Two Shiners

Alan was sporting the trace of a black eye he received last week, courtesy of Jacob.  Today, Sarah showed up with a bit of a shiner that had also been doled out by Jacob.  I'm surprised that I haven't had one, as many times as I've been hit in both eyes over the past two years.  Maybe I shouldn't talk so loud. . . .

I ran into Kyra -- whom I had wrongly named J here -- on the bus over the weekend.  She would like to come back to the gym, and plans to do so at some point.  But she lives out on the south side, and it's a haul traveling way up north to get to the gym.

Professor sparred with his brother Miles.  Alan noted that they are good together because they know each others' moves.  I laughed, "If I was sparring with any of my sisters, that would turn into a war."  In particular, I imagined my late younger sister taking people on in sparring sessions.  I can hear it now: "Damn. . .Hillari's sister is vicious!"   I make an effort to be nice while I'm sparring because the goal is not to overpower someone.  My younger sister would have beat someone until the coach pulled her off of them. 

Sarah, Renee, and myself had a round robin session of sparring.  As usual, I had to focus on the body with Sarah -- it's practically impossible for me to reach her head most of the time.  I noticed when she was sparring with Jacob last week that Sarah loves to keep her left hand high up close to her head for protection.  There's no way I can get a right hook to her head because of that; I've tried. Usually, I'm just trying to survive when I'm in the ring with her.

Renee had her hands down a lot, and I was able to get in a lot of punches to her head.  She surprised me by rocking a combination of punches straight to my stomach when I wasn't covering up.  Believe me, I felt those punches.  I had to back up to get some air.  Right now, I feel fine.  But tomorrow or Friday, the pain will return, and I'll go around wondering, "What did I do?" until the reason why comes back to me.

Jimmy and Alan sparred, and I told Jimmy as they got ready, "You have to watch Alan, because Alan is slick."  Jimmy said, "Is he going to be rough on me?"  Alan said, "No, we're just going to move around."  "That's what he always says," I told Jimmy.  Jimmy gave Alan some good hooks to the head, and he kept moving around.  I called out instructions, sounding like the boxing referees on cable TV:  "Break!"  "Box!"  "Hands up!"

Jacob Does His Rounds

Alan worked Jacob Monday night.  I believe Jacob did about nine rounds with several of us: myself, Sarah, Nate, and Nathaniel.  "Poor Jacob is going to get worked to death!" I told Alan. 

 

In the photo above, Nate wards off an attack from Jacob as Alan looks on.  I believe that was Nate's first time sparring at the gym.  He did a good job hanging in with Jacob.

Sarah and Jacob are featured in the above video clip.  Alan pointed out to Sarah that she throws wild, which I know all too well.  Jacob had his hands down a few times, and she beaned him with some hooks.  Alan suggested that Sarah slow down and pick her shots.  She got tired late in the second round, and she was tired throughout the entire third round, but Sarah gamely hung on.  Jacob said he liked being in the ring with someone who wouldn't let up; it pointed out that he needs to work on his defense.

I was exhausted after going my three rounds with Jacob.  Alan told me later that the last two rounds I did were very good.  I was aiming at Jacob's head, and got him there a few times.  It was the body shots that worked better.  Finally, I thought to execute a punch from the side and avoid someone else's long arms.  I stepped around Jacob and got him in the side of his torso with a left hook. 

A little boy came in with a girl whom I assumed was his sister.  I heard him ask the girl, "They fight in here?"  before I walked over to them.  The girl said she had been going to the field house for awhile, but she had never seen the boxing gym.  I told the boy about the kids' boxing program and asked him how old he was.  "I'm five," he replied.  The boy was quite tall for his age.  "Sorry, you have to be eight years old to sign up.  You look strong, however" I told him.  "I'm stronger than my sister," he asserted.  He explained that the girl with him was not his sister, but a 17 year old who was his older brother's girlfriend.  Considering that some boys learn how to box at age three, I thought it was a shame the kid would have to wait three years. 

Coaching and Recording

While taking my usual stroll to the gym by way of the lakefront, I ran into Mathieu and Erica.  Both of them assured me their fingers were fine:  Erica had slammed one of her in a car door, and Mathieu hurt his the last time he sparred with big Leon.  Mathieu knew I had a blog, but Erica didn't.  I emailed them copies of pictures I took of them in the gym.

Not only are the ring ropes still in need of repair, but the double end bag was found laying on the floor.  One of the kids probably hit it too hard yesterday and it fell; it happens.  Alan climbed up on a ladder to fix it, but it was still not high enough for most people to use.  It was perfect for me, but outside of Oscar, I'm the only vertically challenged person in the gym.  "They'll have to punch down," Alan said.  But then Jimmy, one of the new people, climbed up to adjust the height again until it was okay.

In the above video is just one round of sparring between lanky guys Jacob and Alan.  They did five rounds in total.  I heard someone behind me, may have been Tommy, commenting, "The old guy looks pretty good in the ring", referring to Alan.  "He must have been boxing for a long time," Nathaniel (another new person) said.  The two men kept going like Energizer Batteries.  I shadow boxed near the ring to watch them during the other four rounds.  In between one of the rounds, I said to some others standing nearby, "Alan does good for a guy of a certain age."  Alan grinned, and said, "Thanks, Hillari", in a joking sarcastic manner.


There were three full rounds between Sarah, who's at least 5 foot 8, and Oscar, who's my height (5 foot 1).  I noticed that when Oscar got in head shots, he reached up to Sarah using angles.  "Ah-ha!  So that's how it's done!" I thought to myself. 

I sparred with Ursula again who asked beforehand, "Are you going to be nice to me?" I pulled as many punches as I could, but the harder ones kept slipping in.  I thought we had done three rounds, until Alan put on a set of gloves -- but put on no headgear -- and stepped inside the squared circle.  "You have to do three rounds," he said.  I was tired out, but managed to make it through that last round, trying to catch Alan as best as I could.  I got him in the face with a right, but that was the only significant punch I made. 

I showed Jimmy how to use the double bag, and showed Ray (not muscular Ray, but a new guy in the gym) how to stand and how to pivot.  Ray told me that he can't hold a baseball bat the normal way.  "One eye is weaker than the other one, so in order to see the ball better, I have to stand the other way," he said.  I hold a baseball bat in the opposite way as well, something that other kids would curse me out about when I was in grade school.  One of my eyes is weaker than the other, too, but I didn't hold the bat the "wrong" way because of that.  It was because I felt I had more power to swing it from that position. 

Double Sparring For Me

It was a full house in the gym tonight.  Nate returned with a woman whom I believed he introduced to Alan as his wife.  She said she missed the first week of the summer session.  Cynthia asked me if Ray had come in.  He didn't, and he was one of only a few who were not in attendance. 

A guy who used to box at Clarendon Park came by to see Alan.  The man had his two children with him, a boy, aged 10 and a girl 11-going-on-12.  The boy put on headgear and got into the ring for a mock fight with Alan.  Alan got down on his knees in order to even the playing field.  The man told me that his son was interested in taking up the sport, and that his daughter showed interest, too.

Below are images of two different sparring sessions that took place.  The one I didn't videotape was the sparring session between Oscar and Jacob.  Jacob is way taller than Oscar, but the shorter man handled his business.  He did a very nice job at one point using his jab to confound Jacob.   Jacob can been seen in a couple of clips here going up against Marcus.  It was the first time that Marcus had sparred.  While the two men sparred, I turned the camera around to show what else is usually going on in the gym while there is action taking place inside the ring.

The clips with the two women?  The little short dark complexioned woman is me; I finally remembered to have someone tape me while I sparred (Alan did the honors).  The dark-haired woman is Ursula, who can throw some good hits.  She caught me in the mouth and face a few times.  I kept landing jabs to her face and hooks to her head.  "Easy!" Alan warned me at one point when I was hitting a little too hard.  I inherited my late father's heavy hands, and sometimes, I don't realize that I'm going too hard on someone.  That was the first times in months that I was able to get so many head shots in. 

I had a few rounds rests in-between Ursula and Sarah, but the rest period didn't help me much with Sarah.  I tried the relaxed and easy stance that I did with Ursula, but I got dusted, as my late Uncle Fred used to say.  Sarah popped me in my right eye several times, simply because I was too slow to move my head and protect my face.  One such shot had me seeing double out of that eye for a few moments.  Remember, that was the eye I had to have checked last summer because I thought the retina was torn.  All in all, I did four rounds this evening, one more round than I have done in a long time. 

Alan wanted to keep the fact that tomorrow is his 60th birthday under the radar.  I didn't mention anything about it until the end of the evening when we were walking to his car. Guys don't usually make a big deal out of their birthdays, even if it's a milestone one, while women spend a lot of time bemoaning the fact they are getting older.  It's funny.   "It's a blessing, but I can hardly believe I got to this point.  Time goes so fast," he said. 

Ring Without Borders

The post that was barely holding up one corner of the gym was laying down on the canvas when we got into the gym.  It was totally shot; half of the ring was down.  Oscar and I sparred, and we had to be very mindful of where we were moving around.

I was moving like an old elephant, and Oscar was whipping me up.  I did manage to ward off most of his right hooks by keeping my hands up.  His straight on jabs and rights were impossible to avoid, and just as hard to ward off.  "Come on, Hillari!  Pop that jab out there," Alan barked from his position outside the ring.  A few pops backed Oscar up to the side of the ring where the ropes were not up to support him falling back.  But the guy came back extra strong behind that.  I slipped and fell to the canvas; afterwards, my left shoulder was hurting.  Oscar got close and directed a jab to my mid-section.  I covered up, but too late to stop the damage.  The beating went on for three rounds.  After the final bell, I took a seat in front of the fan in the gym for a couple of rounds.

Renee and Ursula agreed to go light for a couple of rounds.  Neither had head gear nor mouthpieces, but they were giving out some pretty vicious hooks to each others' stomachs and heads.  Alan got into the ring to monitor their progress more closely. Ursula dashed off to the women's washroom after the second round, stating that she felt nauseous.  When she returned to the gym, she said she didn't get sick, but felt like she was about to do so.

We did burn-outs at the end.  Amy and I were on one bag, and Renee and Ursula were on the other heavy bag for a couple of rounds.  Then Oscar, his friend (whose name I still don't know), and Marcus did the burn out on the red heavy bag that Amy and I had been on.

The above photo is of Renee, myself, and Alan.  Notice how sweaty I am.  It wasn't that hot inside the gym, but the combination of Oscar's beat down and the burn out really had the water going. 

I told Alan that the underside of my upper lip felt like it had been cut.  A check in my bathroom mirror when I got home showed that it had been seriously bruised.  One of Oscar's punches had landed in my mouth, and I didn't even remember it had. 

Barry Runs It

The gym was scheduled not to be open tonight.  Alan had to call off, and Mary didn't want me to have to deal with the newbies -- Amanda, Ray, Nate, Ursula, and Renee -- on my own.  However, Mary was able to convince Barry to come and open the gym.  Professor, his brother, and Marcus were also in attendance.

Professor and his brother Miles had a very good sparring session that went on for a few rounds.  Barry was concerned that the ring was going to fall down.  The ropes and a few of the poles need to be tightened up.  It always takes awhile before that gets done.

Barry went over a lot of stuff with the newbies, including working the pads.  I held pads for Ursula, and in turn, she held pads for me.  Renee and Amanda worked with Barry on the pads.  I got in a good workout doing that, as well as going in-between the bags. 

Tonight was the first time that I remember all the newbies staying until the end of the night.  Normally, most of them leave early on the first night, but they all seemed satisfied with what they learned throughout the evening. 

Hot Time In The Gym. . . Literally

Above is one of the rounds of sparring that Ray and Leon did.  None of the trash talking that was evident on Monday; just two guys working with each other in the ring.

In the above picture, Amy works the heavy bag.  Alan is on the speed bag in the background.  See that fan next to him on the floor?  I donated that fan a couple of years ago, and it was needed tonight.


Oscar and I sparred right before Ray and Leon did.  "I give you credit for hanging in there with him, because Oscar is quick," Ray told me later.  "Yes, he is.  I couldn't chase him around the ring," I replied.  I didn't think I did so well.  My hands were down at the wrong times, and I waited on Oscar too much when I should have thrown the first punches.  For some reason, I couldn't get in any left hooks to Oscar's head, but I could get in right hooks to his midsection. He likes to throw right hooks, and I remained mindful of that.  A few did connect, however. 

The second video is a continuation of Ray and Leon sparring.  They only did two rounds.  The heat in the gym didn't help either.  I was too drained after sparring to do a few more rounds on the bags.  Most everybody else was feeling the effects, too. 

A Sparring Debate

It was so hot in the gym.  It was 90 degrees outside. As soon as Carolyn opened the door, I turned on the fan, but it didn't help much. 

In the clip below, Derek and Oscar spar.  Alan and I can be heard having a conversation as the action rolls on.  I sparred with Oscar after Derek's time was up, and I can tell you that Oscar has improved greatly.  One of his punches caught me in the mouth and nearly had me stretched out on the canvas.  Alan kept saying, "You can get him!  He's the same height as you!"  But Oscar is faster and hits harder.  I made one good combination: a left to his face and a right hook that sent him back into the ropes.  After that, it was all Oscar's show.

An ex-boss of Alan's named Kevin, and his son Tom came in the gym.  Father and son, shown in the picture below, tried some sparring with Alan in the ring acting as referee.  Kevin popped his son with a right.  The whole gym went, "Ooh!"  Alan joked to Tom, "That's for when you do something wrong the next time."  "That's right!" Ray agreed as he was grinning.

 Leon came in later in the evening.  He couldn't convince Oscar to spar with him, and Leon jokingly told me, "You're next!"  Ray agreed to put on the gear and step inside the ring with him.  Leon got in a couple of good shots, and Ray, who knows how to slip punches very well, caught Leon with a couple of good ones.  Leon backed Ray up into a corner, and Ray slipped and fell.  Leon swore that it was a punch that knocked Ray down.  Ray, in the red shirt in the photo below, said it wasn't, and the debate started.

The two men got loud with each other, and Alan looked at Leon and asked, "What does it matter?"  "It matters to me!" Leon exclaimed.  Leon commented about how Ray's punches didn't hurt him, then accused Ray of trying to bang with him.  "Bang?  Brother, I wasn't trying to do that!  You've got an 80 inch reach and many pounds over me!" Ray protested.  Alan suggested that they settle things in the ring on Wednesday.  Leon didn't want to wait, and he kept bugging Ray to put his gear back on, but Ray wouldn't.

For another several minutes, Ray and Leon went on about their difference of opinion as to how the sparring went down.  Alan and I watched in amusement.  Leon started bragging about his skills, and Ray refuted  Leon's statements.  "I can't wait until Wednesday, man, then I'll show you!" Leon said.  "Yeah, right man.  Show up early next time," Ray said. 

Take It Out On The Bags

The gym was closed for Memorial Day, then vertigo sneaked up on me again on Tuesday.  I woke up dizzy again this morning, but after moving slowly to sit up, the dizziness disappeared. Pastor Roger joked that it may be because of the hits that I've taken in the gym, but seriously, it's diabetes, high blood pressure, menopause or all three.  I haven't figured out which one is the main culprit yet.  It still a bit disturbing that before the last bout I had, the doctor had given me a clean bill of health. 

As a precaution, I did not spar on Wednesday evening. Instead, I targeted the 150 pound heavy bag, the speed bag and the double end bag.  Normally, I'd do three rounds of shadow boxing, but I only did two.  The focus was on throwing uppercuts correctly, and as usual, reminding myself to move my head.  Kenny and Alan were commenting on how I throw hooks while I was on the heavy bag.  They both have said previously that I'm good at throwing them.  However, I don't throw enough of them when I'm in the ring.  "Joe Frazier's body stayed in one spot, but his head was always moving," Kenny said to Alan and I.  "She's been doing three rounds while sparring, but moving the head takes a lot of wind which she doesn't have," Alan said.  "I have to build up my stamina," I told them, which reminded me again that I need to make use of the gym at church.  Last summer, I ran around the church gym for three to four rounds, two times a week in order to get my wind up.  But my knees weren't as bad as they are now.

I learned that a guy whom I had a falling out with late last year came up to church recently to see Pastor Roger.  I try to practice "out of sight, out of mind" when it comes to some people, especially those who have disrespected me and ticked me off.  Pastor noticed that I bristled at the mention of the guy's name, and proceeded to give me a sermon about forgiving and forgetting.  Pastor likens the guy to the prodigal son.  Yeah, right.  "Mighty funny he's always coming up here to be friendly with you, but he can't apologize to me," I grumbled.  I noticed the guy made sure that I wasn't around when he paid his visit.  I pretended the heavy bag was the guy's head and body as I threw a lot of heavy hooks, making sure that each one connected. 

In the video above, Kenny and Professor sparred.  You can hear Alan (and see him near the end) giving instructions.  They were working while inside the ring.  See, this is why Mary doesn't want anyone sparring when Alan is not present.  . .there's always the chance that the guys will really take it to each other.  But, you know, they have to fight that way when they are in an actual match.  The boxers should work together to shore up each others' skills during sparring, but at the same time, people can't afford to play pitty-pat during training.  Especially if they are serious about competing.

Alan sparred with Kenny.  After they finished, Amy crossed the ring as a shortcut.  Alan still had his gear on, so he acted as if he was going to catch her with some punches.  She smiled and scooted past him out of the ring.  He's still trying to convince her to spar. 

Leon came in about fifteen minutes before closing time and got in a very abbreviated workout.  Otherwise, the place was kind of quiet.  We're still in the limbo period before the next session begins.  I heard Alan telling Professor about the once-a-month amateur fights at the Sabre Room out in Hickory Hills.  I'm still trying to get a schedule for the Park District boxing tournaments that start this summer.

"She's Got Hands!"

Paul stopped into the gym yesterday.  He comes around from time to time to talk to Alan, talk to me, and comment on what he observes in the gym.  Usually, he's there for a few minutes then he goes.  This time, he stayed the entire time.  Alan challenged Paul to hit one of the heavy bags.  We all cheered Paul on when he wanted to give up punching the bag after a few moments.  Paul was tired after one round.  "See?  It's not as easy as it looks," Alan smiled. 

Reggie returned to the gym, and he sparred with Jacob.  He had won his preliminary match in the Golden Gloves a couple of months ago, but was beaten during the semi-finals.  The guy who won went on to win the championship in that weight class.  "I could have won that fight if I had been able to get a week's rest beforehand.  The guy I fought was well rested because he had a couple of weeks off before he got to me," Reggie said.  He and Jacob worked well together as sparring partners.

Sarah didn't come in again, so Jacob and I went two and a half rounds (we started in the middle of the first round).  Paul was impressed.  "That guy has to be at least six feet or six foot one, but you were handling him!" he smiled at me.  Ray, who was sitting nearby, commented, "She's got hands, believe that!"  Jacob told me, "You got me good with one body shot."  I was mostly doing all body shots, because it was easier than trying to reach for his head and face.  Jacob got me good in the upper lip during the third round.  That punch proved to me the importance of keeping my mouth closed while boxing and wearing a mouthpiece.  Adult teeth don't grow back if they get knocked out, you know.

Alan got in next with Jacob.  The video above only shows the first of the three rounds they did.  You may be wondering why there aren't more pictures and/or videos of me sparring.  It doesn't occur to me to ask someone to videotape or snap photos half the time when I'm in the gym.  Alan would be the most logical person to ask to do that, but he has to pay attention enough to the action to give instructions.  That's kind of hard to do if one is holding a camera. 

Oscar came back to the gym, and brought a friend of his along. The plan was for me to spar with him, but he told Alan, "My conditioning isn't that good right now," so that was that. 

The gym is going to enter another "no man's land zone" as Alan calls the period between one session ending and other starting.  Spring session ends June 1st, and the summer session begins on June 13th.  Summer usually means low attendance as well.  People don't want to be in a hot, sweltering gym when it's nice outside.  Well, some people don't. 

Speaking of heat, it was early in the evening when I turned the fan on in the gym.  It was not warm outside, as it had rained all day, and the temperature was cool.  It wasn't stuffy in the gym.  I felt sweat on my face, and I had hardly started my workout.  I was wiping my face, and Alan asked, "Are you okay?"  "It's either hot in here, or I'm having hot flashes," I answered.  None of the guys agreed that the temperature in the room was up.  "I must be having a hot flash," I concluded, and the guys chuckled. 

That Familiar Smell

Carolyn opened the gym up last night, and the funk of the place hit me in the nose.  I hadn't noticed it for a long time.  I've mentioned here before that I've become immune to the smell because I've been training there for so long.  I was happy to open my locker and experience the scent of the air freshener I had placed inside it. 

Sarah didn't come in last night, but her sister Amy was there.  Alan suggested that she move around in the gym with me, but that was a no-go.  "My sister said if I spar without her being here, she would kill me," Amy smiled.  Since Sarah was out, I ended up sparring with Jacob.

I took a pop to my right eye, thinking that if there was a little more power behind Jacob's punch, my eye would have been closed for awhile.  Did I mention that Jacob is 28 years old?  There were bursts of action where I would get in hooks to his mid-section and some dead on jabs to his face.  But I was sluggish; a couple of hours before, I took some allergy medicine.  My sinuses had been bothering me all day.  I didn't want to take the pills, but I was tired of sniffling.  Unfortunately, the brand of pills I have make me very tired. 

Alan got into the ring with Jacob next, but he was unsure of how much his sore shoulder was going to take.  "Don't throw any overhand rights," I suggested.  He didn't, but he got Jacob during the second round by bringing his left hand up and under the younger man's chin.  "What kind of punch was that?" I asked Alan in-between rounds.  "I used that all the time when I competed as a young man.  It doesn't hurt the other guy, it just makes them mad," he explained.

Colonel and Ray were at the gym last night, too.  I learned that Ray works two jobs and is going to barber school.  He plans to teach others how to cut and style hair when he graduates. 

Colonel, a Vietnam War veteran, was complaining about his aches and pains.  His hip was really acting up.  "Maybe you shouldn't be here tonight," Alan said, which is something he's told me a few times when I've shown up injured.  "I could be in pain at home or in pain here," Colonel said.  Alan joked about Colonel not being able to get around being 64 years of age, regardless of how much he exercises.  Colonel insisted that it is better for him to work out than to sit down somewhere.  I feel the same way.  I might not be in any less pain afterwards, but moving around is better than atrophying. 

Exchanges In The Ring

I was a little late to the gym because I was too busy watching the beginning of a movie called "In & Out".  I saw it a few years ago at the movie theater, and I hadn't seen it since then.  It stars Kevin Cline, Joan Cusack, Matt Dillon, and Tom Selleck.  Funny movie, but I should have left the house earlier.  I took a couple of my old free weights with me to donate to the gym.

Leon sparred with Jacob.  This time, Alan didn't get inside the ropes to referee.  The coach wasn't feeling too well and didn't bother to change into his workout clothes.  Leon and Jacob were up against the ropes a lot  whenever I looked up to check out the action. 

Leon and Alan were making jokes earlier about prostrate exams which I will not repeat here.  Trust me, they were funny.  Alan said he was going in for a checkup this Friday.  "I wish Kenny Sr. (Colonel) was here.  When he complains about his aches and pains, it makes mine not seem so bad," Alan grinned.

Sarah and I sparred.  Alan commented that we had a lot of good exchanges during each of the three rounds were in the squared circle.  First of all, I took Alan's advice and kept my hands up and close as possible to my face.  Sarah wasn't able to get a lot of punches to my head when I did that.  She did bean me on the top of my head, however, with what seemed like an overhand right.  Twice, due to Sarah's punches and me not watching my balance, I fell to the canvas.  I stayed on the inside as much as I could by throwing hooks to her body.  Sarah said afterwards, "I think I'm going to have a lot of bruises on my mid-section tomorrow."  I staggered over to a nearby stool, plopped down, and attempted to fan away a hot flash.

Sooner or later, I will have to replace a couple pieces of my personal equipment.  Before sparring, I noticed my mouthpiece had a crack in it on one side.  Both of my bag gloves have tears in them.  I do have a newer mouthpiece, but it's one of those that covers both the upper and lower teeth.  I never got used to it, so I will eventually buy a mouthpiece that only covers the upper teeth.  Bag gloves will have to picked carefully, too.  I still remember the sprain my right wrist sustained several years ago because I was using a pair of bag gloves that were ridiculously thin.  I wonder if the current pain in my right wrist is related to that former injury.

Tommy, shown on the speed bag near the tear drop bag in the photo above, comically vowed to master the speed bag.

I'm finished with my paralegal studies; just waiting to receive my certificate.  I may go down to Hamlin this weekend to get some extra sparring in.  Bill told me a long time ago that I could come to his gym, but school started and I couldn't take him up on his offer.  I have to plan extra workouts, also, and that may include working out in the church's gym again.

Feeling Off On Monday

Maybe it was because the day got off to a bad start.  I was on my way to work, and I was hungry.  I didn't want to stop at McDonald's, but it was the closest place.  The cashier behind the counter was so busy chatting with a co-worker that she got my order wrong.  Then she had the nerve to get an attitude when I made her correct it.

It was cold outside instead of being warm like it is supposed to be this time of year.  However, this is Chicago, and the weather does what it wants.  I was freezing even though I was wearing my late sister's old winter coat.  Just as I got up to work, I see a guy who's waiting at another entrance door for the food pantry to open.  Last week, the guy told the volunteers I was "mean".  I won't let the guy run games on me which is why he made the comment.  I glared at him, and entered church through another door. 

By the time afternoon came, I was feeling a little tired and sluggish.  My right wrist had also been bothering me since early in the day.  I hope that doesn't mean arthritis or carpal tunnel. "I'm feeling a little off tonight," I told Alan when he asked me about sparring with Sarah.  Something just didn't feel right, so for once, I listened to my body.  Sarah sparred with Derek instead.

Derek wasn't throwing his punches all the way out in the beginning.  Sarah kept backing him up into the ropes and the corners.  Both Alan and I told Derek to throw in some body shots.  He did get a few in to Sarah's mid-section.

They did three good rounds.  Derek told Sarah that she throws good punches.  "She hits hard," he told me in-between the second and third rounds.  I nodded my head in agreement.  It looked as if she had hit Derek in the eye a few times, and I winced, thinking about the times she caught me in my eye. 

As I was hitting the heavy bag later, I wondered why I didn't pick up any of my dad's football skills.  I played the game a couple of times when I was in my late teens.  I couldn't catch the ball well, and I wasn't running quick enough to avoid being tackled.  During the last game I played, some girl blindsided me so hard that I ended up with a concussion.  My mother's father was an amateur boxer, so I guess I picked up some of the skills he had.  It was probably for the better.  I was never that good at playing any team sport. 

I'm Still Not Moving My Head

Erin contacted me today via email, stating that she was interested in coming back to the gym.  Her uncle John was a professional boxer back in the day; now he coaches.  I gave her the information about the gym hours and fees.  It'll be good to see her in the gym if she comes back.  She had to leave boxing alone for awhile because she went to school.

Leon was in the gym, but again, he didn't stay for the entire session.  He put on headgear, and Alan asked who he was going to spar with.  "Any guy who's available," he answered.  But Derek and Tommy, the only other men in the gym on Wednesday, weren't interested.  Alan wasn't about to do it.  He's still waiting for his torn rotator cuff to heal.  "How about his guy?" Alan joked, pointing to me.  "I don't have any energy for her," Leon smiled.

Sarah and I sparred for three rounds.  Alan told me later that he was trying to get me to dig into her body more with uppercuts. It made sense to me, because I can't get uppercuts to her head. I tried for the body, but I found myself too close too many times, so I didn't give myself room to make them effective.  I did get in body hooks, but those did little to slow Sarah down.  I wasn't moving my head at all, so it got knocked around until the second and third rounds, when I kept my hands up more.  I overheard Alan ask Amy if she would spar her sister.  "I don't think so. . . she beat me up enough when we were kids," Amy grinned.

Sarah mentioned that she had a toddler, a little girl.  "I didn't know you had a child," I said.  "That's why I took off from boxing for awhile," Sarah explained.

Matthieu and Leon

Matthieu came in without Erica tonight.  "She hurt her finger when the car door slammed," he explained.  "Were you the one who closed the door?" Amy laughed.  Matthieu grinned, and assured her that he wasn't the culprit.

He sparred with Leon.  Leon brought a couple of friends along, a man and a woman, but did not come into the gym.  They watched the action from outside the door.  Alan got into the ring to referee them.  Leon caught Matthieu with some tough body shots, but Matthieu hung in there with him.

I always worry when Leon spars with someone, mainly because he's so much bigger than anyone else in the gym.  I heard Matthieu say at one point, "I'm tired," but Alan encouraged him to keep going.

I sparred with Sarah again.  I said, "We'll go light," but we didn't do much in terms of taking it easy, especially during the third round.  After it was done, Alan told me that he was trying to get me to bob and weave and come up with hooks.  I would execute hooks to her body, but I wasn't getting in any to her head.  She got me with an overhand right that knocked my headgear about.  I guess I didn't have it on as securely as I thought.  But then, headgear only protects to an extent anyway.  I was happy that I wasn't dazed and confused when the final bell rang.

Didn't see the Pacquiao-Mosley fight, and at $55.00 for pay-per-view, I'm glad I didn't.  Several Internet reports said that Mosley didn't give much of a fight, even though Pacquiao was going for a KO in the later rounds.  Mosley was looking good during the weigh-in, which was shown on ESPN2's Friday Night Fights.  Teddy Atlas talked to Mosley after the weigh-in, and the boxer's confidence was high.  "Sugar" Shane was asked about Pac-Man's fast hands, and he commented, "I have fast hands, too."  But from what I read, Mosley's hands weren't moving that fast. 

On our way out of the gym, I asked Alan was it easier to train women to box or to train men.  He told me he hadn't trained many women at all, and few had been in attendance when Clarendon Park's boxing program was still in operation.  "Most just wanted to get in shape and stay in shape.  Of the women that I've trained, only you and Evangelina were serious about competing.  But Sarah may be interested in doing that, too. . .I don't know," Alan said.

Vertigo, Or The Shakest Fist In The (Mid)West

"Why are you here?" Alan asked me.  "Because I'm hard-headed," I answered, while shrugging my shoulders.  Sometime later, I fell up against the door of my locker, and Alan gave me a suspicious look.  "You thought I was going to collapse, didn't you?" I said.  "Yeah," Alan said with concern.  Now some of you are thinking: didn't this chick just say in an earlier post that she was suffering from what sounds like a bad case of vertigo?  Didn't she not go to work or the gym the other day because of it?  Then why was she at the gym on Wednesday?  In fact, why does she go down there when she knows she sick and/or injured?

There is a trick to it.  The main thing to do is to not spar.  Also, it's a good idea to take it easy on the equipment, and take a lot of breaks.  I had gone to work in the morning, and stayed longer because none of my work had been done, and it had to get done.  But that might have been too much because when I got home, I was feeling run-down again.  The heavy head feeling hasn't gone away completely. But where common sense would tell someone to stay home, I was thinking, "I don't want to miss a second day of being at the gym this week."  However, to cut down on temptation to spar, I left my headgear and mouthpiece at home.

Alan asked Sarah if she would spar with one of the guys since I wasn't feeling up to it.  Sarah's expression said, "Oh, no!", but Alan assured her it would be okay.  She got in with Jacob, and he wasn't hitting her hard.  She got some good head and body shots on him, however. 

Tommy came in, and he plans to make it in every week.  "When I see Jermaine, I'm going to try to get him in here," he said. Tommy said Jermaine was the one who got him to start coming to the gym, so he feels Jermaine should be in there again, too.

I figured out that I was raising my arms were looking like chicken wings in terms of how I would raise them while throwing uppercuts.  I made a conscious effort to keep the opposite arm closer as I executed the uppercut with the other arm.  It felt better to do it that way. 

I need to slow down from a lot of things I normally do, so I'm going to take it very easy the rest of this week. I doubt that I will spar for awhile, as I'm not sure what brought the vertigo on.    I told Pastor Roger that I have allergies, and he suggested that my sinuses being blocked for a time may have brought the condition on.  It's a possibility. .  .my allergies were acting up for days before that happened.

Off Balance

I had a pleasant dream involving my late younger sister.  We were outside somewhere, and I had learned that she had turned down going to a school.  Can't remember if it was a high school or a college.  Before I could ask why, she told me she didn't think the school was right for her.  "Let's talk about it some more!" she said, then both her and I were laughing as we ran up to a house.  The dream made me happy, but it made me sad as well, as she and I can no longer talk and laugh together about anything.

The alarm went off, and I went into the bathroom.  Then I decided to lay down for another few minutes -- the "Strawberry Letter" portion of Steve Harvey's radio show was on, and I wanted to hear what today's letter topic would be.  I dozed back off.  When I got up about ten minutes later, I thought I was going to join my late sister. The room was spinning.  I rubbed my right eye and thought, "I wasn't drinking heavily last night, so why is the room spinning?"  In fact, I haven't got my drink on like that in nearly two decades.  I was stumbling and dizzy.  "Help me, Jesus", I moaned, as I held on to the wall in an attempt to stand straight.  I was standing there for a long time, until I decided to call Pastor Roger to say, "Uh, it doesn't look like I'm coming to work today."  I was down for the count for the rest of the day.  Needless to say, I didn't go to the gym, either.  Later in the day, I called Alan, who suggested that it was a good idea that I stay home.   

Pat, a friend of mine from high school, sent me a note on Facebook, asking if I might have vertigo.  I get that from playing first person video games (the kind of which I don't play anymore).  I avoid some rides at amusement parks these days because of the same reason.   However, I can't say if that is what it is.  As I type this, I'm still a little disorientated.  I haven't been able to keep any food down yet.  The thought that I was having a stroke crossed my mind this morning; one sneaked up on Dad back in 2000.  "Make sure you take your high blood pressure medicine every day," he warned me when he first learned I had that (Dad had that also).  But I probably wouldn't be breathing right now, so I guess that wasn't it.

I have no idea what brought today's illness on.  Not long ago, I was reading "The Fight Doctor" article in The Ring magazine.  The subject was brain injuries from boxing.  The article mentioned something about not letting fighters spar excessively.  Hmm. .  . .it occurred to me that I've been sparring practically every week for months.  I took several good cracks to my head last week while sparring.  Sigh. . . .it's something to think about.

Baby Boxing

Every time I see Isaac, Pastor Roger and Virginia's son, I comment on how big the boy's hands are.   I had the pleasure of holding him in my arms last week.  His mom had to step away for a few moments, and I had agreed to watch the baby.  "You're just a big, strapping, healthy boy, aren't you?" I cooed as I held him up in the air.  He responded by become agitated.  "She'll be back, I promised," I said, in a vain attempt to soothe him.  I have to give Virginia credit for carrying him around all the time.  Isaac is a whopper. 

"As soon as you start walking, the boxing lessons will begin," I always tell the baby.  It's funny to see the suspicious looks that Isaac gives me when I say that.  His expression seems to say, "Yeah right, chick.  Daddy already told me about you."  His parents smile, but Pastor is not a boxing fan, and I don't think Virgina, like a lot of moms, want to see their child giving and taking punches.  It's an idea, though.  I'm of the mind that all boys -- and the girls, too -- should know how to defend themselves.  If I had children, I'd be that parent that principals and teachers would hate.  The scenario would go like this: I would be summoned to the school because my kid beat up another kid.  I'd ask my son/daughter what happened. As soon as I learned my kid was standing up for themselves against a bully, I'd inform the principal and teachers, "I've taught them to hit back and hit hard to back someone off of them.  I'm not raising my kid to be a victim.  Nor am I going to make it my problem because the school can't seem to put bullies in check."   My mother basically said the same thing when schools would call her about me.  In addition, I'd fight any suspension or expulsion that was handed down to my kid. 

Roland came into the gym last night and talked to Alan about taking lessons.  Alan told him that he had to come back on Tuesday or Thursday to talk to Barry.  You see, Roland is 12 years old going on thirteen.  I talked to him also, emphasizing that boxing lessons are free for those under age eighteen.  "Coach Barry is going to want to talk to your parent or guardian, because he wants to make sure they're gonna be cool with you boxing," I said.  Roland understood, and he was okay with that.  He told me that he saw me fight during last year's Loyola Park Boxing show.  "It wasn't easy because she was bigger than me," I said, not mentioning that she was also younger.  "That when you have to have heart," Roland smiled.

Alan told Leon that I had boxed in that show, and the big man was surprised.  "She sang the National Anthem, too, and then turned around and fought," Alan grinned.  "For real?  She's got all kind of action going on," Leon laughed. 

Matthieu sparred with the Colonel for a couple of rounds.  Sarah and I sparred after that, and we were back to throwing harder punches.  Once Sarah gets going, she never lets up on the ol' one-two.  She hit me in my right eye and knocked me silly.  My vision was off for several minutes behind that, but I kept going.  She kept backing me up into the ropes and the corners, and Alan called out, "Hillari, keep punching while backing up!"  Not easy to do, especially when the other person is taller and has long arms.  We went for three full rounds.  After the last bell, I heard Alan tell Sarah that while it was good that she kept punching, she might not be able to do that easily against an opponent who is her size and height. 

Erica appeared at my side while Jacob sparred with Mike L (there have been so many guys named Mike in that gym; I have to keep them all straight).  "It wouldn't be gym time if I didn't come around and harass you," she smiled.  She had stepped out of the room when her boyfriend Matthieu sparred with the Colonel.  Mike L. took a few hard pops in the face from Jacob, and she winced.  Erica admitted that she had never been hit in the face, nor had been ever been in a fight.  "I don't know how I would take that.  If I would back off and say, 'Okay, this is a sport', or if I would get angry," she said.  "I think sometimes the guys have a hard time differentiating when it comes to that," I answered, thinking about the matches I had seen in the amateurs and the professionals ranks that turned into personal wars.  Thank God I haven't been in any sparring sessions that went that way; I've seen some of those come dangerously close to becoming street fights, too. 

Professor brought his girlfriend Kelly to the gym for a second time, and he formally introduced her to everyone.  She got in a workout, including throwing around the medicine ball with some of the other guys. 

Alan made an annoucement that those who haven't paid the boxing fee yet have to do that by Monday.  There are several who haven't done that yet.  "It's unfair to the people who have paid to be in here.  Also, the gym is small and it gets crowded quickly when there's a lot of people who are in here working out but who are not paid up."  The small space is one of the main reasons why the gym can't operate on a drop-in basis, even if the rules changed to allow people to pay day fees to workout. 

Monday Ups and Downs

At the beginning of the evening, I was feeling a little down.  The overall odd feelings had begun not long after I woke up Monday morning.  I had a strange dream involving not being able to get my locker open at the gym.  The combination I was using to open the lock was similar to the one I used on the locker I had in high school. I was the only one left in the gym, and I panicked that I wasn't going to be able to get my stuff out.  Alan was in the dream, but he had disappeared from the gym, and half of the lights were off.  The appearance of the gym was different which added to strangeness of the dream.  There were a group of thuggish looking guys hanging around the back door of the gym that led to an alley.  A buddy from high school named Riley was among that group of guys.  In reality, Riley has been dead for over a decade now.  I have no idea what that dream meant.

A general feeling of irritation began sometime during mid-morning at work, and continued on throughout the day.  Even before menopause began, I would often have days where I was irritated, but couldn't pinpoint the exact thing that set me off.  I still wasn't in a great mood when I got to the gym.  But exercise is good medicine for chasing away bad feelings.  By the time Sarah and I sparred, after I had done shadow boxing and hitting the heavy bag, I felt better.

Sarah agreed to sparring only if we went light.  She said that she was still hurting from the last time we were in the in the ring.  Before the first bell rang, I told Alan that she and I would take it easy.  "That's what you say," he grinned.  "Would I go back on my word?" I said through my mouthpiece.  "Well, you know, when the leather starts to fly, anything can happen," Alan said, still grinning.  But I did make a conscious effort not to put great force on any of the punches I threw.  Sarah noted that I was doing a lot of bobbing and weaving.  Since we were not going all out, that gave me time to think about how to avoid her punches.  I went under a lot of the jabs and hooks that she threw, then came back up with my own hooks, both to the head and the body.  

Jacob sparred with Alan, as Professor, Ray and myself gave Jacob tips on how to stay alive in the ring.  We were helping out Jacob so much that Alan exclaimed, "What? No one's cheering for me?"  Later, Alan asked me if he had been moving his head enough.  "It seemed that Jacob was popping me in the head a lot," he said.  "You were moving your head, but Jacob did catch you good several times," I answered.

I was really throwing hooks on the double end bag when I heard Professor say to Marcus, "See?  She knows exactly where that bag is.  She is really using her hips to execute those punches."  Marcus was watching me, and I smiled at him.  Ray said, "Well, women know how to use their hips."  Professor agreed, saying, "Yeah, man, they know how to move", and all the guys laughed, and so did I.

Tall Girl vs. Short Girl

Sarah and I sparred for the first time in a long time.  As chronicled before in this blog, I could never figure out how to get around her arms in the past, and she's much taller than I.  But tonight I did, getting in body shots and surprise, surprise, some hooks.  Sarah's sister Amy taped the two rounds we did.  I saw that I was moving my head, but sporadically.  Sarah got in many flurries of lefts and rights, and she really put her weight behind them.  Sarah caught me off guard during the second round with one such flurry.  I stumbled back into the ropes, but I didn't fall down.  Alan got on both of us about keeping our hands up.  Mine were down a lot during the second round.

Leon came in and he sparred with Kenny.  Alan had to push Leon off Kenny a few times, as Leon got a bit rough.  Erica was cringing as she watched them.  Earlier, her boyfriend Matthieu was sparring with Leon.  "I had to leave the room because I couldn't watch them," she told me.  She did watch while Sarah and I were in the ring, but Erica was disturbed by that, too.  I overheard Alan asking her if she wanted to spar earlier, but Erica wanted no part of it.  She was really horrified when she heard I had sparred with Leon before.

I wanted to practice more bobbing and weaving, but while stretching, my right knee let me know that wasn't happening this evening.  I was running down the stairs in my apartment and not feeling much pain in my knees, so I thought I was good.  Tricked again.