An Improvement In Punching

Chloe came in -- with Joe -- but other than that, none of the other women (Toya, Cynthia, Earleatha, Stacy) were present.  Chloe told me that she thinks she is experiencing some nerve damage in her left arm.  "I spar sometimes with an old man who's 65 years old.  He likes to hit me in the back of the head!  Maybe that caused it," she said.  I smiled, remembering a older man named Rocky (it's true) whom I did sparring drills with while I attended Degerberg Academy of Martial Arts.  He didn't pull punches, either.

I sparred with Carlos, who had already done several rounds with some of the other guys.  I did a combination where I jabbed to his body, then threw a jab and a right to his head.  "Nice!" Alan said, from the other side of the ropes.  Carlos stepped back and looked at me.  "Very nice," he commented.  The first round, I had a lot of energy.  I used a few of the other combinations that I have been practicing in the church's gym when I work out.  During the second round, my battery started running down, but I pushed myself to keep throwing some combinations instead of just one shots. 

Demond, who's originally from New York, asked me what I thought about Mayor Daley.  "The current one or his dad?" I asked.  Demond was amazed that the senior Daley had been in office for over two decades and that he remained mayor until he died a few days before Christmas in 1976.  "I went to school in Boston before I moved to Chicago.  New York and Boston are east coast, and Chicago is midwest. . .Chicago is real different from those two cities in terms of the politics," he said.  He asked did I think anyone had a chance in a mayoral election against Daley.  "It could be done, but they would have to have a lot of campaign money and a solid base of supporters in high places, even if they are a Democrat like Daley.  The Democractic Machine politics are still in place," I answered. 

Later, Carlos was attempting to do some interval training on the heavy bag.  "Ralphie can punch real fast when he does that, but I can't do it," he told Alan.  "I'm so tired of these young men talking about what they can't do," I said.  I was laughing while I said it.  Alan told Carlos he can, but he has to work his way up to it.  I was thinking the other day that I wish I had one of those interval timers at home.  Interval training is very good for building up stamina.  I have a half a mind to buy a regular standard timer like the one that's in the gym and store it at church for when I work out there.