DALLAS — More and more women are taking up boxing to get in shape or to get out pent-up anger. A new fight club in Dallas utilizes Muay Thai to help women who may be carrying some type of trauma release their emotions in a healthy way.
The 12-week program, offered by Kimiya International, uses alternate forms of therapy like yoga, boxing, and group counseling.
“When you equip women with the tools, that's one of the things that we actually work on is how to actually take a breath before reacting to a situation, and really providing women with the tools that they need to succeed in life and to make it past that trauma to come to a place of healing,” said Kimiya International founder and CEO Sana Syed. “Our first cohort results showed that we were able to see a positive impact with PTSD symptoms of depression, anxiety and self esteem.”
Dr. Sana Syed started the program in 2020 after realizing there was a gap in the types of trauma therapy programs offered in Dallas.
"Coming from a background where, you know, I’ve personally experienced trauma and grew up in a culture where almost every woman around me was impacted by some type of trauma and violence,” Syed said. “This is something that has been extremely important to me my entire life. "When we were looking at trauma therapy programs, we really saw this as an opportunity, as an, as a gap in what our community offers. Because when you look at the numbers, the funding is simply not there for mental health care. It's not there. And what we are trying to address in this program is access, affordability and negative stigma.”
Brenda Martinez is a graduate from the first group of women in Fight Club. She said traditional counseling methods weren’t helping, so her counselor encouraged her to try Fight Club, which pushed her out of her comfort zone.
“I came here because I wanted to feel different. I wanted to feel better, and I think boxing helped with that because I felt better about myself. I felt better about being able to follow the instructions and be able to push myself past my limits,” Martinez said. "I was able to push past my anger, push past myself and use that in boxing."
Instructor Hazel Quintans said Fight Club really focuses on rewiring the brain, centering the women, and allowing them to focus on the present, not their past trauma.
"Anytime trauma occurs, you have a disconnect between the mind and the body. And especially with women, the mind tends to go to one place, the body tends to go to the other,” Quintans said. "With the physical connection to the mind, there's a marriage that comes back together. The mind then becomes attached to the body. Then in this particular case, the good serotonins and chemicals start to build up in the body, and make the body feel really good, not to mention any type of aggression that might be pent-up is released.”
Hazel Quintans and her brother Joel Quintans are instructors for Fight Club, but also run Oak Cliff Aikikai, a martial arts school at Tyler Station in the Oak Cliff community. Hazel Quintans says she’s seen firsthand the transformation the women undergo during their time in Fight Club.
"The women were of course very emotional, very raw, so to speak. Not knowing what they were walking into. But we've seen from day one, raw emotion of being shy, sort of inward, versus week two, week three, week four, we've seen them blossom like butterflies. Then come graduation, it's as though they were just empowered. Empowered to take their own lives in their own hands,” Hazel Quintans said. "Taking the women who have just been through so much and have just been emotionally, mentally and physically broken. Broken with no competence whatsoever. And have just built a community that have[sic] allowed them to lift each other up, have allowed them to empower each other in order to go out there and have a better view of the world, you know, and no longer be the victim. So empowerment is the key to this particular program.”
Martinez says she was once full of anger, but thanks to the relationships formed at Fight Club and the ability to release her feelings through physical activity…she now knows the importance of self care.
“I was just walking around like a ticking time bomb. And so it was really hard for me to really relate to anybody because I was so mad,” Martinez said. “Boxing did something. It made me release that. And then having my cohorts with me, like helping me deal with stuff, like it was an amazing experience itself. I felt vulnerable coming here in the first place, but it paid off. Like I was able to work through my feelings and through my anger and I was able to get better, not just for me but for my kids.”
If you are ready and able to begin this new type of healing journey, Syed welcomes anyone to apply here. Fight Club tuition is $300 or $100/month and scholarships are available.