Let's Go Light

When I first walked into the field house, I turned back to see Alan walking behind me.  "I heard a rumor," he smiled.  "What's that?" I asked.  "That Hillari is Jewish," he said, and we both chuckled.  Alan and I had gone to a service at a synagogue this past Saturday.  I had been to weddings in synagogues, but I had never been to one for a regular service, so Alan offered to take me to a service.  The service was held at a Reform synagogue, not the one where Alan normally goes.  He thought taking me to an Orthodox service right off the bat might have been too much for an introduction to a Jewish religious service.  I was surprised when I walked into the room and saw a neighbor of mine there.  She had told me she was Jewish, but she did not mention where she went to worship.  It was an interesting service, with the rabbi encouraging discussion about passages from Genesis 23, where Abraham buys a burial spot for his wife Sarah, who had recently passed away. After that service, which was held upstairs, Alan showed me the sanctuary that was on the first floor.  It was really nice looking.  There was a bar mitzvah service going on, and the place was filled with children. 
 
Leon came in tonight, and he ended up sparring with Kenny.  Not Kenny, Colonel's son, but Kenny who's in high school and who trains with Barry.  I hadn't seen Kenny for awhile.  He's become even taller than the last time I saw him.  I prayed that Leon wouldn't hurt Kenny, and he didn't.  They had a couple of rounds before Leon was tired out.

Kevin sparred with Oscar.  Kevin's not bad -- he just has to break the habits of a) keeping his hands down, b) crouching next to the ropes and waiting on his opponent to throw punches, and c) watching the time clock.  Oscar starts off slow, but when he gets going, he's gone.  Oscar got Kevin in the face several times.  "He really hits hard," Kevin commented afterwards.  Oscar was hunting Kevin down all over the ring.

Sarah and I sparred, but we agreed to go light.  However, there was one uppercut that shook my upper teeth.  Good thing my mouth was closed, and I was wearing a mouthpiece.  I was surprised that I wasn't exhausted at the end of the second round, but my energy was spent by the middle of the third round.  My chin was down like it was supposed to be, and for once, I kept my eyes on my opponent instead of closing my eyes and dropping my head.  Alan kept telling me to work my way in with the jab, and I did to decent effect.  But my throwing hooks wasn't effective at all.  Sarah's too tall, and I didn't time any of the hooks properly.  I went back to throwing jabs and hooks to the body, but not putting full force behind them. 

Leon said that he had recently been in a motorcycle accident.  His wrist was fractured when his bike flipped over.  Luckily for him, the accident wasn't worse than that.  "There's been a lot of hand injuries going on lately," I told him, thinking about Ray and Jacob's thumbs.