Momo's Return

The guy in the photo above is Muhammad, or Momo, for short.  I wish I had been taking pictures when Steve was the coach, because I could have had a 'before and after' photo of Momo.  I almost didn't recognize him!  He'd lost so much weight.  He's happily married now and is the proud father of a boy and a girl.  He wants to get back in shape, so he plans to start frequenting the gym again.

The crowd was very light on what was the last day of the Winter session.  Outside of Momo, Colonel, Amy, Sarah, and Igor were in attendance.  The gym was cold.  It was only about 20 degrees outside.   I guess it wasn't enough people inside the gym to bring the temperature up.

Sarah and I sparred, and I noticed the composure that Colonel always says that I have.  Believe me, that took a long time to develop, because I sure didn't have it during the numerous fist fights I was in when I was young.  I was just go for broke back then.  A lot of damage was inflicted, but I took a lot of damage, too.  I still have the scars to prove it.  Boxing taught me that it is better to fight with a clear head, without emotion.  Sarah threw a lot of punches, but most of the time, I just waited for her to come closer before attacking.

She throws good hooks, but as Alan pointed out, they are usually too wide.  Sarah could put a hurt on a lot of opponents if she shortens up the distance from whence she throws those hooks.  I made a point of keeping my right hand glued to the side of my head while I was standing straight up.  But as usual, when I went in for the body shots, both hands were down.  That gave Sarah great opportunity to bang me upside my head, which she did.  I was able to use my left hook and left uppercut a few times, but I could have used them some more.

I would love to go to the Firemen vs. Policemen boxing show this year, but like everything else these days, I have to pinch pennies to see if I can afford it.  I'm always hearing that many good fights take place during that show.

Just like Sarah and her sister Amy are doing here, I should go back to using the medicine ball more.  There are so many exercises that can be done with the medicine ball to increase stamina and strength.  Here,  Sarah and Amy throw the ball back and forth to each other.

I'm thankful that Walter and Colonel bring their double end bags in so the adults can use them while we're in the gym.  Barry always locks up the one that normally hangs there now.  I've been using the double end to practice on slipping punches.  I thought I did okay with avoiding many of Sarah's punches while we sparred.

I had to put some beefcake pictures up, well because, I like looking at fine men.  Both of these pictures are of actor Robert Conrad, who is from the south side of Chicago.  He's best known for two TV series, "The Wild, Wild West" and "Baa Baa Black Sheep (Black Sheep Squadron)".  I'm guessing the black and white picture was taken during the 1960s.  The second picture shows an older -- but still in great shape -- Conrad in the 1990s.  I've mentioned here before that Conrad had been a boxer for a minute, and the stories going around state that the actor was no joke in the ring.

Alan told Sarah and I that we had some good exchanges while we sparred.  He told me that the both of us were probably going to feel those punches tomorrow.  I believe I'm feeling some of them right now.  Fortunately, I'll have my secretary's hat on instead of my custodian hat on at work tomorrow.