Thirty Years Younger

I did four rounds of sparring at Loyola Park -- two with Annie, and two with Katie.  It was Annie's last day at the gym.  She's moving to Maryland.  Alan told her she could probably find good boxing gyms out there.

Annie moves similar to Erica.  She bounces a lot, but it's not wasted movement.  I got cracked upside my head a few times because I didn't have my hands up.  I was able, however, to get in more hooks.

It was hard to get in body blows on Katie.  She uses her long arms to an advantage.  I kept tapping her left jab down, and I tried to come over with my straight right.  I kept thinking "be an inside fighter", but it was tough for me to do so.  Katie would get hers in then move back.  I was trying to return punches from a mile away, as Alan put it.

Turns out that both Katie and Annie are about thirty years younger than I am.  No wonder I was having a hard time keeping up.  Sparring with them just further proved to me why I should no longer entertain the idea of competing.  Both my knees felt like they were swollen.  I was moving around the ring like a turtle.

One reason that I spar when I go to Loyola Park is to get exercise in.  Another reason is to keep up on skills so I can pass them on to the kids and adults at La Follette Park.  Also, when the kids in particular start talking about, "I'm tired", I can point out that if a middle aged woman like myself can do a few rounds of sparring, the kids can do a workout.