The "Ping" In the Ring

St. Louis, who had been initially taught how to box by Colonel and Kenny, works the double end bag in the photo above.  There was the threat of rain -- and it is raining now -- but earlier in the evening, the weather was breezy and balmy.  For the first time this year, I wore shorts to the gym and no jacket or coat.

When Alan opened the gym, the only other person there outside of me was Mannan (Mohammad).  Alan remarked that he thought because of the nice weather, gym attendance would start slacking off.  Other than Mannan, St. Louis, and myself, there was Sarah, Amy, Gabriel, Walter, Colonel, and Lania.

The guys did not spar.  Sebastian was out due to some surgery he had.  Colonel's doctor told him to wait 30 days before attempting to spar again.  Walter was still recovering from a health issue.  Besides, now that the weather is warm, Walter will soon switch his workout to in-line skating until the fall.  Mannan's still working his way up to getting back to sparring again.  I guess Gabriel and St. Louis didn't feel like sparring.  So all the women, except for Lania, took turns in the ring.

The sisters went first, sparring a couple of rounds.

Then Sarah and I were in the ring.  I was dealing with my allergies acting up, plus I was moving slow.

This photo shows how long Sarah's reach is.  You see how her jab has connected with my head?  Now look at how short my return jab is.  I didn't have nothing on it.

The surprise of the night was when Amy and I sparred.  Amy usually does not spar with anyone other than Sarah.  Amy hits rather hard.  Just like with her sister, I had a hard time trying to get past a long arm reach.  Jabbing my way in on both sisters helped me get in some body shots.

Amy and I did one round.  I was chasing her around the ring, but she avoided most of my punches.

 Then Sarah and I did another round.  I tried left hooks, but I never time them correctly.  I was reading elsewhere on the Internet about what separates beginning boxers from advanced boxers.  One of the things mentioned was if a boxer had the ability to throw left hooks.  I guess I'm still at the beginning stages.

Right the beginning of the second round I did with Sarah, the familiar "ping!" started in my left knee.  I just pushed through it, but I moved more slowly than before.  Sarah clipped me in my right eye, and she got some good jabs in.  Alan noticed me limping afterwards, and he shook his head.  "Sarah really got you," he commented.

I'd like to recommend a book I've been reading called The Boxing Dictionary: "The language of the ring" by Jonn E. JaGazza.  It includes the meanings of words and phrases heard most in the boxing world.  I finally found out what "walking a man down" means.  It just means when one boxer pursues their opponent and eventually wears them out, both mentally and physically, with body and head shots.  Very entertaining reading, and a great reference for anyone who is interested in and/or participates in the sport.

Alan Spars Again

This picture is of Kevin's headgear.  Kevin hasn't been to the gym since around Christmas of 2011.  One of the last times I saw him, he asked me to keep this headgear in my locker, so I did.

Alan came in late.  The only other people around outside of the coach and I were Gabriel, Andres, Eric and Jackie (friends of Andres), and Igor.  Eric came in to specifically spar with Andres.  They had a rough sparring match, with both men (who are both heavyweights) taking rocking hits in their faces.  Eric said he hadn't sparred for a long, long time.  A few times, Eric had to stop to take deep breaths.  Jackie recorded the sparring.  I thought I had captured a few pictures of them with my camera, but I kept getting a "memory full" message.  Later, I would learn that there were some older pictures from February of this year that were still on the camera.

"I'll spar with you if you let me wear that headgear," Alan said, referring to the headgear in the photo above.  At first, I thought the coach was joking, but then I saw him pull a mouthpiece out of his bag.  Alan hadn't sparred in nearly a year, having told everyone that he was going to cool it because of an injury to his left eye that happened the last few times he sparred.  Before I could question if he was sure he wanted to spar, we were already in the ring.

The headgear did a good job of protecting his face and eyes.  I aimed punches there a few times during our four-round sparring session, and my gloves slid over the grill.  After being popped a few times, especially when my hands were down, I quickly remembered Alan's way of moving in the ring.  I was hitting air again, throwing punches when either a) Alan was not close enough to make an impact, and b) after Alan had already moved out of range.  I got backed up in the corners, but I would throw shots to the body, and try a few uppercuts.  I even grabbed his arm to hold him so I could deliver hooks to Alan's side with my other hand.  Yes, doing that move is illegal, and if a referee was there, I would have been warned about it.

Backing up into a corner again, I tripped over my own feet and fell.  By that time, Mannan (Mohammad) and Gabriel had stopped to watch what was going on.  "Are you okay?"  Mannan asked.  "Oh, yeah, I'm okay," I answered, as Alan helped me to my feet.  My left knee was much better today, but that fall set off another "ping!"  Fortunately, it subsided.  That time when we got into a clinch, I really let go with throwing hooks and uppercuts on the inside.  But Alan's longer reach and better experience still did me in.  A pop to my mouth rattled me, a pop to my mid-section shook me, and a hook to my right side caused me to stop and bend over.

Afterwards, Alan once again stated that he believes I hit him harder than I do anyone else with whom I spar. Mannan piped up with, "Hillari hits as hard as some dudes," echoing when Kenny told me some time ago that I hit hard for a female.  Alan wasn't crazy about some limited vision issues that the headgear creates, but overall, he thought the gear was okay.  "Thinking about sparring again, or was that just a one-time deal?" I asked.  "I'll talk to my eye doctor and show them that headgear, but I'll try it.  I'll start by sparring with people I'm heavier than" -- meaning myself and Sarah -- "before moving up to the guys again," Alan said.  "You're not going to tell Riva that you got me with that hook to the body. . . .she'll curse you out, Alan," I smiled.  "I'll tell her," Alan smiled.

Hmm. . ."Hogan's Heroes" is on the TV.  My father and I used to watch that show together when I was a toddler.  It also means that it's past 3:00 AM, and I need to spar with insomnia so I can go to sleep.

Refusing To Be Sidelined

Recognize the guy in the above picture?  It's Jack Palance who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in City Slickers (1991), a movie which also featured comedian Billy Crystal.  Did you know Palance had also been a professional boxer?  He fought under the name Jack Brazzo in the late 1930's.  His achievements in the ring included 15 victories and 12 knockouts.

I forgot the camera at home in my haste to hobble down to the gym.  Yeah, my left knee is still acting up.  It was fine when I woke up this morning.  Later in the day at work, I took a misstep as I went downstairs to check on cleaning supplies.  My knee went "Ping!" and I was back to being in pain again.  For a second, I thought to stay at home.  Alan told me that perhaps I should have.  "What am I going to do at home?" I said, typical of someone who's not a domestic type.

Vachel and Sarah were in attendance at the gym, but there was no way my knee was going to take all of the movement that sparring requires.  I shadow boxed, hit the heavy bags, and worked on the speed bag instead.

Amy sparred with Sarah.  She was pushing her sister back a lot with both fists.  Yet she did get in a few shots to Sarah's face.  Amy was turning away to avoid Sarah's punches; both Alan and I reminded her not to take her eyes off of her sister.

Vachel had the same problem I do whenever I spar with Sarah; trying to get around Sarah's long reach.   Vachel got frustrated. A few times during the action she just stopped and stood.  "What's wrong?" Alan asked the first time she stopped.  The both of us thought that perhaps Vachel had been hurt.  "I keep hitting air.  I hear you two telling me to get in close, but it's hard when she keeps hitting me in my 'effing face!" Vachel said.  Alan explained that she had to work her way in with jabs, then duck low and hand out body shots.  "I don't know how to do that," Vachel sighed.  She was concerned with coming in low with Sarah being able to still throw shots at her head.

Alan got into the ring briefly to show her what he meant.  Vachel was able to reach Sarah with some jabs, straight rights, and right hooks to the body after that.  However, she wasn't any less frustrated when their sparring session ended.  "I'm sorry for cursing.  But it was just so hard to get close to her!" she said.  I told Vachel how I always have to fight inside when Sarah and I spar.  I'm too short to do otherwise.  I explained to Vachel that while she may take some hits, she has to remember to keep her hands up going in.

Gabriel and Sebastian did some light sparring without headgear on.  Sebastian backed Gabriel up against the ropes.  For a minute, I thought Gabriel was going to flip backwards over the ropes and crash onto the floor. But his brother backed up a little, and Gabriel was able to slide out of the line of fire.  One of Sebastian's fingers was put out of joint during the last time he and Emmanuel sparred.  "It doesn't hurt, but my finger just feels numb.  It's going to be awhile before it gets better," he told me.

Doug was the only other person who showed up at the gym, making for a small crowd.

I wore a knee supporter to the gym.  It's still on as I type this.  If I thought it would fix my current knee issues, I'd wear the thing all night.  The pain killers I took before I went to the gym didn't do much help.  I had been drinking a honey and cinnamon concoction -- a recipe I got from Facebook -- for a few days.  It seemed to help for a minute, but then I was right back to being and feeling disabled.  As I put my sweatpants back on at the end of the evening, Alan observed, "Hillari, you can't even move your leg."  "I can barely bend my knee," I said.  Amy and Sarah noticed my limping around.  "This is just another part of getting old," I told them.  The constant problems with both knees, which seems to get worse as time goes by, is probably something I'm going to just have to live with for, well. . . .the rest of my life.

Another stab of pain happened as I was getting out of his car later.  The left side of that knee was hurting last week, now the right side is hurting.  I keep thinking there's fluid building up inside, too.  "Maybe you shouldn't come in on Wednesday," Alan said, looking very concerned.  "I hope there's not knee surgery in my future," I told Alan, but who knows?   I keep coming back to this: common sense would tell most to not go to the gym and to take a rest.  But I'm stubborn when it comes to being sidelined with injuries.  I just refuse to sit out.