The "Oof!" Factor

A woman named Stephanie stopped by to talk to Alan.  I figured that she knew something about boxing; it was just a feeling I had.  Sure enough, I heard her tell Alan that she had taken up the sport at the Ultimate Fit Club in Evanston, which also houses the Evanston Boxing Club.  She stayed around to observe the action for awhile before leaving.  I hope that she plans to sign up for the winter session in January.

Jacob had both of his thumbs wrapped up with tape.  He said that the tape helped protect his thumbs, especially the one that was fractured.  I might do that myself.  My right thumb still hurts a little from when it connected with Kevin's head last week.

Ray and Professor sparred several rounds, as seen in the photo above.  Collette taped the action as she stood on the side of the ring.  The two men had a good session, as they worked with each other as they traded punches.  That's what sparring is supposed to be -- practice, as well as an exchange of information via movement. 

Paul, Alan's boss, said that he was still hurting somewhat from the last time he and Alan sparred.  They went around again.  Afterwards, Alan asked me, "It's true that Paul goes after me hard, right?"  I told Paul, "You start out hard in the beginning, then Alan starts going hard."  It's always true that even when everybody agrees to "go light", all it takes is for one person to throw a few hard punches.  Then the other person feels they have to respond in kind.  But it's not about people being angry because somebody put more force in (but sometimes, it is, depending on who's sparring).   It's about keeping up with the pace of the other opponent. 

Alan kidded Renee about sparring to give me some work.  Amy didn't want to spar, so I ended up in the ring with Alan.  I threw overhand rights, even got him with some straight rights.  But I kept getting crowded into the corners, and several times, I could neither punch or turn my way out of them.  I tried to get shots to his mid-section, but Alan's long arms protected his torso well.  Mine was wide open too many times.  Alan hit me in the middle about three or four times.  I went "Oof!" each time.  "I got her!" Alan said each time he landed a shot there.  I could hear some of the guys making comments.  Ray said, "Good overhand", during one of the few times that I actually caught Alan with that particular punch. Reggie said, "Hillari, put Alan in a body bag!" 

Paul took pictures of the sparring.

 "Hillari, you were moving so fast, you were a blur!"  Paul said.  One of the pictures he took is above.  I thought I was struggling and bumbling around at various points.  "You did good work, and you hit hard" Alan told me.  He noted that I always come at him harder during sparring than I do anyone else. After thinking about it, I had to admit that I do pound on Alan more than I do others during sparring.  It's probably because, of all the guys in the gym -- with maybe the exception of Kenny -- Alan pushes me to do more when we are sparring.  He doesn't let up, that's for sure.  I have to remain focused or take some rough hits.

During the last round we sparred, Alan had me on the ropes.  "I'm not hitting you that hard," he said, after I took another hit to the stomach.  "Yes, you are," I gasped.  "No, you just breathed in air as I threw the punch," Alan said, as I tried to move out of his reach. My nose took a hit, and I was stunned for a second.  Another crack to my head rocked me on my feet, too, but I had to shake it off.  The photo above is also courtesy of Paul. 

Alan thinks that I'm ready to do four rounds of sparring instead of the usual three.  I want to try to do four rounds.  There was a time I could do five rounds, but I wasn't as old or as heavy as I am now.  I'll push myself to do an extra round.

The coach joked that I don't seem to show much love to Pastor Roger on this blog.  I'll have to re-read some of my posts. . .eh, I don't doubt that I have been hard on the pastor here sometimes (and on Facebook, etc., etc.).  Believe me, I hear about it from Pastor Roger.  The protest usually start with, "But Hillari, you've made a wrong assumption about me."  The pastor met Steve, the former coach, a long time ago, but one day, I'll have to introduce him and Alan to each other in person.  Pastor will probably ask Alan like he asked Steve a few years ago, "Is she any good in the ring?"

Owed a Half of a Round

Last night, Carlos and I began sparring in the middle of a round.  After that round ended, Alan told me, "You still owe me a half a round."  "You gonna do that to me?  As old as I am?" I said while I huffed and puffed.  "Yeah, you gotta push yourself," Alan smiled.

The next round proved that I have become better at covering up.  Deflecting punches is something I still need to work on, howver.  Carlos was going non-stop.  It was as if someone had put rocks in an oversized slingshot and fired them all at once.  I did get in hooks to his head and his body, but they were not effective in slowing down his onslaught.  I was done after that round.

Jamil sparred with Carlos, and there was blood around the collar of his white shirt.  It was hard to tell who was bleeding, as neither man had signs of crimson leaking.  Carlos had a bruise on the underside of his top lip, and Jamil had taken hits to the mouth as well.  But it still was a mystery as to whom had been cut.  It could have happened while Jamil was sparring with Demond earlier.  "My mom's gonna yell when she sees it," Jamil smiled.

I heard Alan ask Diana if she was going to spar.  "No, I don't have a mouthpiece," she answered.  She told him that she'll pick one up for next week.  The other women did not come into to the gym last night. 

This morning, I did my usual workout in the church gym.  "Tell me if the music is too loud," I told Pastor Roger before I went downstairs.  Today is the National Day of Prayer, and most churches are open for people to have some quiet time in the sanctuary.  It wouldn't do to have people in the sanctuary trying to focus on God and hearing some R&B and hip-hop floating up from below.  During the workout, I felt a little twinge in the middle of my upper back.  Several years ago, there was pain in that area after I helped a nurse lift my dad so she could change his bed sheets while he was in the hospital.  He was average height, but he was heavyset.  I didn't have enough leverage as I thought on my side to lift him.  That happened a couple a weeks before he passed away.  I ended up going to the chiropractor to have my back straightened out after that.  I hope that little twinge doesn't mean I reinjured myself.  

Carlos likes to cook.  He told me he had eaten some chicken fried steak with gravy, and that his son Justin really liked it.  He's trying to change his diet in order to get down in size.  Alan joked to me, "Did you eat the whole pizza you ordered Monday night?"  I had told him when he dropped me off at home that I was going to order one.  "I ordered lasagna instead, but I didn't eat the whole thing," I answered.  Having noticed that Paulette will save half of a restaurant meal to eat later, I made that suggestion to Carlos and Ralphie.  I've been doing that myself lately whenever I order out.  If I'm actually at a restaurant, I'll either save half to take home, or just leave it on my plate.  It is so true that most restaurants serve bigger portions than necessary. 

Paulette and I had gone to a luncheon this past Tuesday, so I didn't do my usual workout that day.  I'll have to do another one either tomorrow or Saturday.  I haven't done a kettlebell workout in awhile, so I may do that if I don't do another boxing workout at church. 

Getting The Uppercut In

Leon, Ralphie and Carlos did a bit of interval training on Wednesday. The drill went like this: one person hits the heavy bag for 30 seconds while another person holds it. Then the person holding the bag hits the bag for 30 seconds while the next person holds it, and so forth.

I sparred with Carlos again earlier that evening, and managed to make it through two rounds. I caught him a couple of times with uppercuts. "Nice," I heard Alan say from the sidelines. For the longest time, I have been trying to figure out how to get in uppercuts on opponents. As short as I am, it's not easy. Carlos likes to do a lot of bobbing and weaving. One of the times he ducked down is when I got him with a left uppercut.

Alan told Carlos that he was ready for a match, and he told him about a Park District boxing show that takes place next Thursday. Carlos works various shifts at his job, but he thought he'd be able to attend. "I have to talk it over with my wife before I say yes," he announced. "She's afraid of you being hurt," I said, and he agreed. He also talked about the possibility of being in next year's Golden Gloves. Since he's had no previous fights, Carlos would be classified as a novice in that competition.

Carlos told me that his son Justin would like to box, but his wife nixed the idea. He'll put Justin in basketball instead, when the boy turns six years old. Moms either are for their kids boxing or against it. There seems to be no middle ground when it comes to that. The ones who are supportive of it appear to be really into it when they show up at the matches.

The following day, I was on my way to help Pastor and Virginia clean and move some things up to their new apartment when I spotted Barry in the alley. Barry was working; he's with Streets and Sanitation. He was chatting with a neighbor of mine who lives on the other side of the alley. For several years now, I've been exchanging pleasantries with that particular neighbor, but I never knew his name. After I greeted them both, Barry told the neighbor, "Hillari is one of the boxers at the gym."

My neighbor smiled and said, "I figured that she was." To my surprise, I found out that he's Gabe's dad. His name is David. "I was looking for Gabe this summer," I told him. Gabe was going to college out of state, but he would stop in the gym several times during the summers. "He's going to law school downtown now," David said. I've always thought that David was a good-looking silver fox. Now I see where Gabe gets his good looks from.

"You Do What?"

This past weekend, I attended my high school class reunion. The classes of 1978 and 1979 celebrated together (I'm part of the latter class). People were asking each other what do they do for a living now. "I'm a church secretary by day, and an assistant boxing coach at night", I told Dennis, one of my former classmates. His eyes lit up, and he laughed. "That's how we Whitney Young High School students are -- full of surprises!" he said. Then we talked about how good of a fighter Manny Pacquiao is.

Others at my reunion had similar reactions when I told them. Dorian, andother former classmate, had taken martial arts for a time. Her youngest son now teaches it. "I used to spar, but I got hit in the stomach once and that was it," she told me. I told her and several others about being knocked out in the gym a few weeks ago by Ieisha. The alumni cringed. "Wow, you are something else," someone told me.

Last night in the gym, I told Leon about the damage he'd done to Deo. Alan told me that Deo had his eye operation, and was doing fine. "You're kidding me," Leon said. "I feel so bad. I didn't think I hit him that hard." I thought the same way when I knocked out Maggie, but I underestimated my own strength.

Alan mentioned a bout to Leon that is taking place out in Mundeline. I overheard Leon say that he had no boxing gloves. I thought about a pair that I have at home, but I think they are more suited to martial arts than boxing. I brought them while I was still attending Degerberg Martial Arts Academy.

Get your boxing gloves and equipment for less.

Once again I teased little Justin about him and I sparring. He gave me a funny look as he played with his Spiderman action figures. "You must be thinking, 'this woman is crazy,' " I told him. He smiled at me. His father, Carlos, sparred with Alan. I was worried when Alan took a few hits; he was not wearing headgear. Carlos and Alan kept locking each other up. I was watching on the sidelines, calling out, "Break!" whenever they did.

Carlos also sparred with Ralphie. During the last 30 seconds of the last round they were in the ring, Ralphie let loose with some fast combinations. He had Carlos up against the ropes a few times while doing that.

Jamil is getting better in the ring. He was sparring with Oscar, who kept his head down too much. I wish I had paid more attention in my high school Spanish classes. Oscar doesn't speak a lot of English. It would be nice if I could help Alan relay instructions to him. But Ralphie, Carlos and Al help with that when they are around.