REGULAR readers may recall my experiences at a Thai-boxing class a couple of months ago.

This week I decided to delve deeper into the world of kick-boxing at Nigel Ashton's invitation.

Nigel, 28, runs Elite Thai Kick Boxing at Wordsworth Street in Bolton.

He promised me a kick-boxing workout -- with a difference.

From the outside, the gym looks like most martial arts centres, but once inside there's no hint of the rough and ready sweat shops I've visited up and down the country.

There are lots of places you can go to learn Thai kick-boxing but this gym is something of a kick-boxing mecca.

Sophisticated

It's immediately obvious that Nigel Ashton's "play to win" approach to his sport also applies to his business activities as one look around the well-equipped, colour co-ordinated gym or a peek at his sophisticated and very informative website confirms.

Nigel's philosophy is that if you're going to do anything at all you should do it well.

That's one of the reasons that there are never more than four people in classes at Elite, and much of the tuition is on a one-to-one basis.

Nigel, who was the first in the North to specialise in this kind of training full-time, usually offers newcomers two free 30-minute trial sessions before they have to make any decisions about joining as members.

As time is short in this job, he offered me a one hour class, and if anything, I was worried I may not last out with such intense scrutiny on my efforts.

Nigel was to be my instructor while instructor Sean Fogg, 26, would be my partner.

Once changed, Nigel explained that we were aiming for good technique rather than explosive power initially to avoid risk of injury.

After a thorough and enoyable warm-up we did some basic techniques.

I was worried that I wasn't going to be able to punch properly but after an initial explanation of the technique involved I quickly began to improve.

Next came the hook, which was more difficult, then different types of kicks.

Once Nigel was satisfied with my punching and kicking actions we slowly built up through simple combinations, then tried these on the move, and eventually moved on to a full combination to improve co-ordination.

Thai kick-boxing places great demands on upper and lower body-strength as well as flexibility, stamina, balance and co-ordination.

Nigel Ashton believes you will never experience such a thorough total-body workout, and he's not exaggerating.

He explained that each of his clients has different reasons for taking up the sport, ranging from weight loss and general fitness to self-defence, professional competition and even stress management.

Tension

I found the punching and kicking raised my spirits.

But I'm no frustrated fighter, this is simply because the stresses and strains of everyday living are stored in the body as muscle tension.

These actions give you a kinetic release that burns up the fuels of the stress response (glucose and fatty acids) that I, and thousands like me, accumulate in a normal busy week.

As the lesson progressed I gained confidence and began to feel like Buffy the vampire slayer ready to take on all-comers.

But Nigel explained that it takes years of dedication to become a master of the sport so I may not be ready for the international fighting stage just yet.

But with sustained commitment and effort I could see that training in this way will produce obvious benefits.

You may not gain the flexibility of a cat but you will discover a new level of suppleness.

I reckon, too, that you'd become a dab hand at staying cool in a crisis, as well as untapping strength and power you thought only other people could have.

Before the end of the class Nigel was keen to show me a couple of simple but very effective techniques that I hope I will never have to use in attack situations.

He said:"You can't predict how a person will react until they are thrown into situation, but you can give them the training and the skills to stand a fighting chance."

I realised that you don't necessarily have to be strong to fend off an attacker, nifty techniques like these would give anyone a better chance in an attack situation.

Despite his thriving business Nigel isn't one to rest on his laurels and although he hasn't fought in competition since he broke his knee in a fall in 1996, he is now back in fight-training.

He hopes to be in the ring against an opponent locally in August of this year, and he is particularly eager to go on to fight in Japan and France after that.

Notwithstanding all his achievements to date, I got the impression that Nigel's defining moment is yet to come . . .

As for me, I left the gym with my head held high, a spring in my step -- and I slept like a baby that night.

For more information about Elite Thai Kick-Boxing telephone 01204-493563 or visit their website on www.elitekickboxing.com

RATINGS

Cardiovascular ****

Flexibility ****

Strength ****

Endurance ****

Fun ***

Feelgood *****