Soldier Diva

Alan was telling Josh that he has to decide what he wants out of boxing.  He noticed me holding the pads for Josh earlier.  He suggested that Josh be more focused about executing punches.  Josh has to remember the the numbers of the punches, too, and that does take time.  It took me a minute to remember that one equals the left jab, and two equals the right, and so forth, when I first started.  "Hillari's a good trainer," Josh told Alan.

"She's always willing to spar.  I ask her each time if she's ready, and she always says 'yep'.  She's a soldier," Alan told him.  I have had a few  off nights where I didn't spar because I'm wasn't feeling well, or I was sore from the last sparring session.  But I'd rather spar most times when I'm in the gym.  Not long ago, I heard Alan saying that a person must spar in order to get the technique down.  That is especially true if one plans to compete.  I didn't spar often when Steve was running the gym.  I wasn't getting fights then, but now that I have been, I see the benefits of a good sparring session.  Each time I'm in the ring, I learn that I need to always be in the mode of improving. 

Evangelina and I had a good sparring session last night that lasted three and a half rounds (we started in the middle of the first round).  She got a few good clean rights to my face, and executed some other good combinations to my head.  I did get a right in, and a couple of hooks.  "Does she hit harder than Meg?" Alan asked, referring to the woman I had two fights with late last year.  "No, Meg hits harder," I answered, but Evangelina is no slouch in that department. 

Anthony showed off a pair of new gloves he brought from Ringside.  They gave him a good deal because of some discoloration on the gloves.  After using them to spar with Eric, he said the gloves felt good.

Jamil sparred with Ralphie, and kept getting caught in the corners.  Alan barked at Jamil not to do that, but it kept happening.  At one point, Alan threw up his hands in frustration.  I noticed blood on Jamil's shirt after that, but I couldn't tell who was bleeding.  Jamil joked that it was blood from Carlos (who didn't sign up for the summer session).  "Ralphie whipped me up," Jamil grinned.  

A look at the Park District boxing show schedule listed a show at Sheridan Park tonight, but Alan had plans for some of us to go to Garfield Park next week.  There aren't many women who fight out of that field house, from what I remember.  But I'm sure that a few of the guys can get matched up. 

"You gotta keep Wednesdays and Thursdays open," Paulette told me the other day when I said I wouldn't be attending the church's Family Nights (Vacation Bible School).  Thursdays are when the choir practices, although they aren't doing so now because it's summer.  Maybe, just maybe, I might consider going to Family Nights if it a) was scheduled on another night other than Wednesday and b) it wasn't inundated with kids.  When I miss time in the gym for various reasons (illness, church functions, school, etc.), I feel off that week.  It's true that boxing has an addictive quality to it.