Boxing In Austin TX

Me:
I haven’t had much me-time in the last months. I don’t miss me particularly.

Us:
Life+ is fantastic.
Boxing:

I don’t often ask people their weight. Except people I know at the boxing gym. It’s not an obsession, but it’s certainly a keen interest.

In last week’s episodes of ‘Garreth vs. the Glove’, I got a nosebleed sparring with a fatigued Ben (242 lbs). Nothing dramatic, but quite a surprise as I’m not a bleeder. I also got a trounced jaw from Mike (199 lbs) when he nearly knocked me out. The crowd of onlookers inhaled sharply when he connected, and then went “Ooooooh.” as I wobbled about trying to find my footing. My vision went wobbly, and I was more surprised than hurt. Mike has a good punch, yeesh. I couldn’t tell you which punch it was – he’s fast too.

I’m learning to relax more in the ring, which is good. I can’t block punches consciously – the more I try, the tenser I get. I was more relaxed tonight, and I was amazed to find that I blocked a fair number of Jose’s (125lbs) punches this evening. I was feeling pretty good, until he came over the top of my jab with a right hook. It was harder than I expected, and I found myself thinking that you get a different sound inside your head when you get hit by different people. It goes all the way from a dull thud from a soft hitter, to a resounding klang from a hard puncher. The klang of your brain rattling around your skull like an enthusiastic clapper.

Regardless, I think I need to work on staying relaxed. I told Bruce, the coach, that I still really want to compete. He said we can talk about putting together a programme for me, and I was pleased.

He also said that he can’t teach aggression. So no more lounging around with hippies for me. No, that’s a lie. It’s just that I’m not going to try and break Jose’s nose given that I have 45 pounds on him. Aggression is a strange thing. When someone hurts me in the ring, I fight back harder, determined to keep them from doing it again. Otherwise, it’s more of a game, with respect for your opponent, and control. And they’re not really opponents; they’re friends, comrades – colleagues almost. The paradox is that however you train, in terms of aggression, intensity and power will be reflected in the way in which you ultimately compete.

I’m not saying that I’m some superhuman athlete that can hurt people when he wants to. It’s just that when I’m sparring with someone who is at a similar level to me, or someone who weighs much less, I don’t want to inadvertantly damage either of us. When I’m sparring with a pro, Bruce will shout,

“Hit him with everything you’ve got. You *can’t* hurt him. If you can, then he’s got no business being in the ring.”

That helps.

The plan for the future is to start filming more bouts, and watching my gaffs on tape. Now that should be entertaining, for me at least. Maybe I could make a documentary about some of the guys…

I like boxing.