Theresa Byrne, a 4th‑degree black belt and self‑defense instructor, leads a solo 11‑minute movement session designed for office or home settings. She begins with a gentle boxing‑style warm‑up, encouraging participants to adjust the range of motion for shoulder issues. The routine progresses through elbow‑strike drills (including upward elbows and variations from Krav Maga), cross‑body motions, hip circles, and a series of boxing combos that integrate jabs, crosses, front snap kicks, and knee strikes, all paired with breath cues and mental visualisation of releasing stress or anxiety. Theresa then introduces hammer‑fist strikes aimed at the groin, emphasizing control and empowerment. The session concludes with a “stir the pot” shoulder/neck rotation, seated chair shoulder raises, and a brief gratitude moment, reinforcing the theme of reclaiming personal power through movement and mindful breathing.
Chapters
Hi there! Thank you so much for joining me, and if you are joining me, let me know that you're here. I'm going to do some movement, some simple stuff that you can use in your office. If you have a chair, just move it off to the side. My name is Theresa. I'm a 4th degree black belt, also a self-defense instructor, boxing, and kickboxing instructor. So we're just going to start nice and easy, working some range of motion. And arms coming forward. Nice boxing warmup. Really, the goal is just to get some movement in your body. Breathe. And now take your arms back. If you've got shoulder issues or tight shoulders, do a single arm. Totally fine. Still the same range of motion, and it's good for you. So you decide, single or double. It's all up to you. Excellent. Now what we're going to do, you're going to take a slight A centered stance, hands are nice and light, and you're just gonna cross your body, and you're going to take a punch to the opposite shoulder. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. 4, 3, 2, and 1. We're gonna turn these into elbow strikes, so you're gonna rotate, elbow. Elbow, elbow, elbow. When we don't feel like there's anything we can control, it's really important to find things we can control. For the next few minutes, you can control your body. You can control what you're doing. And breathe. 4, 3, 2— I love an elbow strike— and 1. The purpose of an elbow strike is really you're aiming with this part of your elbow, and you would be striking across Someone's face if you were in danger, or you could aim for lower. You can also do an upward elbow, which— let's do some of those. Up, up, up, up. Takes a little bit more coordination, but you're still working on opening up those shoulders. Upward elbow, upward elbow, upward elbow, upward elbow. I think in Krav Maga we teach that there are 7 different ways of doing an elbow strike. There's probably more than that, I would say. 4 more. 3, 2, and 1. Nice. Now we're gonna do a little cross-body motion. You're gonna take your hand and cross your knee. If you've got good flexibility and your back isn't tight, you might be able to get your elbow to your knee, or your forearm. It's all good. Breathe, breathe, breathe, breathe, breathe. Remember, you're just taking back some of your power. And right now that happens to be using some martial arts, boxing. Breathe. 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. Good. Hip circles. Get range of motion in your lower back, in your hips. Breathing in, and switch direction. Other way. And we'll do some light stretches as well at the end. And if you have a chair near you, we'll use your chair. So, uh, first thing I want to do is you're going to step forward with your left foot and you're just going to throw a jab and a cross. Jab, cross, jab, cross. And you move your body, tighten your abs as you're coming across. Boom, boom, boom, boom. Boom, boom, boom, boom. Boom! Noises are optional. Breathing. Pop! Anything in your world bugging you, anything that is upsetting you, imagine punching it, punching it, punching it, punching it, punching it. And we're gonna take these fast, and fast is whatever it looks like for you. Punch, punch, punch, punch. Feel those muscles extending. Feel your muscles contracting, extending. 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. Awesome job. You're gonna keep that same stance. We're gonna throw a jab, which is your front hand, a cross, which is your back hand, and a back leg front kick. Jab, cross, kick. Jab, cross, kick. Jab, cross, kick. And the kick just is a front snap kick, and it's like you are stepping in something gross and you're just swinging it off your toes. Nice. And if the kick is too hard or your hamstrings are too tight, just do a back knee. Jab, cross, knee. It's up to you, whichever one you want to do. Boom, boom, kick. Now we've done this a few times, now we're going to do it a little bit faster, or keep it that speed. Kick, punch, punch, kick, punch, punch, kick, or punch, punch, knee, punch, punch, whatever. Punch, punch, knee. Knee strike is often used in close combat, aiming for the groin or the head. Front kick, a little bit more long range of a— not a missile, but a weapon. 3 more, 2, last one. Nice, shake it off. We're gonna go with the other side lead now. Jab, cross, right leg lead, punch, punch. Jab is whatever is closest to your target. Jab, cross, jab, cross. And it's considered the fast punch, faster punch, fastest punch. And a cross is a power punch because you're using your hips, your back, your lower body. And we're gonna start speeding this up. Make sure you're taking your breath in. We're breathing out whatever doesn't work anymore. If it's anxiety, stress, worry, inhale and exhale. And let's take this faster. And fast is whatever fast is for you. My guess is that you're probably alone. If you're not alone, that's okay. Who cares what anybody else thinks? I'm pretty sure my neighbors might think I'm insane, but they know I teach martial arts, so they're okay. Inhale, exhale, move. Let your body flow. Pop, pop, whatever you need to fight back with, whatever is bothering you, whatever is stressing you out, imagine that you're punching it. Pop, pop, pop, pop. 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Now we're gonna add a back leg motion to that. Jab, which is front hand, cross, back hand, and you can do a knee or a kick. 1, 2, something, whichever. Jab, cross, front kick. You're basically throwing your Foot out there, you're bringing your knee up, it's called the chamber, and then throwing your foot out there like you stepped in something gross and you were trying to flick it off. Boom! And the target area, if you were using it for target, would be towards someone's face, someone's groin. That wouldn't be very nice, but that's what we use it for. If a kick is not working for you today, you can also just do a knee strike. Jab, cross, knee. Still a good move. Now we're gonna speed these up. 1, 2, bam. 1, 2, bam. 1, 2, bam. 1, 2, bam. 1, 2, bam. And as easy as you think it is to do these moves, imagine doing them and counting and talking. Exhale. And I need these little mini workouts as much as the next person, because we can only take our power back when we stand up, when we take it, when we control something, and when we get in action. 4 more, 3, 2, last one. Nice. Alright, the last move we're gonna do is also one of my favorite punches. It's called the hammer fist. And you're using this part of your arm, your hammer, almost like you were hammering down on something. But the only difference— one of my friends loved the fact that we were doing groin strikes the other day. So you're taking that hammer, and you're using your arms to stop the motion to the side. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Groin, groin. Whew, whew. Exhale, exhale. Good, we're gonna speed these up. 4, 3, 2, 1, go! Boom, boom, boom, hammer, hammer, and you're aiming for the groin on a target. You can also do these higher, but for today we're going groin. Boom, boom, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. Nice work! Alright, the last thing that I'm going to do, we're going to do a little stretch called stir the pot. So you're going to lean over, and you're just going to circle your arm. This is great for your shoulder, great for your neck, and switch directions. Breathing in, exhaling if your back is tight, your neck, your shoulders are tight, it's a great exercise. It's the only pot I recommend stirring. You just drop, let your arm hang straight down, and rotate it, and switch directions as you inhale, and exhale. And if you have a chair nearby you, we're going to do a seated chair move. If you don't have a chair, that's okay, you can do these standing up. So what we're going to do is raise our shoulders up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down. Good. Now I want you to just rotate. And if you're doing these without the chair, you would just be standing and rotating. If you have a chair, see if you can grab onto the arm and rotate other direction. Good. Nice. Go ahead and grab on behind you. Open up your chest. These are stretches you can do at home, in your office during the day. Inhale, exhale. Go ahead and bring your arms up. Give yourself just that second of gratitude. I'm very grateful that you were here to join me. Thank you so much. I hope you get some movement in your day and take back your power.
