Saturday Sparring

I had the TV on this morning to check the weather, and I landed on the Antennae TV channel.  I was surprised to catch a "Mr. Magoo" short.  I hadn't seen that cartoon in years.  As I was laughing at the character's antics, I thought, "I'm going to stop complaining about how nearsighted I am."  The running joke of that cartoon was that Mr. Magoo is extremely nearsighted and not aware that he badly needed glasses.  Because of his eyesight, the fellow was not aware of whom he was really around and where he was at, which at times was very dangerous.  The short I saw had Mr. Magoo thinking he was at Rutgers for a college reunion, but he was actually at a zoo. 

Speaking of eyesight, this morning Brandy said she would not wear her contacts while competing.  Alan told her that she needs to get used to not wearing them in the gym, so she can learn how to gauge the distance of her opponent.  I can see well enough without my glasses to see an opponent in front of me, as well as see the incoming punches.  But everything's still blurry, so I have to pay close attention. 

Alan sparred with Brandy for a couple of rounds.  He told her that she had to "get mean" with her opponents.  He got her several times with shots to the stomach.  She got in a few good jabs and straight rights on him.  I noticed that he was getting her with a lot of rights to her head because Brandy wasn't protecting her head enough on that side.  After their last round, Alan joked to me that he had softened her up for me.

If he did, it wasn't by much.  I took some rough jabs on my mouth a couple of times.  The second time could have easily been a knockout.  I backed up stunned and stumbling, but I managed to shake the effects off to keep going.  Brandy's hooks are very good; a right hook got me in my left temple, and my brain whirled around for a moment before I regained composure.  We sparred for three rounds.

"Do you like Saturday morning workouts?" he asked me after all the sparring was over.  "Yes, I do.  If I don't have much to do on Saturdays, I'll lay in the bed until noon or one o'clock.  Then I'll fuss at myself because I didn't get a lot done.  This helps me get out of bed," I told him. 

Brandy and I did a burn-out on the bags, but I could only do one round.  Last week, my right arm was bothering me. This week, my left arm was acting funny.  Alan, as seen in the picture above, held the bag for Brandy as she did a second round of burn-out.

Basically, we have Monday and Wednesday to practice before the Gloves this upcoming Friday.  I still don't have my coach's license.  Maybe I should have signed up online instead of renewing it in person.  But I don't think it would have made much of a difference.  I believe Alan signed up online, and he was delayed in receiving his.  But at least he got it.  Mine is floating somewhere.