The Ultimate Boxing Experience taught me comfort can be found in the most unexpected places, as there was something about those cushioned red gloves that made me feel right in my zone.
An 8am start on Saturday morning wasn't all that thrilling, but coach Stewart Mitchell's home at Bob's Cove looked more like a safe haven than a training venue.
That soon changed. Opening the garage door revealed a competition-sized ring along with some intimidating-looking gloves, punching bags and headgear.
I was quite prepared to throw the gloves on and belt away, but there were a few technical issues I had to learn first.
If you think boxing is for the brainless, you are mistaken.
There's more to think about than how hard it is to throw a right hook - the way you stand, walk, hold your hands and hold your chin in a ring is the difference between a successful round and a knockout blow.
So after walking around the ring like a crab for half an hour, I was finally ready to get those cherry red gloves on and have my very first sparring session.
I had the footwork of Muhammad Ali, the jab of Lennox Lewis and the anger of Mike Tyson.
That could be a small exaggeration, but coach Mitchell said I had picked it all up pretty quickly and at one stage I swear I could see fear in his eyes.
Mr Mitchell wasn't throwing any of his own back at me. You wouldn't be reading this if that were the case.
What makes the Ultimate Boxing Experience different from your regular gym boxing sessions is that Mr Mitchell treats each client as though they are training to compete.
"I want to treat the boxer as an amateur boxing pro," he said.
"Something else I noticed during my years coaching in the UK was that some people felt intimidated going to a boxing gym, surrounded by all these young fit men/women with mirrors everywhere," he said.
"If they could have been introduced slowly, individually, almost in an isolated facility, they would soon have realised that boxing is nothing but physical chess with tremendous focus and concentration required."
Right from the get-go at the Bob's Cove headquarters, you learn that technique is the most important thing and fitness and strength come second.
Although he wasn't dealing with a professional on this particular morning (I couldn't have been further from it), I felt I came out of the ring with a new-found respect for the sport.
Mr Mitchell wants to begin his twice-daily boxing classes at $20 per session in a group of six.
Each class will last an hour and a-half, taking clients through the technique of boxing and giving good quality training.
One-on-one training sessions were also an option, at $35 each, and Mr Mitchell said he would like to bring in couples, and also business groups for team-bonding exercises.
