Ariel vs. Ben

I had Tayjon and James do some inside fighting during their sparring time.  The boys had to keep one foot inside the tire in the gym as they duked it out.  James got popped a couple of times, landing on the floor.  As he got up slowly, I asked him if he was okay.  James held his lower back.  "I hurt here," the boy said, without much emotion.  A few moments later, he and Tayjon went back to sparring.

James doesn't seem to get upset about much, which is a blessing.  It means he will probably fight with a cool head during a regular boxing match.  I also learned that Tayjon has heavy hands.  We'll have to work on Tayjon being able to control the force of his punches, especially for sparring purposes.

I smiled when Ben showed up for the teen class after being AWOL for about three weeks.  Immediately I set up sparring between him and Ariel.  Ben had his usual excuses and concerns.  "Remember, I haven't done this in awhile," he told me.  I asked both him and Ariel to go light.  Ben was turning his back too many times, and Ariel worked the body shots.  I was hoping she'd put a little more pressure on him, but she did very well for her first time sparring.

They did a couple of rounds, and then Ben left to hang with his cousin Devin. Devin was in the building, but had opted to go to the fitness center instead.  His other cousin, Lacey, allegedly got his days mixed up, which was his excuse for not being at the gym.  Really?  So I guess Lacey has something else he's trying to do along with boxing.  Devin worried about building up his muscles, I guess. Whatever. . .I can't keep making absent kids my problem.  I need to focus on the ones who do show up regularly.

I'm down to one jump rope.  Another one broke yesterday, and no, there's been no word about when I'm going to receive the ones that I ordered back in March.  Yes, I know this is July.