Back To Sparring

As I walked up to the field house -- yes, I walked despite the fact that it is three degrees outside -- I noticed the lights in the gym were on.  "Alan beat me here," I thought.  When I got inside the gym, Jilberto was there with two guys, one of whom looked vaguely familiar.  It was Martin, who hadn't been in the gym since Steve was the coach.  The other fellow was Martin's, 18 year old son, Richard.  Richard was interested in signing up, but Martin wanted to come back as well.  "I'd like to get Graubien back in here.  He used to work with me when I came in here before," Martin said.  I remember Graubien as well.  It's been at least seven or eight years since I've seen him.  Martin and Richard hung around for awhile to watch the sparring.  Richard promised to come back on Monday.

Martin was concerned about whether or not his son would be allowed to take up boxing.  Richard has diabetes.  "So do I," I told his father.  I explained that I'm careful to monitor myself when I'm in the gym, and I keep glucose tablets nearby.  If I don't feel up to sparring, or doing a full on workout, I don't.  I think Richard will be fine.

Edward came in with his mother, Liliana.  In this photo, he's making a bracelet.  He gave one that he promised to me today, and it's nice.  "Are you making one for your mom?" I asked.  "No, this is for Alicia," he told me.

Another new person, Rick, showed up today.  Rick would have been in class the first day, but Rick suffered an injury that kept him out for awhile.  Rick wanted to know what level the class was at, and I assured him that it was a mix of beginners and people with experience.  In addition to Rick, Nate, a guy that Alan has worked with, came in.  Alan was talking to Nate about sparring, but Nate said, "Nah, man.  I've got to look pretty!"  "Man, please. . .what's this about pretty," Alan grinned.  "Come on, Alan.  If the man has to stand in front of people, he doesn't want to be all bruised and banged up," I chuckled.  Nate looked at me and said,  "Exactly!  Thank you!"

Ben's right eye is still red.  But as you can see in the photo above, Ben (in the gray shirt) sparred with Keith. Their session got cut short, however.  I saw Ben bent over, and Keith talking to him.  At first I thought Ben had taken a bad hit.  Turns out that Ben has asthma.  Colonel let Ben use his inhaler.

Alan's still getting use to having to stand on the apron while people are sparring.  Here, he watches Ben sparring with Leo.  "How is your leg?  Are you going to work today?" Alan asked me.  "I think I can go one round," I told him.

Brenda, seen here on "Roger" the red bag, and I sparred very, very lightly for two rounds.  It was my first time sparring in the new ring.  My left leg held up very well; indeed, I was walking better on it while making my way to to the gym.  Neither Brenda or I were wearing headgear.  I put in my mouthpiece just in case.  My objective was to let Brenda throw a lot of punches and move around a lot.  I was covering up my mid-section like a turtle at one point, and Brenda asked me what that was.  "That's in anticipation of any punches that may aim at my chest or stomach," I explained.  Afterwards, Brenda commented, "Boxing is really a workout."

Alicia beats on the bag in this photo.  She reminds me of my Aunt Mary, who's about the same height and build.  Alicia has really been working hard to get the punches down.

Since my leg is definitely improving now, maybe it will be a good time to do exercises at home again.  I was thinking about starting out with kettlebells or maybe Marlen Esparza's boxing DVD, but with modifications to the exercises of course.  I don't need to be re-injured.