who play sports and girls who never work out. They do a lot of groaning but at the end they’re all very ‘Woo-hoo!’ and there is a sense of them being a team. They just feel strong and good about themselves,” said James.

“I think the team aspect isn’t really lost in boxing. Yes, you rely on yourself, but we all encourage and help each other out which I think is really important,” said Julia.

“We don’t talk much in class, but we do become familiar in a way that usually only comes after a long time of knowing someone,” adds Grauman-Boss

The girl’s class is $20 per month for the twice weekly classes but James makes it clear it’s not about the money. “I would never turn anyone away due to lack of finances,” she said.

The women’s classes, of which James currently teaches eight per week, help pay the rent, fund the high school girl’s classes and any left over profit goes back to the gym. “I don’t get paid a penny, and it’s obviously not paying for the heat!” said James, referring to the warehouse’s cold temperature.

“This class is perfect for young women. Not only are we learning self defense, but I think it makes us more confident. We know our limits and we know how to push those limits. We can throw a punch. We can lift that weight just one more time. This is something that I believe everyone should know about themselves,” says Grauman-Boss.

“I just really want to make these girls feel empowered. They come out of the ring and they’ve got their gloves on and they, frankly, feel like bad asses,” said James.

The high school girls after school boxing class is every Tuesday and Thursday at 3:15 p.m. – 4 p.m. at the Friday Harbor Youth Boxing Gym located behind Larry’s Auto Body, 301 Tucker Ave. in Friday Harbor.

Women’s classes are mornings, Monday thru Friday and are open to all ages and levels of experience.

To sign-up or donate call Booboo James at (360)640-4506 or email at bossyoldcow@hotmail.com.

Contributed Photo / Casey Sjogren