Friday The 13th Sparring

Every kid in the youth class sparred today.  I had to give all of them credit for getting in there.  However, I also saw there is a lot of work that has to be done.

Tony hadn't sparred in a couple of months.  I believe James, who is no longer in the class, was the last person he sparred with.  However, Tony did well against Fabian.  Fabian kept leaping at Tony and losing his balance.  Tony carefully timed Tony and got in some good punches.

Yamira sparred with Anayah.  Both girls were throwing windmill punches most of the time.  Yamira kept turning her head just as Anayah aimed her punches.  I started yelling at Yamira at the top of my voice.  "Yamira, you're going to end up with a concussion if you keep doing that," I told her later while she stood in the corner between rounds.  Even her dad agreed that she needed to be more focused.  The problem with Yamira is when the other kids are listening to me or Sahia, Mikaela, and Noel, she is off in another part of the gym doing her own thing.



I think Diego was sparring with Anayah, too (I wrote down on a sparring sheet who was doing what).  He quit after the first round.  His mom said that Diego was nervous.  I told him it was okay.

Jamarion, who is the quietest child in the class, did well against Mikaela.  Mikaela and Noel had agreed to spar with a few of the younger kids, and they took it easy on them.  Jamarion looked very confident, even when Mikaela was backing him into corners.

During the teen class, Mareli sparred with Mikaela and did quite well.  She's getting better at her stance and putting her punches out there.  While they were sparring, Mareli's baby sister Ximena kept raising her voice.  "She's saying, 'Don't beat my sister up!'" joked Sahia.

No sparring for the adults, however.  Ariel and Trish were out due to work.  Who knows where Jada was.  Darrien asked if he and Ariel could spar on another day than Friday.  I told him he could.  I also gave him the option of sparring with Trish, but I don't think Trish, who is his girlfriend, would want to do that.  Darrien punches continue to look very good.

I saw in a park district newsletter that the boxing shows would start on July 10th.  In addition to being surprised that the newsletter had anything about boxing, I was skeptical of the date.  I believe that's on a Tuesday.  The boxing shows are usually on Thursdays.  Hopefully, Thomas will send out a schedule soon with the right dates.