I took two Impact classes during my stay in California. The first one was an instructional session. For the first 50 minutes of the class, Billy had us practice kicking and punching techniques with the bag. During the last ten minutes, Billy put on music and gave us a taste of what a non-instructional Impact class would be like. We punched and kicked the bags with incredible speed as Billy pushed us to kick harder and punch faster. My arms were on fire and my legs began to feel like they were made of lead. I took at least a dozen water breaks. Half of the time, I wasn't even thirsty; I just needed to stop and catch my breath! Pacing myself during a workout has never been one of my strong points.

After class, I thought about the fact that those last ten minutes almost did me in and wondered if I should attempt a full hour of Impact. I considered not taking the class, thinking that it probably wouldn't be good publicity for the WTC if I died in the middle of a workout. I decided to take my chances and give it a try. After all, every trainer at the WTC is certified in CPR.

On the day of my final Impact class, I nervously headed downstairs to a small room on the bottom floor of the WTC. The first thing that I noticed when I walked into the room was how hot it was in there! It felt like a sauna! There was a rumor floating around that Billy sometimes turned on the heat to make the workout more difficult. Yikes! I couldn't imagine needing to make Impact any harder than it already was.

Billy began the workout with some stretching and ab work. Then he cranked up the music and we went at it, punching and kicking our bags for 45 minutes straight. The workout was grueling! Everyone in the class seemed to be worn out. He kept calling on us to tap into our spirits when we got tired. I tried to tap into mine, but it was 6:30am and my spirit hadn't had its morning cup of coffee yet.

More than once, Billy got after me for not punching hard or fast enough. At one point, I stopped during a set of punches. My arms ached and I was tired. I decided to get a drink of water before getting back into the workout. I had just gotten the lid off of my water bottle when Billy snatched it out of my hand, put the lid back on, and tossed it on to the floor. I stood there for a moment, dumbfounded, and then went back to my bag. Feeling picked on, I seriously considered leaving the class at that point.

I decided that there was no way I was going to let Billy Blanks see me quit! I mustered up the strength to finish the workout. Finally, after 15 minutes of sparring and working on technique, it was time to cool down and stretch.

During one of the stretches, Billy came over to me and corrected something that I was doing. I felt like kicking him, but I remembered that he was a seventh degree black belt, and decided that it probably wouldn't be a wise thing to do.

He must have sensed my anger because he looked at me and said, "You are going to go home and tell everyone that Billy Blanks was mean to you, aren't you?" I nodded in agreement. He smiled and said, "I hope you will tell people, `Billy Blanks pushed me'".

When class was over, I sat on the floor, trying to figure out why Billy had been so hard on me. I didn't understand why he took my water bottle out of my hand. I knew that there had to be some sort of reason for his actions, and that he wasn't just being mean, but I was too exhausted to try to figure it out.

Soon it was time for me to leave the World Training Center and catch a plane home. I found Billy upstairs and thanked him for the workouts. Billy gave me a hug good-bye. He must have sensed that I was still upset about the class because he said to me, "I was just trying to get you to push yourself, that's all I was trying to do. I wasn't just being mean." Then he gave me a little pat on the shoulder and said, "I just wanted you to push yourself. I want you to understand that." I nodded that I understood, even though at the time, I didn't. It wasn't until a few days later, after I had returned home, that I actually understood what Billy was trying to do by grabbing my water from me.

During the three classes I took with him, Billy must have noticed that every time I got frustrated by not being able to get a move down or started to feel "the burn" of my muscles working, I would reach for my water, thirsty or not. Getting water was my way of avoiding hard work.

It took me a while to understand what Billy meant when he said he wanted me to "push myself." I know he didn't mean to work out to the point of exhaustion or to ignore my body's signals. Billy would never want anyone to push him or herself to the point of getting hurt. I believe what he wanted was for me to push myself past the limitations that my mind has put on my body. I may have thought to myself that I couldn't possibly kick any higher that I was, or punch any harder. But how would I know that I couldn't do any better that I was unless I tried?

I have heard many people say that Billy Blanks really knows how to read people, and that he will never push anyone beyond what he thinks they can take. After my experiences with him, I knew this was true. Billy saw my potential, and he knew that I wasn't living up to it. He tried to make me see that, too.

My four days at the WTC were some of the most emotional days of my life. I learned so much about myself and what I am capable of accomplishing when I have the courage to push myself. It amazes me that, even to this day, I am not done experiencing my time spent with Billy. Every day I think of something new that he was trying to teach me, but I just didn't get at the time. So now, when someone asks me about my time working out with Billy Blanks, I don't tell them that Billy was mean to me. I tell them that Billy Blanks pushed me.