Jab, hook, kick: Fitness kickboxing at Riverview Martial Arts, South Portland

I’d like to think I’m a pacifist. That’s not to say I haven’t been guilty of throwing a tub of butter at my older brother’s head when we were kids or that I haven’t fantasized about giving a swift elbow to the chin to a few people who deserved it (…okay, maybe I have some work to do on the pacifist front). That said, it sure does feel good to punch and kick an inanimate object in a socially appropriate environment.

Fitness kickboxing at Riverview Martial Arts in South Portland. Shannon Bryan photo

At Riverview Martial Arts in South Portland, you can do a whole lot of socially appropriate kicking and punching during a fitness kickboxing class. You’ll also do pushups and ab work and squats and lunges, which means the sweat will be abundant and you’re certain to be spent by the end of the 55-minute class.

It feels good to punch and sweat. Shannon Bryan photo

Also, you’ll probably feel like a bit of a badass. (Wearing boxing gloves and sending a barrage of jabs, hooks, and uppercuts into a heavy bag has that effect, even if you’re brand new to kickboxing and those jabs, hooks, and uppercuts get decidedly less powerful as those 55 minutes go by, on account of your exhausted arms.)

Riverview isn’t new to South Portland – it has a decades-long history in the greater Portland area (including a former location on Ocean Street in Knightville and another location in Topsham), but they’ve moved to a new and more noticeable spot: the second floor of the former Maine National Guard Armory at 682 Broadway (the intersection just before getting on the Casco Bay Bridge).

View from the lobby at the new Riverview Martial Arts space in South Portland. Shannon Bryan photo

Kickboxing room at Riverview. Shannon Bryan photo

The new space looks sharp – two big areas for martial arts and kickboxing classes, a seating area (complete with zen garden), and changing rooms.

Concepts taught at Riverview, like leadership, respect, and patience, on the wall of the new space. Shannon Bryan photo

Zen garden, for your chilling out pleasure. Shannon Bryan photo

Kickboxing classes are offered 10 times a week, including 9-10 a.m. Monday through Friday, evening classes and Saturday classes. For parents of kids ages 3-5, you can sign the kids up for a Lil’ Dragons class from 9-10 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and you can take a fitness kickboxing class at the same time.

If you don’t already own boxing gloves, you’ll receive a pair when you sign up. Packages include 1 class a week for one month for $75, two classes a week for one month for $99, or unlimited classes for $129 a month.