Friday Night Crowd

I walked in the gym five minutes late and noticed a lot of new faces. "Ah", I thought, "the new fall session has started." One guy showed up with his wife and two little girls in tow. Maybe they wanted to see what was going on. If it becomes a regular habit, I'll have to wonder what's up. Two women also joined the class. I overheard one of them say that she was a grandmother. She sure didn't look old enough to be one. The other told me that she was a student. Coming to the gym on Friday night after a full amount of classes back to back was going to be a good outlet for her, she told me.

Meant to ask Coach early in the evening did he need help with the newcomers. He's glad to see them come in, but during this time of year, the boxing shows are going on. It's hard for him to take out time to instruct them when he has guys to shape up for upcoming matches. While he drove me home afterwards, he asked me to help with coaching the new people. Have to take it slow with them; they can't be taught everything at once. There will always be someone who wants to jump to uppercuts before they have mastered the left jab, but all of the lessons have to build upon the next one. This upcoming Wednesday, I will take them aside and continue the lesson on movement that Coach started yesterday.

The newcomers never stay for the entire class. After approximately twenty minutes of lesson time, they are turned loose to continue a workout. Some do, some stand around and wait to be told what to do. Fortunately, all of the boxers are very helpful and will demonstrate techniques to them. It was sparring night, and I notice two new guys just stopped everything to watch the more experienced guys in the ring. The look in their guys seemed to be one of "Man, that looks rough!" After the newcomers left, the rest of us remained in the gym for nearly another hour. Coach asked us who he thought would continue with the class. I think Youngster immediately said, "None of 'em!" I did overhear Grandma say as she was hitting the heavy bag, "If I had to do this for two minutes, I'd fall out." College Girl said she had her nose broken once, and wasn't eager to do it again. Neither of the ladies expressed an interest in sparring. Maybe it didn't help for me to say I had nearly been knocked out a couple of times while sparring (smile). Youngster might be right about the new folks, but time will tell.

I swear if Coach didn't put us out after awhile, we would be in the gym until 10 or 11 PM. All of us who were there for that extra hour were working hard. A good workout was had by all. I'm excited about next Friday's boxing show which will be held at our fieldhouse. I told the fieldhouse supervisor that I would sing the National Anthem again, and this time, remember the words. I sang before a fieldhouse event a few months ago that highlighted all of the programs that happen there, and I blanked out on the lyrics. It was embarrassing. Fortunately, some kids in the audience picked up where I dropped off. I remain grateful to them!