Page 100 - 914INC - Q2 - 2013

By W. Dyer Halpern
club with a full-time chef, con-
cierge, etc., but it also has 4.1 miles
of race-grade asphalt. And hug-
ging that asphalt is extreme. Yes,
you can experience the seatbelt-
gripping thrust of a high-speed,
tire-screeching turn. Yes, you can
weave in and out of cones like the
“professional driver on a closed
course” who teases us all in car
ads. And yes, you can step on the
accelerator and hold it...and hold
it...and hold it—for between $35,000 and $125,000 up front, and a few more thousand per year, that is. But if the economy’s got you down (well, not that down), there are multiple experiences avail- able for the not yet committed. These include the $1,200 “Taste of the Track” with an instructor, full club access, and a high-speed driving session. It’s BYORC (bring your own race car), but, for $800, the club will lend you one of its cars, or the two-day “Radical Driving School,” featuring training on a Radical paddle-shifting, rail-hugging, 2.5-Gs reaching SR3 racecar for $4,900. Google “SR3.” Then drool. Corporate three-day outings are available, too. And while you’re up there, say hit to Jerry Seinfeld. Oh, did we forget to mention he’s a member?
KICK YOUR FRIEND’S BUTT
Westchester Fight Club, New Rochelle
“W
(clockwise from left): String a bow at Extreme Archery in Mamaroneck; take aim in a game of paintball at one of several locations; "hang" out midair with Fly High.
Rochelle that is the Westchester
Fight Club—that’s our instruc-
tor’s feedback after our first
punching and kicking session,
where yes, we got to whale on
some of our best friends. To quote
Andy Samberg’s Nicholas Cage
caricature on Saturday Night Live,
“That’s high praise!” For those
who don’t know, mixed martial
arts (“MMA”) is the current pop-
ular wave in sports combat. It’s
the foundation for the ultimate
fighting you see on TV (think
octagon, not square ring). At the
Westchester Fight Club, begin-
ners are provided a free consultation and then start in the “founda- tions program” where they learn just how to do it. Start with Muay Thai, where you learn how to fight standing up, and Brazilian jujitsu, where you learn how to grapple on the ground— taught by coaches, such as Mike “The Irish Machine” Stewart, who all compete themselves (and win!). Our Muay Thai class started with a wonderfully insane combination of jumping rope, squats, fast- paced music, and then, boxing gloves on our hands, a square pad in front of our friend’s chest, and the blissful high-speed contact of the two. Once students master the basics, the school adds in box- ing, wrestling, and mixed training, which teaches students how to put all their skills together, turning them into lean, only somewhat mean, fighting machines. And you’ll be in absolutely sick shape when you’re done.
ell, it didn’t make me want to puke.” No, that’s not our
commentary on the mixed martial arts temple in New
Photo of Extreme Archery by Adam Nunez
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We left saying: “Now, about that lifetime membership...”
We left saying: “We love our friends; but we can’t help loving kicking and punching them a little, too.”
Bring a friend: Only if you can afford it.
Fear factor: Medium. We were more dizzy than scared. But some of those turns had our hearts pounding.
Bring a friend: Yes, but class- es offer plenty of opportunity to make new friends.
Just do it: monticellomotor club.com, (877) 578-7223
Fear factor: Low/medium. You are going to get kicked and punched, but you should be more afraid of letting your- self down during the rope- jumping drills than anything else.
Just do it: westchesterfight club.com, (914) 355-2618
westchestermagazine.com