I’ve got to tell you – it was awesome. I’m not a violent guy at all. The last time I was in a fight I was 11 and I’m pretty sure I lost. I’ve got no interest in boxing or martial arts or any of that palaver. But strapping on the gloves and going a couple of rounds with the heavy bag and punch pads just brought out an energy in me that I didn’t know was there. Not agression, it had nothing to do with anger or violence, just some primal male impulse to punch things.

After a half an hour or so, with wrists and shoulders throbbing, I made the decision to take up boxing as a hobby. Or karate. Or ultimate fighting. Anything that involved punching, really.

Later at the gym whilst running on the treadmilly I watched a news (i.e. factually inspired entertainment television) report on the Sea Shepherd ship ‘Steve Irwin’ that had docked in Western Australia. Sea Shepherd is a fringe environmental group that confronts whaling vessels and seeks to stop them from killing whales using whatever means necessary. They’ve rammed whaling ships, used lasers to blind sailors, scuttled ships in harbour, and destroyed nets. The group self-identifies as pirates and has been labeled as terrorists by Japanese whalers and Glenn Beck alike. They’ve been in the news down here recently because one of their boats was sunk off the southern coast of Australia by a Japanese whaling vessel.

I didn’t really have strong opinions about Sea Shepherd when I first heard about this latest incident. I don’t like whaling. I think it’s unconscionable in the 21st century. But I’m not a big fan of extremist tactics either and Sea Shepherd, with a vigour reminiscent of anti-abortion extremists, often put sailors and fisherman at risk of harm or death for the sake of saving a whale.

Maybe it was all the testosterone released by my boxing session, but I got a little hitch in my giddyup when they showed a still photo of the hull of the ‘Steve Irwin’ with flags documenting the ships that they had rammed or sunk I thought – good on them. Fight the whaling bastards. Governments around the world have been unable to stop the Japanese, Norwegians and Icelanders from whaling, so why not a group of environmental pirates. They even fly the skull and crossbones, who doesn’t love a dashing pirate?

I think I’ll even sign up for their next expedition. Maybe I’ll have a chance to use my newly obtained boxing skills on some Japanese whale slayer.

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A few hours later now, fully crashed from my endorphin high, I’m not so keen on Sea Shepherd. The anti-abortion extremist comparison is a good one, actually. Both groups think their cause is just. Both groups think their governments have failed them and thus they are justified in taking illegal and extreme action. Just because I like whales more than fetuses doesn’t make one group better than the other.

So, maybe I won’t be setting sail on the ‘Steve Irwin’.

And something I hadn’t considered about the whole boxing/karate/ultimate fighting idea is that I not only hit but get hit. This doesn’t sound nearly as much fun. So, maybe scratch the mortal combat as well.

But I’ll definitely be back at that heavy bag next time I go to the gym.

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Image credits:

Heavy bag

Sea Shepherd

Sea Shepherd 2