Trying To Work Everything In

Pedro (who appears to have been gaining more and more confidence in the ring) mixes it up with tall Matthew in the photo above.

Wow. . . .today is Saturday, and I'm just now making the second posting of the week on this blog.  I've been a bit distracted because of trying to make four income streams work online.  This blog is one of them.  The other three are womVegas.com, SFI (Strong Futures International), and smartwomenboxingtraining.org.  All of them are just producing pennies at the moment, but I'm hoping that changes.  Maybe I'm just doing too much at one time.  But I have to do something.  Last night, I attended a performance of the Chicago Shakespeare Theater in Loyola Park (the play done was A Comedy of Errors).  I ran into a couple, Eva and Tim, whom I used to work with years ago.  They told me they're both dealing with unemployment.  I'm dealing with underemployment, which is just as problematic, with seemingly no end in sight.  If only I could make boxing -- coaching, promoting, managing -- a full time job, I'd be happy.

Sarah returned to the gym, and she and I sparred as can be seen from the photo above.

Here I attempted to get in a right hook (Alan took the pictures).  Notice how high I had to reach.  I don't think that hook connected.

The left jab that Sarah put out here probably did connect.  I look like I'm walking into it in this photo.

I might have been hit with something here.  Doesn't it look like I'm weaving?

I reached up with another right hook here.  I don't think that connected either.  I think I telegraph too many of my punches, because Sarah usually blocks most of them.

The focus on starting online businesses have also distracted me from going up to Hamlin Park.  I had planned to go there a few days ago to get some sparring in.  I also could have gone this morning, but I was busy working online.  I keep feeling guilty because I know Bill has invited me to come up there many times.  Now here it is late summer, and I still haven't made it.  I'll try again next week because I need the extra workout. My plans to pull out the exercise DVDs at home haven't come to pass this year, either.

Changing Up Headgear

I should have immediately gone to the washroom and got some paper towels not long after Nathaniel walked into the gym.  Nathaniel is becoming more aggressive in the ring (note the punch he gives to Gabriel in the above photo), but still getting hurt during each sparring session it seems.  It looked like Nathaniel also took some hits to his eye, which caused him to stop the sparring near the end of the third round that he and Gabriel were in the ring.

Gabriel was dancing around Nathaniel a lot and just popping hits out.  Nathaniel took some hard punches to his face, but Gabriel was paid back with a few hits.  It couldn't have been easy to get those in, because Gabriel has very long arms.

Kenny was complaining that his neck hurt.  It was probably from hits he took the last few times he sparred.  Some fighters have strong necks that can withstand punches that turn others' heads around backwards.  For those who don't have such necks, they can be built up via exercises that specifically work those muscles.  I have an neck exercise buried somewhere in my apartment, but when it was out where I could see it, I still wasn't using it as much as I should have.

Alan took this photo of Nathaniel and Gabriel shortly after they had finished sparring.  Nathaniel was rubbing his eyes, trying to see straight.

Sarah and I sparred, and I tried to use my left hook more.  But every time I tried to aim a left hook at Sarah's head, one of her long arms would block it.  I got some left hooks in on the body, but I love the right hand too much, so I was using that more.

Instead of using my own headgear, I tried out the umpire's mask type headgear that Kevin left behind in my locker a few years ago.  "You're not going to like that headgear," Alan told me as he put a pair of sparring gloves on me.  He was right.  The headgear made it impossible for me to talk because of the way it bumped up against my chin.  My peripheral vision was blocked to an extent, and on top of that, the headgear kept slipping.  It protected my face from a lot of Sarah's strong punches, but when she connected, the headgear got twisted around.  When the first round ended, Alan took that headgear off of me, and put one on me from the community ones on the rack in the gym.

Alan commented that Sarah and I were banging on each other while in the ring.  It did turn into another mini-war during the last round.  Sarah clocked me with a slapping right punch, and I kept coming in and ducking down to get direct body shots in.  

No Dante tonight.  Alan told Kenny that Dante finally signed up for Barry's boxing class, which was a good thing.  No one really minded Dante coming around, but Mary would have raised sand if he kept showing up in the adult class.  

Currently, my back is bothering me a little, and both knees are sore.  I slipped and fell while trying to catch Sarah with a right hook to the body during the last round of sparring we had.  I laughed at my own clumsiness.  But I'm paying for it now.  There's not enough Epsom salt left because I used that the other night in an attempt to nurse my left knee (which is still acting up on and off).  The Mineral Ice or Ben Gay will have to do in order for me to get a half-way decent night's sleep.