Sister Sparring

I was on my way to the gym, when I saw two of my neighbors, Eric and Michael.  They walked down to the field house with me, but Michael didn't want to go inside.  Eric was curious about the gym, so he came in.  "So this is your spot," he said.  I introduced him to Alan, who gave him some curious looks.  Later, the coach asked, "Is that guy a little wacky?"  "Yeah, but in a good way," I answered.  I told him that Eric is a bodybuilder who is always giving me free passes to XSport Gym, where he trains.  "He looks like he lifts weights," Alan commented.  Eric walked into the field house with no shoes on, and his shirt off.

Amy sparred for the first time Wednesday night with her sister Sarah.  I got some of the action on video, but unfortunately, the battery in my camera went out.  I cursed to myself when I couldn't find any batteries in my gym bag, but here is what I got:

Amy told me that her arms got very tired after awhile, and that she turned away from her sister perhaps a little too much.  I told her that she'd get used to holding her arms up after awhile.

I sparred with Sarah afterwards, and we had several good exchanges.  I mainly kept going for the body (despite Alan constantly telling me to go for her head and use my hooks), and Sarah mostly aimed for my head.  I pinned her arms to slow down the onslaught of punches; Alan called "Break!" several times during the three rounds we did.  The both of us were worn down at the end of the sparring session.  As Sarah and I stepped out of the ring, Professor -- who was going in the ring with Jacob -- commented, "I think a fight broke out!" 

Sarah and I were worn out.  She was sitting in a corner, and I was sitting in front of the lockers for a few rounds in order to regain strength.  Alan told Sarah that he doesn't give instructions to her while she's sparring because he knows she can't hear it through the headgear and other noise in the room.  Sarah is hearing-impaired, and she wears hearing aids.  "I was wondering if you were giving Hillari instructions," she said to him.  "All the time, but Hillari listens to me sometimes, and sometimes she doesn't," he said, which is true.  Alan told Sarah that she has a good height advantage over me. 

Ray took on Oscar first in sparring, then Jesus.  Oscar was floating jabs towards Ray that connected a majority of the time.  But Jesus acted as if he was nervous about hitting Ray.  Ray did not return punches, but encouraged Jesus to practice punches on him.  "Hit me hard.  I can take it!" he told Jesus. 

There was an injury that I didn't see first hand.  Professor took a hard hit to his mid-section from Jacob during the time they sparred.  By the time I turned around -- I was on one of the heavy bags -- Professor was down on one knee, trying to catch his breath.  "You can shake that off," Ray said.  "Beautiful punch.  It was perfect," Alan pointed out.  Professor was okay after a few moments. 

Jacob could have had a fight at Harrison Park tomorrow, but unfortunately, he has to work late.  Alan had one lined up for him.  As of right now, Kenny and Ray plan to fight at that boxing tournament if they can get matches.  Alan told me to bring my gear, but there's a big possibility that I won't get a fight.  I don't remember there being any female fighters at Harrison, but some may show up from other field houses.