You Tube Woman

Two little boys walked in the gym.  I had seen them before; they usually are with several other boys.  I was talking to a new man who came in the gym this evening (unfortunately, I didn't get his name).  I waved to the boys.  Alan walked in a few moments later, and they asked him could they hit the bags.  Alan told them they could, and they rushed to put gloves on, and they got into the ring.  After a few moments, I heard the smaller one, who looked to be about five years old, wondering how to use the punch mitts.  His buddy, who looked to be seven years old, wore gloves. 

I stopped to show them how to use the pads and how to throw punches.  They wanted to wear the two chest protectors in the gym.  I helped them put them on, but they were too big.  It was comical to see, especially on the littlest guy.  They played around in the ring, with me giving pointers from the sidelines, until it was time for Carlos and Jamil to spar.

Carlos also sparred with Johnny, then myself. In the middle of the second round he and I were mixing it up, Carlos popped me in the stomach.  I stopped and backed up, my hands covering my stomach.  "Are you okay?" Carlos asked.  "I'm okay," I breathed, then boom! I popped him in the head.  Afterwards, he said, "I don't think I hit you that hard.  I think I just caught you in a good spot."  He was right; he didn't hit me as hard as he could have.  But a body punch in the right place is a leveler to an opponent.

Right before we all left for the night, Carlos told me he saw the fight I had at Loyola Park with Meg last month on YouTube.  It took me awhile to find it, but here it is:



The first thing I noticed was, "Damn, I need to lose more weight!"  The second thing I noticed was all the hesitating and pawing I was doing.  I've got to step up the training, and cut down on the food.  A boxing exercise DVD came in the mail today, featuring the couple who put out the Balasz Boxing newsletter (http://www.balaszboxing.com/).  I always watch exercise DVDs before I actually work out with them.  From what I saw, it looks like a great workout.  I appreciated that one of the guys in the DVDs actually admitted that he was getting tired.  You never hear that out of anyone in other exercise DVDs.

This second YouTube video features Meg again in the fight I saw her in at Hamlin Park recently. 



It's nice to have these "fight films" up so I can study them before our rematch in December.

Craig, who runs the blog The Broken Heart of Rogers Park (http://www.morsehellhole.blogspot.com/) ran a picture of Diego, Kevin, Kenny, Gus, and the other boys who attend the kids' boxing program.  A guy commented that they thought a couple of the boys were flashing gang signs.  Some were holding up peace signs and "#1" signs, but gang signs, no.  Too many of the people who comment on Craig's blog want to believe that all of the African-American and Hispanic kids in Rogers Park are gang-affiliated.

Long Arms and Slipping

A guy named David came in last night.  He looked slightly familiar to me.  "I came in on another Wednesday, but the gym was closed," he said.  "That was probably that Wednesday that I couldn't get in, and Alan was out of town," I said.  "I was out of town?" Alan asked.  "Yeah, remember when I told you I came here, but no one was able to open up the door that night?" I said.  "I remember that conversation, but I don't remember where I went out of town," Alan replied.  "It's okay, we all have senior moments," I said.  "No, it's not okay.  I seem to be forgetting things a lot lately," he said.  Alan racked his brain for several minutes, and still couldn't remember.  "It'll probably come to me while I'm in the shower," he said.

Alan sparred with both Oscar and Johnny.  Johnny was a little nervous about getting into the ring with Alan; he hadn't sparred with him before.  Both men have long arms, but Alan's arms are a little longer than Johnny's.  Even though he's in his late 50s, Alan can still take some hits as well.  They did a couple of rounds before calling it quits.  Oscar was caught in the head and face by several of Alan's rights and lefts, simply because he wouldn't keep his hands up.  I kept telling to him to protect his head while he and Alan sparred.

I sparred with Johnny, and barely got around his arms.  I kept going in for body shots, but he would put a left out and effectively keep me back.  Once again, I started off like a firecracker, but by the time the second round was underway, I was worn out.  I managed to get some rights in on Johnny's head, but he got the better of the sparring session.  I was popped in my left eye, but the damage was slight, fortunately for me.  "You have to be right up on him to throw those overhand rights," I heard Alan say from the side of the ring. 

Later, Alan told me that I don't have to duck down so low to avoid punches.  I don't know why I do that, because I'm already low to the ground in terms of height as it is.  "The other boxer can't punch down, so you don't have to go so far down or move a lot to slip their punches," Alan told me. 

I'm looking forward to next Monday because the Fall session begins.  That means there will be a new crop of people, some of whom will hopefully continue to come to the gym for a long time.  The session is starting at somewhat of an inopportune time, however.  Loyola Park's boxing show is next Friday, and Alan is probably going to be focused more on those -- like Oscar, Carlos, Johnny and myself -- who might get matches then.

A Long Six Minutes

It is true that when you are inside the ring, those two or three minutes (whichever time the round is set for) seems like a long, long time. I was sparring with Oksana yesterday. Before we started she said, "Take it easy on me. I've never done this before." I agreed to go light.

When the bell rang, Oksana came out slugging. She's taller than me, so immediately I had to go to fighting on the inside. However, like most people who are taller than I, she has a longer arm reach. I was boxed about the head a lot. If I had moved my head, bobbed and weaved, and slipped a few punches more, I could have avoided the slight headache I had afterwards. That's always been a problem with me about moving enough in the ring.

I was pushing Oksana back at one point, because she was crowding me. For the first time ever, I heard the coach say, "Break!" while I was sparring. That never happened before. Later, Oksana explained that when I kept coming forward, she wasn't sure how to counteract that. Allan told her that she needed to use her jab more to keep me away. "You're taller than she is, so you don't have to throw a lot of punches to keep her back. Just pump the jab," he said.

Oksana told me she punched harder, but yet I kept throwing light punches. "You should have came back at me hard," she said. However, I had promised not to do that beforehand, and a promise is a promise. I have witnessed guys sparring who made similar promises, only to change their minds once the action began.

Allan told me about Leon, who is the big guy who always seems to show up just in time to spar. "I like the guy, but he calls me about getting matches, but doesn't come in to work out," he said. Leon sounded suspiciously like Jordan, and a few other guys in the past who would call Steve with the same line.

No News Not Necessarily Good News

Nothing much to write about lately, unfortunately. Here it is near the end of October, and the adult boxing program continues to be closed. I keep eyeing a boxing program at Degerberg Martial Arts Academy -- where I used to take boxing before going to Loyola Park -- and thinking about how I can afford that. The standalone program only runs six weeks, however. If you want to go continually, membership in the academy is the way to go. Membership is not cheap, however.

I resumed using the boxing exercise DVDs I have at home. My left shoulder and upper left arm are acting funny again. I'm assuming it's residual stuff from the car accident I had three years ago, plus repetitive movement of throwing jabs for the past seven years. Lifting light weights may help alleviate it a little.

In non-boxing news, the pastor of my church got married over the past weekend. An early report from a church member who attended said that Pastor grinned ear-to-ear throughout the entire ceremony. I laughed about that; it was good to hear.

Competition For Coach

Steve said, "You have some competition for my job", this past Friday. Paul and Nate Sr. have expressed an interest in applying for the coach's job.

The advantage of having Nate Sr. as the coach would be his experience. He was a professional boxer in his youth. Like me, he's volunteered in the program -- with both the kids and the adults -- for a long time. Also, many of the young guys like and respect him.

Paul, who's around the same age as JJ, could bring a lot of guys into Loyola Park's gym. Paul is a good boxer with a good record. He's well known. His girlfriend, Kristin, is hooked up with other female boxers around the city, including Rita, who is a professional boxer. She could help bring some women into the gym who could represent Loyola Park in various competitions. Also, there's the added value of her bringing more women in who would be serious about the sport.

I told Steve that Willie was interested in his job, too. I like Willie, and he has boxing experience. But Willie does have a temper. No matter how many hotheads may be in the gym, the coach has to be the one person who can keep his or her cool most of the time. Even if I don't get it, I'll still continue to assist whoever becomes coach.

Back To The Gym

I was sick with a bad cold all last week. Last night was my first night back in the gym. Before leaving for the gym, I noticed that the door of a neighbor down the hall was open. Their lights were off. Assuming that they were coming out soon, I thought nothing else of it and left for the gym.

Mike came in with a friend of his named Eric. Mike was showing him the basics. Jordan's friend, the one who's been drug-free for a few years, showed up, too. He was hitting the one of the heavy bags with no gloves. Over and over again, people have to be told not to do that. It's too easy to injure one's hands like that. Jordan told me, "That's how we train in martial arts, on concrete, on glass, etc." Steve told Jordan's friend that he couldn't hit the bags, anyway, unless he pays the gym fee. He probably could have filled out a waiver form, like Eric did, in order to get a workout in for that night only. It appears, however, that Jordan has been telling his friend that he can just show up and use the equipment, which is not correct.

A lanky 14-year old kid, Rashaun, was standing at the entrance of the gym for a long time, peering in. I talked to him, and gave him info to take home to his mom. He stated that he would like for her to sign him up for boxing.

Javonte showed up. He said that his new daughter's name is Sierra, which is a pretty name. However, he hinted that things were not going well between him and the baby's mama. I asked him to bring in pictures of the baby the next time he comes in.

JJ had a fight on Monday, so he wasn't in. Probably took the night off. I don't know how he did, though, and I forgot to ask Steve.

When I got home after the gym, I saw that my neighbor's door was still wide open. I went to the door, called out "hello", but got no response. Then I noticed the frame was damaged, indicating that someone might have kicked the door in. I called the police. They said it looked like a break-in, too, but it appears that nothing was taken. However, they couldn't be sure because the tenant wasn't there to verify it. I gave them the number of the building manager, and I called the building manager's answering service to let them know what happened. The on-call management person didn't show before the cops left, so the cops secured the door the best they could.

Picture Test

I wanted to check if I could post some pictures on this blog. It appears that some I can, and some I can't. These made it up; I'll have to see why it seems difficult to add others. I didn't like the TV show "The A-Team", but I did like Mr. T's character in the film Rocky III.