Six Times Three

Before I went to the gym, I thought to myself, "I'm not going to spar."  Famous last words.  I was still feeling beat up from the sparring session with Brandy the other day.  I couldn't hardly sleep last night because my left calf was bothering me, and both of my shoulders were throbbing.  I planned to go to sleep early, but there I was, watching "Bachelor Father" on Antenna TV at 3:00 AM.  No matter how much I turned, I could not get comfortable.

Jason and Kenny were already outside the door when I got there.  No sign of Jilberto, so we had to wait.  "Don't you have the key for the door?" Jason asked.  "They've never given volunteers keys -- never have, never will," I told him.  "That doesn't seem right," Kenny said.  Kenny was laying on his bag on the floor, coughing.  Seemed he picked up bronchitis from Colonel.  "I'm sick as a dog, but I'm going to sweat it out," Kenny said.

Igor walked up, spoke to Jason, then disappeared.  Later, Alan said, "I'm surprised Igor didn't come in."  "He did, but. . . .I don't know what the deal is, but Igor has been leaving when the gym door isn't opened fast enough for him," I said.  "But I was only a few minutes late," Alan said.  "That's what Igor has been doing every other time," I said.

Kenny (on the right) and Keith take it to each other during sparring.  "I feel better already!" Kenny smiled.

Kenny worked the pads with Geniece.  She hits very hard, as I found out when we were sparring.

She backed me up against the ropes, as seen here, then let go with a series of punches.  I couldn't answer the punches well, because she was right on top of me.  I was throwing some punches a little too hard, and I heard Alan say, "Easy, easy!"  Alan said she should get fights during the Chicago Park District Boxing Tournaments that are coming up soon.  I agreed.  Geniece and I did two rounds.

The next two rounds were with Sara.  Sara was a little stiff at first.  During the second round, she loosened up.  She's a little taller than me, and has a longer reach.  I was not successful in warding off a lot of her punches.  My hands were always down at the wrong time.

Diana was the last person I sparred with, bringing my rounds to a grand total of six.  I think that is the highest number of rounds I have sparred at one time.  It was Diana's first time sparring, so I had to take it easy.  Her punches were wild, so I also had to be mindful of protecting myself.  I showed her how to block my incoming jabs and hooks to the body.

Professor worked the punch mitts with Sara, and Alan held the punch shield for Jason.  I could hear Alan asking why Jason seemed to be running out of steam.  However, it seemed that Professor and Sara had a very good training session.  Sara is also a skateboarder; she came in with her board, and told me she took up the sport while she was in college.

When Alan dropped me off at home later, I told him I need to soak in a bath.  But of course that's not happening, at least not now.  First of all, I'm writing this entry, and I'll probably be on the computer for another few hours and watching the TV at the same time.  When "Bachelor Father" comes on, I'll think, "It's 3:00 AM.  Maybe I should go to bed."  I'll toss and turn for another hour and a half before finally going to sleep, only to be jarred awake by the alarm approximately three and a half hours after that.  The cycle has been like that for several days.