Two young women show uncommon strength in their will to train in wheelchair kickboxing.

Everyone encounters challenges in life of varying degrees of severity, intractability and injustice. Some may be fleeting and irritating; some may be so heavy they threaten to crush the spirit. But depending on the perspective and what is done with the challenge, they can also propel a person into places never before imagined. Like wheelchair kickboxing.

That is what’s happening at Greg Dow’s Ultimate Fitness Center in Pacific Grove, courtesy of two wheelchair-bound friends, Ania Flatau of P.G. and Maria Gast of Monterey.

Flatau’s always been athletic, swimming competitively from ages 5-13 despite the worsening of spina bifida symptoms. But as the disease claimed more of her mobility, she simply switched sports – basketball, rugby, soccer, finding those she could still play. Now 26, she does wheelchair basketball.

“And kickboxing,” she chuckles, maybe marveling at her latest conquest.

She only went to Greg Dow’s gym to motivate her mother into working out. Dow’s been training in martial arts for 49 years (with 11 sisters, he felt compelled to). But after Flatau tried the training herself, she was hooked.

“In the beginning I went because ‘Ha! I’m this powerful person in a wheelchair in a kickboxing class,’” she says. “But I felt good, refreshed in the morning. Punching the bag, you let go of stress.”

Dow’s had the gym, now numbering 250 students, on Forest Avenue for 14 years. He was surprised at first by Flatau’s participation. But not too surprised.

“I had a student who was blind in Fresno,” he says. “She did a [karate] tournament and nobody realized she was blind until I walked her [off the mat]. There was silence, and then applause.”

Dow, himself, has had both his hips replaced but still does all the martial arts exercises with his class, so he recognized that level of determination.

Gast, who is 21 years old, was confined to a wheelchair a little more than 2 years ago when a car accident injured her spine at the L-1 level, near the pelvis.

“Ania texted me and wanted to know if I wanted to do kickboxing,” says Gast. “I had the day off work so… ”

So she went. Just like that. And she loved it.

“It was an exhausting feeling I hadn’t had in a long time,” she says. “I enjoyed having that exhausting feeling, like something beat me up.”

That’s coming from a member of the Walk and Roll Dance Team, the nonprofit group of wheelchair dancers founded by Pacific Grove’s Chelsie Hill and her father, Jon, to raise awareness about drinking and driving, to inspire others and provide exercise facilities for people with paralysis.

“Greg knows we have limitations, but he pushes us to give it our all,” Gast says. “When we go somewhere, able-bodied people are scared and will turn [disabled people] away because they just don’t know. But [Greg] was very accepting.”

Kickbox exercises can be modified to be done with the arms rather than the legs, allowing people in wheelchairs to train. Flatau could do everything the other kickboxing students could do except the speed bag and lunges. The speed bag’s going to be modified soon, so even that won’t be out of reach.

“Being in a wheelchair and having to push around all day, even if you’re not an athlete, our arms are like an individual’s legs,” Gast says. “We’ve had to adapt to everything – driving, getting things off high shelves.”

The workout is one hour for the kickboxing class, but the friends don’t do the sparring portion. It’s two hours for the fitness flexibility class, which Flatau does mostly out of her wheelchair. But the challenges aren’t all physical. There are mental ones, too.

“For people in wheelchairs, getting out of bed and being motivated to start the day is a challenge,” Flatau says. “That first step – I think that’s something a lot of us struggle with.”

To overcome that she notes increases in energy, motivation, strength, flexibility, and a sense of unity.

“What will give me the same physical benefits as everybody else?” Flatau muses. “With kickboxing, I always leave sweaty, feeling the same way as everybody else. I feel included.”

Both women say the workout alleviates stress. Gast is planning her July wedding. Flatau is studying for finals at CSUMB. (She’s majoring in kinesiology, the study of the human body’s movement.) She hopes to become an occupational therapist, helping people with mobility issues.

“I’m learning about what a jab means, about [martial arts] terminology,” Flatau says. And she’s already looking to the future. “This morning I told my family I want to take a self-defense class now.”