The Return of Reggie

In the photo above, Rich shows some technique to a friend of his whom he brought to the gym Wednesday evening.  Later, Jilberto commented about how athletic she looked.  She mentioned that she plays basketball.  I wished that I had her physique.  I often think about the days when I was a size five, and I was very petite.  But those days have passed by for me.

Mary opened the gym door because Alan called to say he would be late getting there.  As she put the key in the lock, Igor gets right next to me and asks, "Teacher not coming in tonight?"  As long as Igor has been going there, he should know Alan's name by now.  He had no problem remembering the name of the former coach, so I didn't get that.  "Igor, why is it each and every time you're here all these dumb questions get asked?  I'm sorry, but that's what happens," I replied.  The statement came out of my mouth before I knew what happened.  But there was no sarcasm involved, just me wanting to understand why Igor never appears to be observant about much.  Of course, he had no answer.

I was happy to see Reggie, who gave me a big hug.  Reggie's been out of commission for about a year due to a bad knee.  He still has to have another operation to fix it, but for the time being, Reggie is ready to rumble.  "Do you think the coach could get me a fight at Brooks Park in December?" he asked me.  "You've got a month, so it could be possible," I answered. 

Reggie sparred with Rich.  Rich has become very good at picking his shots.  He calmly caught Reggie with several good jabs and rights.  Reggie was very tired afterwards, but he was happy to be back in the ring. 

Matt brought a copy of my ebook, A Woman's Guide to Boxing Gyms, and he showed me what it looked like on his cell phone.  "I liked it.  It was very informative," he told me.  I was impressed to see my ebook on an electronic device.  I'm busy planning out the next few ebooks.  They won't all be about boxing, but now that I know how to format them and where to sell them, the sky is the limit.

Sarah (shown here on the heavy bag) has become very, very good at jabbing.  She and I sparred, and I could not avoid being banged up by her jab.  Alan kept telling me to keep walking in on her and let Sarah hit my gloves so I could get close enough to get on the inside to throw punches.  That technique worked for a minute.  I was bobbing and weaving to avoid her punches, too, but that didn't help either.  "Hillari, why are you so sluggish tonight?" Alan asked.  "I must be having an off night," I replied.  "It happens," Alan said.

As we left the gym at the end of the evening, Alan asked me if I had thought about quitting sparring or at least, cutting down on doing it.  Earlier in the day, I had been thinking about that very question.  "Maybe when I'm 55 years old, I'll stop.  That's four years away.  I'll see how good I feel in the meantime.  But I have a suspicion that I'll be on a cane when I'm 60 years old," I answered.  I can see myself sitting in a doctor's office ten years from now.  The doctor will admonish me for having boxed for so long in light of whatever health problems I'll have then. Franco popped me good several times Monday night, and I shook it off.  There's no doubt I can take the hits.  It's the recovery time that's becoming longer and longer.

"Why do you ask?" I said to Alan.  He admitted that when he watches everyone else sparring, Alan wishes he could, too.  "I miss that," he said.  When I finally have to stop sparring and competing, I'm going to miss those, too.  But we all are having constant boxing matches against these opponents -- time, age, and health issues.  In the end, they're going to win.