Ladies' Night

Amy, Brandy, myself, Melinda, and Sarah were in the gym Wednesday evening.  Outside of Alan, the only other guys were Igor (who left early as usual) and Tommy. 

A woman who planned to sign up for the Spring session in April was at the front desk when I came in.  Gilberto told me that he had showed her the gym the day before, probably when Barry and the youths were there.  She took another look and stayed around awhile to observe what went on.  Brandy and I gave her information about the class. I emphasized that sparring was an option, not a requirement.  I make a point of doing that especially when women come in, because most of them usually say they do not want to engage in contact.  She said she was only interested in the workout. Hopefully, she'll return in a few weeks. 

Alan sparred with Brandy for three rounds, and the coach was up to his usual tricks.  He backed her against the ropes and I called out to her, "Hold him!" so Brandy could slow down his momentum.  It's not easy, as Alan is taller (as are most of the men in the gym) than all of the women, and he has a longer reach.  He caught her with something, and one of her contacts fell out.  "Can you see without them?" I asked, and she shook her head no. 

I sparred with Brandy, Sarah, and Melinda for a total of five rounds.  I hadn't sparred for that many rounds in a long time.  The last time was with Keith, and it's been a few years since he was attending the gym on a regular basis.  Melinda said that she doesn't block shots to her body well, but I didn't get many in.  She would leap away most times when I tried to get them in.  Sarah and I went light for the most part.

My last round with Brandy was the third one we had together that night.  Alan kept admonishing her to keep her hands up and to throw her punches fully out and with force.  I threw a right hook that connected hard.  I could hear Tommy going, "Whoa!"  Brandy answered my hook with several hard straight punches and hooks.  "Now you're fighting back!" Alan told her.  Then the round turned into a mini war that lasted practically up until the last bell rang.  I got backed up into the ropes by a barrage of punches from Brandy.  After overcoming being overwhelmed for a moment, I came back with another series of hard hooks and an overhand right that got another surprised reaction out of Tommy.  Brandy kept coming forward with a never-ending flurry of straight punches.  The more I spar with Brandy, the more I feel confident that she will effectively take on her opponents at the Golden Gloves.