My Five Rounds

The gym was not as packed as it was the other day.  But there was a lot of activity.  I was the go-to girl again for sparring, and I had two new opponents:  Geniece, seen in the above photo hitting the body snatcher bag, and Alicia.

First up was Geniece and I.  "We're going to go light," I announced before the bell rang.  Geniece appeared to be a little nervous at first, but during our second round, she became more loose.  I've been becoming more comfortable with using my left hand other than for jabbing.  I got in some left hooks and left uppercuts, but I did not put a lot of power behind them.

Vachel and I went for two rounds.  I wasn't hitting hard then, either, but I did use a lot of hooks and uppercuts.  I tried some overhand rights, but now I know when I don't do them right.  The other person sees them coming from miles away and they dodge them.  Alan told Vachel, "Gotta stop doing all that squealing and screaming during sparring."  "I can't help it.  I also do that when I'm playing softball!" Vachel said.

Alicia and I sparred, but I didn't throw many punches.  I let Alicia get more hits in so she could get used to that.  I was hitting very, very lightly because I know that Alicia is in boxing mostly for exercise and to get healthy, not to spar or compete.

Martin sparred with Andres.  Professor rolled his ankle earlier, so he couldn't spar with him.  Martin appreciated moving around, but he told me he wished he could do more in the ring.  Martin wants to build his stamina up.

Alan sparred with Andres even though later on, Alan told me that he didn't feel like sparring.  But since Professor couldn't do it, and Martin could only do a couple of rounds, someone had to give Andres some work.  After all, Andres will be fighting in the finals of the Chicago Golden Gloves this weekend.  Their sparring session turned into a bit of a mini-war.

Andres caught Alan right in the face with several jabs, then Alan came back with some hooks to Andres head.  Vachel was cheering from the side lines, especially when Alan popped Andres in the face a few times.  I was standing on the apron giving advice to Andres:  "Keep your hands up, Andres!  Use the right more!  There ya go!"  Martin was giving Andres advice in Spanish.  I did make out something that sounded like, "Andres, work more!"

Jason wanted me to take pictures of him doing a spinning back fist as well as a flying knee drop -- neither of which is allowed in boxing, by the way -- but I could never catch the action properly.  Igor is standing in the background, mesmerized by Alan working with Andres.

Another older man came into the gym inquiring about the class (another older guy had also come in a couple of days ago with questions).  The guy said he wanted to walk around and observe, and Alan said fine.  The guy was on the speed bag for a little bit, and I overheard Colonel giving out some tips.  That was fine.  But then the guy was in the ring -- in street clothes and shoes -- bouncing around.  I'll be surprised if the guy actually returns.  So many people come in with ideas of boxing glory but don't follow through.

This was near the end of the evening.  Professor, who's sitting on the desk, spent most of the evening observing.  Alan and Andres look tired because of their sparring session and working with the punch shield afterwards.  I was thinking while Andres was hitting the punch shield that I was glad I wasn't the recipient of the punches that was landing on the shield.  Andres and I had sparred several times in the past, but he never hit me as hard as he is capable of doing.  If so, I'd still be in intensive care today.  But I hope Andres hits like that during the Golden Gloves finals.