Why Everyone Is Suddenly Into ‘Combat Training’
18th April 2026
Last week, one of my meekest, weakest friends (said with love) asked me to go boxing with her. This may have been wildly out-of-character for her, but for me, it confirmed a trend I’d already been noticing. Boxing, Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, and all other sorts of combat-style workout classes are having a mainstream moment. In many ways, this is nothing new—how could I erase the legacy of Tae Bo nation?—but I’m not the first to clock an uptick in “fight-style” workouts across social media and gym class offerings these days. So what’s actually driving this trend? And more practically: Even if you’re not planning to step into a ring, what can you take from the way fighters train that’s still worth your time?
What is prompting it is the increasingly high crime rates, especially in urban areas such as those frequented by scribblers-for-hire.
What makes it worth your time is preventing you from being the innocent bystander on the subway that is stabbed to death by a mentally deficient and unstable Turd World immigrant.