Throwing Down At Eckhart Park

I can't call out instructions while I'm judging a fight.  But tonight at Eckhart Park's boxing show, I wish I could have during one fight.  One kid kept dropping his hands and not staying on his toes.  Each and every time the other kid saw an opening, they took it.  Of course, the other kid won.

Shifty mentioned that a fight between a brother and a sister was probably the first time that happened at a park district boxing show.  The girl won.  She kept tagging her brother with rights and left.  Her brother didn't have much in the way of defense.  Both kids were from Ogden Park.  I couldn't help but wonder if the girl won most of the fights she and her brother may have gotten into at home.

Melanie, who fights out of Loyola Park, had a tough time with her opponent, a woman from Humboldt Park, during the first round.  The woman kept coming at her with straight punches and hooks to the body.  In the second and third rounds, Melanie used her tall height and her long reach to her advantage.  Every time the woman charged in, Melanie had something waiting for her. Alan kept telling Melanie to "stick her". Melanie won her fight, which was the last of the evening.

Only six fights took place.  Bessemer, Brooks, Loyola, Humboldt, Harrison, and Ogden were the parks that were represented.  George from Garfield Park was there, but I don't know how many fighters he had with him.  None of them got matches.  I had no one with me as usual. 

Portage Park is where the next boxing show will be held, but I may skip that one.  It takes place three days after the fall season begins at LaFollette.  I'd rather not close up the gym on that day, especially if I have a crowd of new people that week. 

Evening At Eckhart

There were only six bouts at Eckhart Park's boxing show.  I got a hint that the evening was going to be odd when I arrived at that field house and learned I was the first one who showed up for the show.  Slowly, others trickled in.  But there still weren't enough fighters to fill out the card.  Half of the fights were exhibition matches done by fighters from Ogden Park.

John, who fights out of Loyola, got a fight with a guy, JB, from Portage Park.  It appeared that John won all three rounds, but the results said the other guy won. JB looked surprised as his hand was raised in victory.

Another surprise was there is still no coach at Eckhart.  I was under the impression that one had been hired several weeks ago, but apparently not.  Alan suggested that I put in again for a transfer to over there.

None of my fighters were in attendance.  Iz told me before the break he was planning to go to Portage Park's show which is next week.  We'll see.

When I returned home, I saw a message left on this blog from Mikala and Noel's mom -- she had been trying to reach me at the field house for six weeks.  She had been leaving messages, but I received none of them.  In the past, I have experienced problems with getting incomplete messages or not receiving messages at all.  I let it go because I didn't want to create conflict, but I can't do it this time. I don't know which staff member was responsible for not delivering (and apparently not taking) messages, and the situation was unprofessional and unacceptable.   I sent an email to my supervisor letting him know what happened.  I will call Mikala and Noel's mom in the morning; she should have never gotten the run-around like that.

A Dead Transfer and Hordes Of Teenagers

It appears that a coach was hired to run the boxing gym at Eckhart Park, so my attempt to be transferred there is now dead in the water.  For the time being, I'm stuck with a long commute to LaFollette Park, mostly indifferent kids, and parents who don't appear to support the program.  I remember hearing that the community really wanted a boxing program re-opened there before I was hired.  But, honestly?  The community's alleged enthusiasm for a boxing program has never appeared to be very high.  Not by a long shot.  I've been there nearly three years, and my efforts to generate more interest in the boxing program has been difficult to achieve.  That really bothers me because I know how boxing can benefit youths in so many ways in and outside of the ring.

Today is the first day of the summer session for my program.  Alan's class at Loyola Park ended on June 7th, and I believe it doesn't begin again until June 19th.  He's going to have a lot of returning people for his summer session, however.  Several of the guys -- Roman, John, Michael, Ben, Reif, Matt -- expressed interest in fighting at LaFollette's boxing show later this month.  I have to get out the word to the other park district coaches that there are some light heavyweight and heavyweight fighters who are looking to have matches at my show.

William, who looks like a college student, but who is actually 14 years old was in Loyola's gym last night.  I'm assuming that Barry has been giving him permission to come to the adult class for extra training in light of the fact that the boxing shows will soon commence.

Frenchessa was the only other woman who was in the gym last night.  She kept going on the speed bag even though the bell was red.  "I think I'm a good height to box.  It appears there are a lot of tall women in this sport," she said.  A little more height might have helped me while I was competing.  But like an aunt of mine who is 4 foot 10 always says, "Dynamite comes in small packages."  Frenchessa is in her early 20s, and she wants to train for a couple of years before competing.

I saw that another kid signed up for the 12 and under boxing class at LaFollette.  I have not met either of the two new kids who will be joining the class, nor have I talked to their parents.  That bothers me, especially when now the phrase, "please talk to the instructor before registering" is on the paper class schedule and online.  Either parents aren't noticing that request or they are ignoring it.  If it's the latter, that has the possibility of causing negative issues as the class goes on, and I'm never in the mood for that.

Something else I have to watch out for -- hordes of roaming teenagers hanging about in the gym.  Over the last couple of weeks, I've had teens strolling in asking about the class.  Most do not appear to be serious about it, and frankly, I have zero toleration for that.  A few of them were led by Desire, a kid I met when I first started working at LaFollette.  Her younger sister was in the class back then, but Desire was not.  Desire has been talking about signing up recently, but I haven't forgotten her saying "I don't want to box because I don't want people thinking I'm a man!" three years ago.  I suspect her real motivation (like too many of the teen girls at LaFollette) is to position herself in spots where she thinks most of the boys will be.  I like Desire, but I'm not running "The Dating Game" nor "Love Connection" out of the gym.

I'm not running a free babysitting service for parents who want to dump their little darlings off on me because they want them out of the house as much as possible, either.  Neither the youth nor the teen class is filled up completely at the moment.  But give it time.  Several parents, having forgotten once again that summer happens every year, will show up four to five weeks into the session to beg me to take their kids in the class.  The window was missed for putting their little wonders into summer camp, so they have to scramble to find another activity.  Unfortunately, out of that group, I end up with kids who don't want to be in boxing and they scrap the class after a few times.  It happens too often.

Before I forget, I saw the movie Wonder Woman over the past weekend.  It was way better than the other superhero movies of late.  Former boxer Ann Wolfe -- who is now a trainer -- was in the movie.  Her part was small, but I hope if there is a sequel, her character will have a bigger role.  In one scene, it looked like she gave a devastating body shot to a male soldier (the film is set during WWI) who along with other soldiers, had invaded Paradise Island.  She was handling her business for real.

Eighth At Eckhart Park

Thomas and the boxing coaches make the matches for the Eckhart Park show in the photo above.  I had already made a match for Donovan with one of Eddie's (the coach at Davis Square Park) fighters.

Alan tried to get matches for John and Rojan, but there had been some confusion as to whether the boxing show was going to take place or not.  It had been raining earlier, and it appeared that another shower might happen.  They all drove in later, with Alan coming in from the furthest distance.  By the time they got there, all ten bouts had been set.  It was too bad, because there were a few guys there that both John and Rojan could have fought.

I pointed out Donovan to John and Rojan.  "Wow, he's eleven years old?" John said.  "There are some big eleven years olds around!" Rojan said.

Ariel and James from my gym could have had fights, too.  I spotted several prospects for them, but alas, they didn't go to the boxing show.

Donovan's fight was the eighth of the night.  Before the bell rang for the first round, I advised him not to leap as he threw punches.  However, he did, and the other kid caught him as he landed back on his feet.  The punch knocked Donovan down and underneath the ropes.  For a second, I was worried he was going to roll off onto the judges' table.  In the second round, Donovan had a determined look on his face.  One of his punches knocked Eddie's fighter down.  When the third and final round ended, Eddie's fighter came over to shake my hand.  It was then I noticed the boy's nose was bleeding. "Donovan got one in," I told his parents later.

Donovan's parents and I believed it was a close fight, but Donovan lost.  A few coaches came up again to compliment Donovan on having heart during the fight.  "Gentleman" Gerald told me, "Your kid is good, but he's got to stop leaping into punches."  I agreed.  That's something else we have to work on back at the gym.

Portage Park's show is next week, but I'm not sure I'll be able to get Donovan a fight there.  I'm going to try and convince nine-year-old James to go, even though I know that James has a lot to work on as well.

Inconsistency vs. Boxing

LaFollette Park's boxing gym is looking a lot better.  The ceiling and the walls have finally been painted.  If the painters keep up the pace, the class should be able to get back in the gym by next week.  Tough and Talky have been getting on my nerves because they won't stay in the Park Kids program, nor will they rehearse properly for the Black History Month show coming up soon.  Marine, Curly, and Angel have been allowed to go into the fitness center, but they spend most of their time talking and playing around.  I do more of a workout in that room than they do.

Steve, the supervisor and myself attended a meeting of boxing coaches where Tommy promised that the new boxing equipment for LaFollette should arrive in a few weeks.  I set a date for the field house's boxing show -- August 20th.  I figure that should give me a little more time to get the kids prepared for that.

However, the Chicago City Wide boxing show (formerly named after boxer Tony Zale) is happening in April, less than two months away. Steve encouraged me to get some kids involved with that.  The truth is that right now, I don't have anybody who will be ready for that.  A lot of training time was lost due to the gym being painted.  When I'm able to get back in there again, it's going to be like started all over with the existing kids.

A lot of the kids who haven't signed up for the program, and seem to have an aversion to doing so, keep asking me when the gym will be reopened.  One kid had the nerve to ask me had I quit because the gym hasn't been opened.  Why in the heck would I be hanging around at a place where I had quit?  Common sense ain't common, because all humans don't have it.  I got news for the ones who continue to think there is open gym -- they're all getting thrown out as soon as they hit the door.  No more showing up just to play around or to "try it out".

Solved a mystery concerning the kids signed up for my class who came via that neighborhood organization.  They showed up today, and I expressed concern to their chaperon about the kids only showing up once a week or not at all.  I was told they only can be there two days a week because they have other activities.  I wondered why I hadn't been told that up front.  I already have problems with that from the kids who regularly hang around the field house!  Boxing involves building one skill on top of another.  Kids who are not consistent with training can't hope to build those skills up and be decent fighters.  Inconsistency also makes it hard to build a strong boxing program, which I am trying to do.

Girls' Day

On the way to work, I ran into Professor.  He was going to Seward Park to get a workout in.  There's a new coach over there.  "How come there seems to be so much turnover among the boxing coaches?" he asked me.  It didn't used to be like that.  There are guys like Alan, Pat, and Bill who have been coaching for decades.  In recent years, unfortunately, there has been a revolving door going on where new hires have been concerned.  I keep hearing rumors about what happened at some of the field houses, but I'm not sure what really went down.

I was anticipating another slow day when Lu came in.  Lu's mother, seven year old sister, and one year old brother was with him.  Lu is a nice kid.  However, he likes to talk more than train.  It's not that he doesn't ask a lot of good questions.  Most of the questions pertain to boxing.  But I'll start him off on the punch mitts, and have a hard time getting Lu interested in hitting the bags and doing other drills.

Three girls who were in the gym the other day, but not officially signed up for the gym came in near the end of the 12 and under class.  I let them put the hand wraps and gloves on to move around in the ring a little.  I'm always telling the kids about the fights I had back in grade school.  The girls were amazed when I told them I had never been suspended for fighting.  Not even for that time when I was in third grade and I threw a steel chair at another kid.  They told me that some boy in their class was bothering them, mostly with verbal taunts.  "My mother always told my younger siblings and I to ignore what other kids would say.  But as soon as they put their hands on us, we were supposed to hit back," I told the girls. That is not a popular thing to tell kids these days in light of all the political correctness and zero tolerance for violence in schools.  But those girls told me their moms had basically told them the same thing.

The younger girls left after awhile, and Nay-Nay, a teenage girl that I hadn't seen in a few weeks came in for the 13 to 17 year olds' class.  She brought her mom, her older sister, and her five year nephew along.  Her mom was especially impressed with how Nay-Nay was throwing her punches during the punch mitt drills.  I was impressed as well; Nay-Nay has some nice, hard and solid punches.  It's is just a matter of teaching her how to throw them properly for the most effect.
Nay-Nay and I went through an entire workout that involved using the heavy bag, the uppercut bag, slipping drills, and floor exercises.

Barry gave me a call at the field house, and I'm so glad he did.  There isn't a boxing show at Eckhart Park in February.  It's actually a program meeting.  I have to let others know during that meeting when I want to have a boxing show at LaFollette Park.  I'm thinking about late summer, and perhaps staging it on the outside.  If it can't be done during the warm months, then there is a possibility a ring can be set up in the auditorium.  I'll have to talk to the field house supervisor to coordinate when would be a good time to have the show.

A sigh of relief came over me, as now the kids still have several more months to get it together so they can compete properly.

Eckhart Park Is Calling, But The Cost May Be High

Steve informed me that Eckhart Park is having a boxing show next month.  I told the kids who have been attending the boxing class for awhile that they have an opportunity to fight.  They were fired up about it.  However, I have concerns.

I've repeated myself to the kids too many times about the importance of focusing on practicing skills.  Most of the kids have a lot of bad habits that show up especially during sparring sessions.  It's been said that those habits need to corrected early on because they will be so hard to break later on down the line. For example, T1 has taken to sitting on the ropes in the corners during sparring sessions, allowing whomever he's sparring with to keep taking shots.  I keep telling T1 that could be grounds for a referee to stop a fight.  The next time I see him doing it, and T1 keeps ignoring my instructions, I'm going to pull him out of the sparring session for that day.

I'm also frustrated at some kids' insistence on incorporating professional wrestling and MMA moves into boxing.  I don't want to deny any of the kids the chance to participate in a boxing show.  I don't think the Chicago Park District would be too happy if I did, regardless of a kid's lack of proper skills.  They are all about kids participating and having fun.  But unfortunately, it looks as if the kids are going to find out the hard way that slacking off in the gym will probably cost them dearly during a regular match.  When that happens, there is a good chance that some kids will drop out of the program afterwards.

More of an effort is also going to have to be made on my part to make sure I have kids in the gym who want to make a stronger commitment to boxing.  I know of some boxing coaches who make sure they only have serious participants.  I don't really have that power. I can't know beforehand how a kid is going to act after they sign up for the program.  I do know some of the kids' parents, but I wish I knew all of them.  There have been too many kids taking home registration forms and returning them without me having a chance to talk to the parents in person so they know what the boxing program is about.  By the time I figure out that I have several kids on my hands, like Princess, for example, who don't have much interest in the program, it's hard to weed them out.

Speaking of Princess, another staff member told me that Princess has been going around telling people, "Miss Hillari told me I can't come to the gym anymore."  I explained to Princess, and her mother as well, that the class is full.  Princess is trying to make it sound like I banned her from the place, which doesn't raise my opinion of her much.  Some people who work with kids in recreational programs don't particularly like working with kids.  Kids lying on people in an attempt to get their way is one of the reasons why.

Wearing the Jacket At Eckhart Park

Tonight's Chicago Park District boxing show was held at Eckhart Park, over in the West Town neighborhood.   The matches were held outside in a ring that was set up in the back of the field house.  It had been humid most of the day, but by the time the fights began, the temperatures dipped down low.  Luckily, I had my Ringside sweat jacket with me.  I was shivering in the breeze.

Familiar faces included Sean and Kitchens, who were the referees.  Barry had several of his guys fighting from the youth program.  Gabriel and Professor had fights, but Professor fought for a different park.

As usual, most of the fights featured the kids and teenagers.  One of the fights ended in 20 seconds; unfortunately, one of the Loyola Park youths suffered a TKO at the hands of their opponent.  In fact, only one of Barry's fighters won a match.  There was some tough competition from Davis Square, Bessemer Park, and other parks.

I missed the first round of Professor's bout, but I saw the second half of the second round, and all of the third round.  The guy who fought Professor looked heavier.  Later, I learned that Professor came in at 165 pounds., but the other boxer was 175 pounds.  The two men were wrestling a lot during the last round. Professor didn't get the win, but it appears that the other boxer was open for a rematch in the future.

It was so cool outside that I debated whether or not to wear my corner man's jacket, but I decided to put it on right before Gabriel's fight.  Too bad I forgot to bring my camera or else I would have had someone take a photo of me with it on.  Alan had to borrow stuff like water bottles to use in the corner because he went straight to the boxing show from work and didn't have a chance to stop at home first.

While Gabriel fought, many in the audience urged him to use his height and his arm length to get the best of the guy he fought.  The other boxer waited on Gabriel to move so he could counter his punches which he did with accuracy.  Gabriel was waiting too long to throw punches.  Then the other guy would leap, catch Gabriel in the corners or on the ropes, and let his hands fly.  Gabriel's nose was bloodied up, and for a minute, it looked as if the judges might stop the fight.  But they let it go on.  Gabriel looked alive in the third round and got some shots in.  However, I knew the judges would look favorably on the other boxer's aggressiveness.  Gabriel lost the fight.

"I wasn't used to being pressured like that.  I need someone to pressure me like that during sparring," Gabriel said afterwards.  It was a learning experience for him.

The last fight of the night, the one after Gabriel's fight, ended in an abrupt fashion.  One of Barry's fighters was involved.  I heard someone comment that the match had become a street fight.  Barry's fighter had the other guy in a headlock, delivering multiple punches.  Kitchens was the referee, but a park district employee who was identified to me as being one of the heads of the park district's boxing programs, stepped in the ring and broke the boxers up.  Immediately afterwards, it was announced that the fight was stopped due to disqualification.  I had never seen that happen during all of the park district boxing matches that I've seen.

Fighting Through and With Moods

In the above photo, Matthew shadow boxes in the ring.  Matthew hadn't been in for awhile because he took a brief vacation.  He's planning to sign up for the fall session which begins on Monday.  Matthew might compete in Loyola Park's boxing show later this month, but it depends on how much training he gets in between now and then.

Alan asked me how I felt, and I replied there hadn't been much of a change in my emotions.  When I lost a job in 2008 due to being laid off, I expected that was going to happen due to financial issues the company I worked for was experiencing.  But losing a job this time had nothing to do with financial issues nor my work performance, but everything to do with a "scorched earth" agenda that's been in place for some time.  I was just the latest victim of that agenda.  Alan told me, "Hillari, I know it's hard, but you can't stay in this funk.  You've got to remain proactive and keep moving on."

Gabriel came in for a short while, but he didn't work out.  However, Gabriel wants to get a fight at Eckhart Park tomorrow.  Alan and I plan to be in his corner.  This time, I'll remember to wear the corner man's jacket that Amy brought as a gift for me.  I'm not going to bring my gear, because I've never seen any women trying to get fights at Eckhart, and I've never had a fight there.  Besides, I need to be mentally ready for a fight, and judging by my mood lately, I'm not ready to take on one tomorrow.

Alan said that Mary inquired as to how many people should be allowed to sign up for the gym.  Alan told her to take as many as will sign up.  "Unfortunately, after two weeks, a lot of people will drop out," Alan said, which is true.  I'm starting to get irritated when people don't even stick around long enough to learn how to do the workout and miss out on a great exercise routine.  People are told over and over that they are NOT required to spar, but some people get skittish and bail out anyway.

This photo was taken near the end of the evening.  I should be concerned about being barefoot on a wood floor due to the possibility of getting splinters, but I don't think about it much.  If my feet appear to have light patches it's because they do.  I wore sandals a lot over the summer, especially on very hot days like this one was, and I was always standing in the sun.  My feet became tanned in spots.

Tomorrow is yet another day of me with a lot of time on my hands to fill until the boxing show at Eckhart Park.  A friend who've I known since kindergarten told me she's always believed that I was very smart, and that things would work out okay in my situation.  But I often wonder why someone as smart as me keeps getting the short end of the stick in the workplace.  

Hot Day, Hot Gym

Andre mentioned that the gym where Floyd Mayweather Jr. trains stays hot.  Alan said, "The gym I trained in when I was going to college in Arizona was always 100 degrees."  Colonel said, "The temperature in here is the best temperature for training."  The fan was on, but it might as well had not been.

The number of people who showed up was small.  Andre and Louis came in again, but they had already did much of their training in the heat outside, so they didn't stay for too long.  Colonel, Kenny, Professor, and Gabriel were the other guys in the gym.

I was tired.  Many people my age and older keep complaining about not sleeping well.  It must be a middle-aged deal that hits everybody at the same time.  Shadow boxing was a challenge in the beginning, but I pushed through and it improved later on.  But I was sitting down a lot between rounds.  I limped home from work, as my left knee was very tender.  Alan asked me to ask Gabriel if he would spar with me, but my knee wasn't going to take it.

Alan took this shot of my left knee.  By the time this photo was taken, my right knee was acting up, too.

The two Kennys - father and son - worked on the punch mitts.  Kenny Jr. then worked with everyone.  "We've got to get you working more on angles," Kenny told me.  I truly need that, because I don't move enough nor at the right time.  Kenny showed me how to step out of the way of an opponent after throwing hooks and rights, then coming back with a punch before they can.

Gabriel and I thought that the Eckhart Park boxing show was this week, but it's next week.  Gabriel has to check his schedule to see if he can make it.  Gabriel works as a videographer, and there's always the possibility he might have to work.  Alan asked me if I wanted a fight there.  I've never fought at that field house which is located not far from one of my old jobs.  If there's a possibility of one, I'm game.

Here I am, wearing one of my favorite boxing themed T-shirts.  There's always a concern that I'll get blood -mine or someone else's - on one of them, but I wear them anyway.  I hear that hydrogen peroxide is good for getting blood out of fabrics.

Round Robin Boxing in the Ring

As I approached the field house, I could see that the lights of the boxing gym were on.  Jilberto and I walked down to the gym door when I got inside.  "Oops, the coach is naked," Jilberto said.  "Naked?  Who's naked?" I laughed, as I peered inside the gym.  Alan was just pulling up his gym pants.  "There's nothing to see," he grinned.

The sparring began with a round robin between Sarah, myself, and Brandy.  I was seriously planning not to spar.  The effects of the hits I took from Brandy earlier in the week had caught up to me.  My stomach was feeling a little queasy, and I couldn't figure out why.  But when Alan looked at me and said, "Get ready," I was ready to rumble.

I didn't want sparring between Sarah and I to turn into one of our usual wars, so I was trying to pull punches.  But once I started throwing a punch of hooks and focusing on her mid-section, the action got kicked up a bit.  Sarah stepped out after the first round, and Brandy came in to give me more of her good body shots.  Brandy and Sarah sparred together during the next round.  Then I got a third round in with Sarah again. 

Walter and Reygie mixed it up.  It seemed that Walter wasn't throwing his right all the way out most times.  But then he did catch Reygie with a right.  Walter was covering up a lot, something that he's very good at doing.  Reygie, quick as ever, got in a lot of jabs and rights that landed. 

Walter was nice enough to leave the double-end that he brings in at the gym so people can use it even if Walter's not there.  I put it inside my locker at the end of the evening so it wouldn't disappear. 

Colonel keeps promising that his daughter will come into the gym.  He's always saying that she's a good fighter.  But he told her that she can't come in sparring right away; she'll have to work her way up to that like most do.  His daughter came to a match that Kenny had at Eckhart Park a couple of summers ago, but I didn't get a chance to meet her.

Kenny worked with Brandy and I on pads.  I felt like I had done better on the pads than I had in a long, long time.  If only I can make those same crisp punches when I'm in the ring!  I need a lot of practice. 

Beginning Of A Long Break

I ran into Danny on my way to the gym.  He's been living in Florida, going to school studying Business Management.  Danny is now 26 years old.  He's only in Chicago for the summer.  I told him about the gym still being open with Alan (in the photo above) at the helm.  He told me he'd try to stop in, but he didn't make it in Monday evening.

Gene came in, wondering where everybody was.  Outside of Alan and I, Amy and Igor were in attendance.  "We always tell people the gym is open even though the session is officially over, but that never seems to be communicated well," I said.  "Looks like Gene is going to be your sparring partner today," Alan said, and Gene smiled.

During sparring, I thought to myself, "What would Claressa Shields do?"  The night before, I discovered a podcast -- Women Box on iTunes -- that chronicled Shields, Marlen Esparza, Queen Underwood, and several other female boxers' journeys through the Olympic trials.  Shields said, "I ain't afraid of no man, I ain't afraid of no girl," when questioned about if she got nervous before fights.  I tried to be fearless like her in the face of Gene's long arms.  Alan pointed out that Gene often leaves his right hand down, and it's easy to get a left hook in.  I couldn't get the left one in, but I did get one right hook in that surprised Gene. 

Gene covered up a lot, giving me a chance to get some other punches in, but often we were in clinches, forcing Alan to call "Break!" each time.  Later, Alan showed him how to get in on someone but block incoming punches at the same time. 

As usual, Igor took an interest in watching Gene while the sparring was going on.  After Igor left, Gene told Alan that Igor had asked him about sparring.  I shook my head.  "Igor always asks, but he never does it.  I gave him the option of either sparring with you or Hillari, but he didn't take it," Alan said. 

Amy kept up her routine of jumping rope, hitting the uppercut bag behind the ring, and doing crunches.  Gene (in the photo above), Alan and I were working the heavy bags.  I was popping the black heavy bag with left and right hooks during one round.  When the bell rang to end the round, I commented, "Now if I could only throw left hooks in the ring like I do on the bag!"  Alan agreed.  "Keep your hands up, stay relaxed, and just throw the hooks.  Have to take some of the punches to get some in.  If people keep covering up in anticipation of the incoming punches, they'll never get their punches in," he said.

Eckhart Park's boxing show is this Thursday, but no one in the adult boxing gym has plans to go.  Loyola Park's boxing show is late next month, and as far as I know, I'm the only one looking to get a fight at that event.  The Fall session starts three days before that show, and there's no way any newbies starting then will be prepared to compete there -- unless they've been boxing awhile elsewhere. 

Alan joked about having a salami sandwich for lunch along with ice cream from Dairy Queen.  Gene laughed, "It shows!", and Alan patted his stomach.  I had the nerve to have two hot dogs, a large order of fries, and a Hawaiian Punch for lunch.  The hot dogs upset my stomach for a minute later on that afternoon.  Bad food habits are hard to break.  I thought about having a slice of bread with peanut butter and a banana for dinner.  The George Foreman grill was pulled out, and I made two grilled cheese sandwiches, drank blueberry Mio, and had two sugar free fudge Popsicles.  Next time I go grocery shopping, I will stock up more on healthier options, preferably ones that I don't have to cook, of course.

Alan and I were talking about Krav Maga, a self-defense method.  The coach knows a guy who teaches it. "I haven't taken a self-defense class in a long time.  I'd like to take another one," I said.  "You box in here.  Do you really need to take one?" Alan said.  "I took one way back in high school," I told him.  I think I got an 'A', if I remember correctly. "Would you say that you're better at self-defense now?" Alan asked.  "Yeah, I know more about it than I did when I was sixteen years old," I said.  "If you do stuff like boxing, then you know self-defense methods," the coach said. 

Hot at Eckhart

I had been running all day long. . .trying to figure out how to move stuff around my apartment so the exterminators who are coming next week can do their job (the task is a headache), taking the contents of my piggy bank to deposit in the bank (it is worth it to save your change), picking up my notary public commission (after having waited since May for it to be processed). Then it was off to Eckhart Park for another Chicago Park District boxing show.

I packed my gear, but I figured I'd come up empty-handed when it came to being matched up.  I was right.  Oscar came in a little after the weigh-in was over, but there were people his weight for him to fight.  But I think the official verdict was that they were too young for Oscar to fight.  Kenny was more fortunate, as he did get a fight.  Arturo, one of the coaches, gave Alan passbooks created by the Park District for Kenny and I to fill out.  This is something new that has been introduced.  I understand the coaches and officials are concerned about people fabricating the amount of fights they've had.  I know I fought Meg from Hamlin twice, but I could not remember in which field houses those fights took place.  I'll have to scroll back through the entries in this blog to figure it out.  

Sarah and Amy arrived a little before the first bout began, and they were happy to learn that Kenny had gotten a fight.  I helped Alan in the corner.  Kenny's opponent was a somewhat muscular guy in his early twenties.  The windows were open in the gym, but no air was stirring.  One large floor fan, off on the other side of the room, was working, but it wasn't enough to cool the room down.  "I don't want to sound like I'm continually complaining, but it's hot in here.   I wouldn't want to fight in this heat," Alan said.

Here is a portion of the last round.  I thought I had gotten Alan talking to Kenny immediately afterwards, as well as Kenny's arm being raised in victory.  As you can see, the camera goes out of focus -- I was helping to take Kenny's gloves off as that happened -- and it cuts off after that.  Kenny's opponent won the first round, but then Kenny got the best of him by out-punching the guy.  Sarah commented, "He used the uppercut on the guy that he showed us in the gym last night!" 

Bill told Alan and I that he would bring Meg over to the Loyola show later this month as an opponent for me.  He mentioned that she hasn't been training much at Hamlin.  I remembered seeing a news report months ago about her showing she also trains at the firehouse where she works, so she's probably getting workouts in there. 

Eckhart's boxing show was one of the shortest ones I've attended.  It was over in an hour.  Just as well, considering how hot and dry it was.  Today's temperature was in the 90s, but it felt good when we all got back outside.  Sarah and Amy gave me a ride home. 

Pad Work Night

Alan had to attend a job function, so he was not in the gym this evening.  In attendance were Jesus, Oscar, Kenny, Amy, Sarah, and Jacob.  There's a boxing show tomorrow at Eckhart Park; neither Jesus, Sarah or Amy wanted a match.  Kenny and Oscar plan to fight, but Jacob will let Alan know if he can later on. 

Taylor Park will hold the next Chicago Park District boxing show, but Loyola Park's, which follows Taylor's show, may have to be postponed.   Alan checked the calendar and noticed Loyola's show takes place during Rosh Hashanah.  That means neither he or Barry would be able to attend.  He let Mary know, but she said they'll discuss it later on. 

One looky-loo came by, a woman who had walked into the gym Monday.  She didn't ask any questions then, and tonight, she peeked in briefly.  Ramon, who used to train regularly in the youth program, came in with another guy who also was in the youth program, but briefly.  Ramon told me that he'd like to participate in the Loyola Boxing show, but he's been out of the gym for three months.  Barry told him he'd have to train for several weeks in order to be in the show.  I held pads for Ramon's friend, who nearly blacked my right eye when he missed a shot. 

Kenny and Jacob took turns holding pads for each other.  Then Kenny alternated between holding pads for myself and Sarah.  Kenny had me do jab-right-slip right-slip left-duck-straight right-left hook a few times.  I thought it was a good combination.  After we were done, I practiced that in the mirror. 

Overall, I felt I really got in a good workout.  Usually, I don't drink all of the water I carry in a bottle to the gym, but I did tonight.  I must have really been working.  But then I need to get back to drinking a lot of water anyway.  I've kind of fell down on the job over the past two to three years in regards to making sure I get my eight glasses in every day.  It was easier when I had a full-time job.  I kept a water bottle on my desk, so that was a constant reminder not only to drink it but to keep it full.  But since I was laid off, I've fallen out of the habit.  I brought another couple of diet planners, so that's an extra incentive to keep track of my water intake, as well as how much food I shovel in from day to day. 

I was talking with Rachel, who is Aaron's (the church's custodian) wife earlier today.  I told her about how I box.  "I couldn't do that (boxing).  I'd not want anyone to have to call 911 on account of me hurting them," she laughed.  When Alan often accuses me of not hitting someone hard enough, I now realize it's usually because I like the person whom I'm sparring.  I don't want to send them to the hospital.  I told Rachel it's easier for me to go extra hard in an actual match because I usually didn't know my opponent before we got into the ring.  But even in that case, I still don't want to seriously hurt someone, even though I want to win.  I don't think guys who box have that problem at all, even if their opponent is a buddy of theirs. 

Five Times The Sparring

There was a small crowd in the gym on Monday night.  A guy came in with his five year old son; he just picked up the gloves and started hitting the bags.  I assumed Alan gave him the go-ahead because he didn't say anything to the guy when he saw him.  The guy ended up working the pads with Jesus later in the evening.  At the end of the night, the guy complimented me on my sparring. 

Renee and I sparred first.  She got me a a couple of good body shots, and I kept aiming at her head, since she's not much taller than I am.  Renee was done after the first round, because she was gassed out.

Alan and I did the next two rounds, and he had no headgear on.  He didn't really need it.  I kept laughing because he kept getting me with sneaky punches.  He was laughing, too.  However, I managed to avoid taking another kidney shot from him. 

Jimmy (wearing the orange shorts in the photo above) sparred with Nathaniel (in the red shorts).  Alan is seen watching the action.  Once again, another spectacular punch took place while my back was turned.  Jimmy punched Nathaniel in the nose; Nathaniel was bleeding.  Some of his blood was on the canvas, and I had to wash off one of the water bottles, because some of it had splashed on there, too.  He was okay, but he told me that his nose was hurting like hell.  "I'll be going to bed early tonight," he smiled.

Alan noticed that Jesus had not sparred.  "Do you want to spar?" he asked, and Jesus looked around the room to see with whom he could spar.  "Don't look around; it doesn't matter," Alan told him.  I agreed to get back into the ring with Jesus.  "Really hit him because he has to learn to hit back," Alan told me before the bell for the first round rang.  While I was in there, Alan told Jesus, "Hit her!  It's okay!"  Before the second round, Sarah suggested that I end my combinations with my left.  I took her advice, and it worked more times than not. 

I saw Ray this past Saturday.  He's a barber at Clippers and Shears, and I went to have my hair cut by him.  Ray would have gone to Harrison Park last week, but the man fell ill that evening and couldn't make it in.  Hopefully, he'll come in on Wednesday.  Eckhart Park is having their boxing show this Thursday, and maybe Ray could get a fight there. By the way, he cuts hair very well.