Laying Out The Rules

In the photo above, Tyrone and Earl work with weights at LaFollette Park.

I have begun to re-enforce the rule that no one can spar if they don't have their mouth pieces with them.  Unfortunately, Deja and her brother Terry forgot theirs, so they couldn't spar.  Michael kept bugging me about wanting to spar with Jaylin, who is way too tall and big for him.  I ended up sparring with Michael, who kept head-hunting and relying too much on his right hook.  Michael was giggling a lot and turning his back on me as well.  We have to work on changing those habits.

I sparred with Jaylin at the suggestion of his dad.  I had to watch out.  Jaylin is about 12 years old, but he's taller than me, and his punches are heavy.  I got caught in the ribs many times.  I appreciate that his dad works with him while his son is in the gym.

Dan Jr. missed out on signing up for the kids' class, which is now full.  I told that boy to make sure to tell his dad to get to the field house ASAP to sign him up.  Either Dan Jr. didn't tell his dad in enough time, or dad drug his feet, thinking he had a lot of time.  Deshaun's mom forgot to sign her nephew up as well.  The kids' class has consistently been the most popular of the three classes I coach.  I keep telling the parents and guardians in so many words, if they snooze, they lose.

I've also changed how I coach the kids to an extent.  Now, all the new kids who come in get taught a couple of punches each day.  I had a habit of showing them all the punches in one day.  Many of the kids would begin showing up sporadically to class from day one.  I figured if I didn't at least teach all of the punches at one time, the kids would have problems catching up later on.  But I can't rush through techniques just because some kids don't show up regularly to the gym.

A few kids kept asking me where this kid or that kid was.  "I don't know why they aren't here.  I'm not going to call any one's house to find out where they are. I figure if they signed up, they really wanted to be here," I replied.  I said that last bit especially for the parents who were in the room.  Some of them are responsible for bringing their kids in because the kids can't get there on their own (or the parents don't want them going there on their own).  I want to make it clear if their kid doesn't train on a regular basis, I'm not about to put them in a real match with someone else who takes training seriously.