03:57Elderly ladies in the Johannesburg suburb of Cosmo City have been honing their boxing skills at twice-weekly training sessions organised by former South African bodybuilder Claude Maphosa.
Footage captured on Tuesday shows the grannies doing pad and bag work, as well as exercise drills, as coaches assist the ladies with their training. An elderly lady in a wheelchair could be seen getting involved.
Volunteer coach Mthunzi Maphosa, whose father founded the initiative, said that the 'boxing grannies' programme began in 2013 to improve access to healthy activities for elderly women.
"Some of them came with arthritis, high blood pressure, you name all these diseases, that, or illness that caught yourself in your later stage. But our results are very very stunning, you can say, because some of them are no longer on medication. This benefits cardio, which is a heart cardiovascular. It also benefits bones, and it also benefits mental health," Maphosa explained.
He added that the training is free for all participants, with donations from young people supporting the initiative. Participants in their 60s and 70s are welcomed, while their oldest boxer is 86 years old.
"I like helping the elderly. I was raised by a gogo (granny) also. She had many, many challenges when she was raising me, so I didn’t know how to help her because I was young. So this is a great opportunity for me to pay all, I wanted to do for my granny," he added.
The oldest boxer in attendance, Constance Ngubane, explained that she benefits from the workouts and can cope with the load because she used to visit the gym twice a week.
"I had terrible high blood pressure. Now my high blood pressure is ok," she noted.
The grannies attend the two-hour boxing training sessions twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Float like a butterfly, sting like a... granny! Meet the South African oldies hitting up Cosmo City boxing gym
Elderly ladies in the Johannesburg suburb of Cosmo City have been honing their boxing skills at twice-weekly training sessions organised by former South African bodybuilder Claude Maphosa.
Footage captured on Tuesday shows the grannies doing pad and bag work, as well as exercise drills, as coaches assist the ladies with their training. An elderly lady in a wheelchair could be seen getting involved.
Volunteer coach Mthunzi Maphosa, whose father founded the initiative, said that the 'boxing grannies' programme began in 2013 to improve access to healthy activities for elderly women.
"Some of them came with arthritis, high blood pressure, you name all these diseases, that, or illness that caught yourself in your later stage. But our results are very very stunning, you can say, because some of them are no longer on medication. This benefits cardio, which is a heart cardiovascular. It also benefits bones, and it also benefits mental health," Maphosa explained.
He added that the training is free for all participants, with donations from young people supporting the initiative. Participants in their 60s and 70s are welcomed, while their oldest boxer is 86 years old.
"I like helping the elderly. I was raised by a gogo (granny) also. She had many, many challenges when she was raising me, so I didn’t know how to help her because I was young. So this is a great opportunity for me to pay all, I wanted to do for my granny," he added.
The oldest boxer in attendance, Constance Ngubane, explained that she benefits from the workouts and can cope with the load because she used to visit the gym twice a week.
"I had terrible high blood pressure. Now my high blood pressure is ok," she noted.
The grannies attend the two-hour boxing training sessions twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Elderly ladies in the Johannesburg suburb of Cosmo City have been honing their boxing skills at twice-weekly training sessions organised by former South African bodybuilder Claude Maphosa.
Footage captured on Tuesday shows the grannies doing pad and bag work, as well as exercise drills, as coaches assist the ladies with their training. An elderly lady in a wheelchair could be seen getting involved.
Volunteer coach Mthunzi Maphosa, whose father founded the initiative, said that the 'boxing grannies' programme began in 2013 to improve access to healthy activities for elderly women.
"Some of them came with arthritis, high blood pressure, you name all these diseases, that, or illness that caught yourself in your later stage. But our results are very very stunning, you can say, because some of them are no longer on medication. This benefits cardio, which is a heart cardiovascular. It also benefits bones, and it also benefits mental health," Maphosa explained.
He added that the training is free for all participants, with donations from young people supporting the initiative. Participants in their 60s and 70s are welcomed, while their oldest boxer is 86 years old.
"I like helping the elderly. I was raised by a gogo (granny) also. She had many, many challenges when she was raising me, so I didn’t know how to help her because I was young. So this is a great opportunity for me to pay all, I wanted to do for my granny," he added.
The oldest boxer in attendance, Constance Ngubane, explained that she benefits from the workouts and can cope with the load because she used to visit the gym twice a week.
"I had terrible high blood pressure. Now my high blood pressure is ok," she noted.
The grannies attend the two-hour boxing training sessions twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays.