The Aches and Pains Have It

When I got to the gym, Mike was waiting by the gym door.  He hadn't been in for a long time.  He's now engaged, and plans to be married sometime next year. 

It was another evening that was light on people.  In addition to Mike, Eric, Donald, Jamil and St. Louis came in.  Alan didn't change out of his street clothes.  He had picked up a lawnmover a few days ago, and it messed with his back.  "I didn't think it was that heavy," he said, but sometimes, it's the things that happen we think are slight that end up hurting us. 

Both of my knees were bothering me, but I forced myself to jump rope for a couple of rounds. After church service yesterday, Yvonne asked if I was still boxing.  "Don't you have arthritis?" she inquired.  "Yeah, and sometimes I can't jump rope.  I have to substitute doing something else," I answered. 

During shadow boxing, I was doing my latest favorite combo:  two jabs to the body, then jab, right upstairs.  "Don't do that because you leave yourself wide open," Alan pointed out.  He was right.  My left hand down during the body shots left my left jaw open to hooks.  "I'd rather see you bend down and deliver a body shot with your right," Alan continued.  I tried that, and it worked.

Donald and I did interval training on a heavy bag, not long after I had done a couple of rounds and a half in the ring with Jamil.  I admit, I cheated a bit by throwing a lot of short uppercuts to the bag when it was my turn.  "You both have to punch like you normally do. . .throw the punches full out and straight," Alan told us.

Bobbing and weaving did a number on my right knee after awhile.  It went "ping!" at one point, and I was hopping around, trying to shake the pain away.  I found some natural remedies for arthritis online earlier today, but like natural meds tend to be, they were expensive.  I would like to try them at a later date, however. 

"My father told me thirty years ago that when I got older, boxing would take a toll on my body.  He was right," Alan said later as he was driving me home.  "The older I get, the more I'm realizing that's true, too," I said.  But boxing doesn't have an age limit.  There are folks older than me who regularly do a boxing workout, even if they don't spar or compete.  The sport has a magnetic draw for many.