Hitting Hard But Not Up

Carlos came in last night, but he was still battling a cold.  Adam had a cold, too.  It affected how the two sparred; they didn't do it for too long.

Plans were made for some of us to meet at Eckhert Park on Sunday to sign up for the Chicago Golden Gloves.  Carlos is in, as is John, and Jamil is planning to go.  I have to renew my coach's license; Alan is grandfathered in to the system.  Still no sign of Kevin, and it doesn't look like Ralphie is going to compete. JJ is being encouraged by the coaches he's working with now to sit out the Gloves and compete in other tournaments.

I told Pastor Roger I would miss church to go to the tournament registration.  "Playing hooky, huh?" he commented.  On Wednesday, during the regular mid-week lunch, I told people about being knocked down by John on Monday.  Paulette shook her head.   "Why would they have registration for the tournament on a Sunday?" she asked.  I guess weekends (plus having multiple places to sign up) are the best way to go to make sure everybody gets a chance to sign up.  It's not just people in the Chicago area.  Boxers from Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin show up for the tournament, too. 

I've noticed that every time JJ is in the gym, Alan has to get into the ring with him.  Whenever Nate Sr, is in the gym, he always wants to mix it up with JJ, too.  Both men appreciate JJ's style of boxing.  Alan and JJ went for a few rounds.

Alan and I sparred for two rounds.  There were too many times when I missed opportunities to get him with hooks.  "You hit hard," he said afterwards, "but you don't always go for the head. . .why?"  "I still think that I can't reach up easily because everyone is taller than I," I answered.  I noticed that I've gone back to pawing at incoming lefts and rights again, too.  "You have a lot of bad habits that we have to work on," Alan said.  "I know. . .I feel like I throw the same punches all the time without much variation," I agreed.