He boxing female in Spain it is booming. Something that a few years ago seemed like science fiction has become a reality: it is clear that contact sports are no longer (only) a thing for men. Professionalization, the emergence of new references and the multiple physical advantages that this sport provides have become the powerful fuel for this growth that has also gone hand in hand with the explosion of feminism and self-defense. “It’s not at all about instilling in them from a young age that they have to know how to defend themselves from possible attacks, but it is positive that they do activities that help them unload and feel strong and safe,” says Núria López, who months ago signed up her 10-year-old daughter years to ‘kick boxing’, one of the most powerful contact sports.
In fact, “security”, “discipline” either “self-demand” They are some of the terms most used among its practitioners when describing what this sport gives them. And the numbers are there. In gyms like Gym Fitness Prat in El Prat de Llobregat, for example, they claim that The number of adolescents and young people who come to train has tripled in the last year.
“Here we have detected that there is a certain contagion effect: when a girl tries and likes it, she usually encourages her friends to also sign up,” explains Julián González, teacher at this gym in Baix Llobregat where non-contact boxing is practiced. , one of the specialties with the most popularity among girls. The truth is that in federated boxing, the tip of the iceberg of this phenomenon, they also notice the ‘boom’. Between 2017 and 2022, the last year for which there is data, the number of federated women has increased by 50%, going from 2,059 to 3,107.
Greater visibility
Naila Esteve, 21 years old, has been practicing Muay Thai since she was 11 and has been able to observe from the front line the evolution of the female contact sport in Spain: “We are making ourselves known to the world in these modalities. There are new references and this raises greater interest in the topic.”
The young woman also emphasizes the importance of appearance of the ‘influencers’: “I recognize that despite not being very in favor, the appearance of new events like ‘La Velada’ give us more visibility. This whole phenomenon has emerged and has helped encourage people to practice these sports,” he says.
Being the only girl in the gym
At some point, many of these girls have had to enter a gym where the boys overwhelmingly won. Marta Monferrer, 24, knows the situation well: “Where I now practice boxing – Gimnasio Tren Ramírez – there are quite a few girls of all ages and I was very surprised by the youth that there was“. “There are always more men than women, but in this sense “I have never felt alone,” Explain. “Of course, already We are not afraid to practice sports considered masculine or to enter a gym full of boys and be the only woman,” she claims.
Monferrer, who admits that she would never have imagined that she would practice this sport, emphasizes how important boxing is for her both from a physical and mental point of view: “My practice It’s not just about self-defense.. In large part I signed up because it is a sport that brings me many benefits both in agility, cardio, resistance and strength, “he emphasizes.” helps to have a good mental health and it makes me feel better about myself. “She makes you forget about your problems,” adds the young woman, who corroborates that she in her gym “the women They do exactly the same activities as men“.
“You can hit inside, but not outside”
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One of the factors most closely linked to women’s practice of contact sports is self defense and wanting to work strengths and security personal. Maite Guijarro, 22, attests to this. “It’s always good to know how to defend yourself,” she says. Although we don’t practice situations that can happen to you on the street, I do. I feel a little safer thanks to this sport.” In this sense, Naila Esteve, who competes in the amateur category, emphasizes a rule of this sport: “The first thing they teach you in a gym is that you can hit inside but not outside.” “Everything you know You shouldn’t use it out there because you could hurt someone a lot,” he says.
What there is consensus among athletes is that the growth of women’s boxing has not yet reached its peak. “Maybe there are girls who don’t sign up because they think that only they will be in the gym, but it’s really the opposite,” says Maite Guijarro.