Breaking the first rule of Fight Club

Monday, seven in the evening, and we are at the door of an abandoned garage in Cais do Sodré. The night reaches inside, with just a few coloured LED lights to pierce the darkness. Within minutes we have a clean version of Fight Club (1999), minus the blood or Brad Pitt, with boxing gloves and a French accent. On the wall is written “Who the Fuck is Guilty”. “The idea is to sweat out the weekend’s tequila shots and start the week fresh!” says one of the founders of Guilty Mondays, a concept from the Who The Fuck is Henry collective. “Clean the body and clean the soul” continues the Frenchman who, like his accomplices, introduces himself only by nickname. There follows an hour and 15 minutes of exercise, with warm up, boxing techniques and cardio-boxing. Everyone pairs up when the music stops, and the only sound is the impact of the gloves against flesh. Gautier, the coach, gives advice, corrects postures, promotes enthusiasm. “At the end of class people are finished,” he says. The Guilty Mondays members are mostly women paying €15 per session. In the last month, training has moved to a new location, the old GNR base in Arroios. 

Quartel de Santa Bárbara (Arroios). €15/class, €60/pack 5 lessons, €100/pack 10 lessons. Instagram sign up @guilty.mondays

Every punch is a point, so it's easy to see the logic behind Bhout, a gym close to Campo Pequeno. There’s only one room, looking like a disco at first sight, complete with frenetic lights and loud music. The punch bags let you know nobody is about to hit the dancefloor. You hit with your hands and feet, but it's against the bag, designed from scratch with a sensor inside that measures performance with each punch. Two screens show the points accumulated by each participant. The idea is to compete with colleagues, but also individually, since there’s an app that keeps track of developments and the points scored in each class. During the week there are general classes and other classes that focus more on the upper or lower body. All memberships include a glove kit. A one-off workout costs €9.99 and fees start at €36/month for four workouts. In August, the company announced its “smart punch bag” will be on sale “soon”, but there is still no release date. 

Rua João Villaret, 11 (Lisbon). From €9.99. 

Kolmachine is the nickname of Pedro Kol, European kickboxing champion (K1 discipline, category -62 kg) and owner of Kolmachine, an academy focused on fighting sports. Besides the personalised workouts, there are six to seven classes per day: Kickboxing, Boxing, Angels (where, in addition to kickboxing, legs, buttocks and abs are trained) and Muay Thai. There is no lack of motivation judging by the 23 people already training at 7.30am. “Some say they have enough energy for the whole day.” Whether training inside the rings or outside, it’s always necessary to wear bandages, shin guards, gum shields and gloves. For those who come to try it out, the academy provides the materials, so you don't have to make a financial investment without first knowing if you're going to keep at it. Pedro assures us that people keep coming back. “Everyone has their frustrations and issues that build up, so this is a good place to let it all out. They don't think about work, they don't think about problems, they don't think about anything.” Or do they? Bob, a red torso, acts as a punching bag. “People like to think he's their boss (laughs).”

Av. João Crisóstomo, 51 (Lisbon). From €28/fortnight. €25/single class.

There’s a queue at the door for those who want to take part in another MMA class at 1Fight. “It's fashionable because of the UFC,” says Francisco Lagoa Marques, director of this club dedicated to combat sports. The twice-weekly classes are no longer enough to meet demand, so the club is to increase the number of its Mixed Martial Arts classes. The sport has become a global phenomenon, with stars of planetary dimensions. Despite the spectacle seen on TV, “it's not just about coming here and throwing punches,” says Henrique Pereira, the man in charge of the one-and-a-half hour classes attended mainly by men. “When there's any contact that could hurt the other person, everyone immediately stops. I don't want them to go around killing themselves here. They’re here to learn the techniques, which takes time,” he adds. Minutes later, he stiffens his posture (and speech) and corrects someone trying to throw a man to the mat. “I have a 0% dropout rate. It’s no contest.” Words of the master. 

Av. República, 42 (Lisbon). €69/month to include MMA