The Glowing Edge » Boxing

Boxing and Brains

Lisa Creech Bledsoe — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 23:09:46 +0000

Hey, everyone — this guest post is from Niamh Griffin, a freelance writer from across the pond (in Ireland). She also knows a thing or seven about boxing, and you may have seen her commenting here on The Glowing Edge now and then. She and I got started talking about Boxing and Brains on this post about British women training for the 2010 Olympics.

Niamh is a former competitor in Muy Thai and has never lost her love of sport. She writes on many topics, but her blog Inspiring Sports Women is all about women succeeding in sport. Thank, Niamh, for guest posting! — Lisa

Mixing talk of brains and boxing isn’t something for the cocktail circuit. People have entrenched positions on whether boxers are asking for brain damage or not. But what do you discover if you look instead at how we use our brains in boxing? You’ll find that brainless boxers are about as successful as brainless bankers and we all know what happens to them.

Whether it’s boxing, kick boxing or Muay Thai; to succeed you need to listen, apply and innovate.

Listen
So you’re banging away at the bag, and your trainer says you’re dropping your left shoulder but it doesn’t feel like that so you don’t shift your stance. But if you remember that a good trainer has forgotten more than you will ever learn, and take the time to look in the mirror, well there you are – dropped shoulder. Beginners especially can be overwhelmed by the detailed instructions flying at them, but learning to pick the people to listen to is a great start. Note: that means listening to real experts like your trainer and not just some guy in a flashy tracksuit who thinks you don’t know anything.

Apply
After a few training sessions, you’ve got some information in your head, but then it’s time to fight or spar. In Thailand they say it takes ten fights before you start to settle in the ring. But the sooner you start focusing on one aspect of your movement and trying to improve that, the sooner you’ll see results. So if your trainer is still banging on about that left shoulder, then ask your sparring partner to attack that side more often; create a reason to focus. Not easy unless you know how to concentrate under pressure and apply complex instructions at speed.

Innovate
Now this is the hard part. You’ve sparred a few times, maybe even started fighting and you’ve realized that the other fighter has a brain of her own. All forms of boxing are fluid by nature; you can’t exactly predict how your opponent will react. You may know her as a southpaw but she’s been training and flipped to orthodox for the day. Your trainer can only do so much when the ring is noisy and she’s firing in the kicks and punches. Adapting traditional thoughts and making changes to practiced routines is scary but do it once and you’ll be hooked.

“I can entertain the proposition that life is a metaphor for boxing-for one of those bouts that go on and on, round following round, jabs, missed punches, clinches, nothing determined, again the bell and again and you and your opponent so evenly matched it’s impossible to see your opponent is you …” Joyce Carol Oates, On Boxing

Image by karpov the wrecked train

Boxing Playlist

Lisa Creech Bledsoe — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 13:34:37 +0000

I’ve been listening to this one for a long time now. The First made it for me a while back and I slapped it on my Shuffle and BOOM got smacked down by the sound. There’s not much traditional about it (well, Metallica’s Breadfan does make an appearance) but it will definitely get you through your workout.

Incidentally, the ones with the highest playcount on my Shuffle are Guarded, by Disturbed, and BYOB, by System of a Down. Something’s clearly wrong with me.

Crank it up, people.

Operation Ground and Pound, Dragonforce
Indestructible, Disturbed
Guarded, Disturbed
Fading Away, Demon Hunter
Duality, Slipknot
Don’t Stay, Linkin Park
Dark Chest of Wonders, Nightwish
Coming Undone, Korn
Breadfan, Metallica
BYOB, System of a Down
Avarice, Disturbed
Pulse of the Maggots, Slipknot
Through Fire and Flames, Dragonforce
Thorns, Demon Hunter
Side of a Bullet, Nickelback
Rawkfist, Thousand Foot Krutch

Image by Charlie Cravero

Agility Dot Drills

Lisa Creech Bledsoe — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 13:47:34 +0000

Light, agile, lightning-speed footwork can make the difference in winning and losing in the ring. Great boxers have the ability to win a round on footwork alone, and if you have ever been put in the ring with a newbie and instructed to use defense only, you’ve had to power up your best footwork in order to bring the best workout to your sparring partner.

Agility dot drills can help you increase the speed and balance of your footwork while also increasing your cardio. Try setting up a series for yourself and see how quickly you can run a set of drills. Be patient with yourself as you work; these drills might feel simple going forward, but going backward will really challenge you.

The best thing about these drills is that you don’t need any equipment to practice them. Yes, you can shell out cash for agility dots and agility dot mats (I found both online for $50 each — I refuse to even link it, that’s insane), but you don’t need them! Use a piece of chalk or a bit of masking tape to mark your five dots and you’re up and working. You can increase the size and spacing of the layout if you are taller, or as you increase in speed and ability.

Check out the dude in the video below, or scroll on down for a list of drills you can set up and try on your own.

Agility Dot Drills

X Drill. Start with feet split, one foot on dot 1 and one on dot 2. Jump to dot 3 with both feet, then to dots 4 and 5 with feet split. Repeat the steps jumping backward.

X Drill Hopscotch. Start with feet split, one foot on dot 1 and one on dot 2. Jump to dot 3 with ONE foot, then split feet to dots 4 and 5. Repeat jumping backward with same or alternate foot landing in the middle.

X Drill with Turn Around. This is the same as the X Drill or X Drill Hopscotch except that when you get to the top or bottom, you turn your body around to go in the other direction.

Z Drill. Form a Z pattern (4-5-3-1-2) using one leg or both feet together.

M Drill. Form an M pattern (4-5-3-2-1) using one leg or both feet together.

Figure 8 Drill. Form a figure eight (4-5-3-1-2-3-4) down and back, keeping feet together or on one foot only.

Big Arrow, Little Arrow. Keep feet together, start at 1 and jump diagonally to 5, then back to 1. Now jump 1-4-1, 1-3-1, 1-2-1. Start over with the big diagonal jump.

Box Drill. Keep feet together and hop the perimeter of the square (1-4-5-2-1), facing the same direction at all times.

Single-leg Triangle. Hop on your left leg to form a triangle in a counterclockwise direction (2-3-1-2). Make five triangles then switch legs and make five triangles. Repeat the drill moving in a clockwise direction (1-3-2-1).

British Women Training for Olympic Boxing Ring

Lisa Creech Bledsoe — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 13:42:31 +0000

One of the things I love about this Wall Street Journal video is not just that the WSJ is spotlighting a few of the thousands of young women whose dreams of boxing in the Olympics are now a real possiblity, but also that they show a more balanced view of what it’s like to train as a boxer.

Boxing isn’t all about trading blows, although that’s certainly what most people think about when they see it. Boxing is about careful and determined study and practice of tactics, constant work on cardio, and plenty of mental fortitude. It’s almost more of a head and heart game than a brawn game.

I’m thrilled to see more and more articles like this showing up in my alerts these days. Not only that, but another woman interested in boxing has started showing up when my LA Boxing team trains. Allowing women’s boxing in the 2012 Olympics (I accidentally typed 2010 just now — wishful thinking!) will have an empowering trickle-down effect for women everywhere.

Let’s do it, sisters!

PS: That accent is pretty cool, huh? I had to rewind a couple of times in order to figure out what some of the young women were saying!

How to Know If Your Boxing Is Improving

Lisa Creech Bledsoe — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:25:37 +0000

Sometimes after you get in the ring you want to debrief, talk with other boxers about how you did. So most nights after the team is finished sparring I’ll ask some of the newer boxers: “How did you do tonight?”

And I’ve found that many of them have trouble answering in a way that satisfies themselves. They’ll say, “I didn’t do as well as I wanted,” but they have trouble defining it further. Or else there are so many things that need improvement that they’re overwhelmed by it all. I find myself thinking, and often saying, the same things.

First, remember that it takes years to get any good at boxing. You can’t get in the ring for the first few months and do anything worth remembering. Really. Because you did pretty much everything wrong: your guard was down, your shots were sloppy, you telegraphed your every move, your feet were slow, you looked away, you had no cardio, and overall you looked about as sturdy as a newborn kitten in the path of a bulldozer. It was probably embarrassing to everyone who watched, but everybody starts there, period.

A lot of kids come in and think it will go like it did when they first picked up a skateboard, or a basketball, or a frisbee. They messed around with it for a day or so and pretty quickly they could get in the game. Not so with boxing, which demands a baseline bit of skill but a fair amount of cardio and a wheelbarrow of guts just to get through your first rounds. And that’s after you’ve convinced a coach or trainer that you’ve paid enough dues in sweat to be allowed into the ring.

The best way to know if your boxing is improving is to set small, clear, achievable goals. Here are a few examples.

Tonight, I want to (pick two or three):

Keep my gloves up
Move my head more
Not square up with my opponent
Make it through 3 rounds without sucking for air
Throw more shots than I take
Maintain control of the ring
Not look away from my opponent
Throw a solid double jab
Move my feet more
Not get locked against the ropes
Throw both head and body shots
Get some power behind my right cross
Work on my inside game
Regularly slip or block punches
Throw three excellent left hooks in every round
Work on my uppercut
Keep my balance between my lead and rear foot
Commit to and fully extend my punches
Utilize my pivot
Finish each round strong
Score shots heavily in the last 30 seconds of each round
Land ___ shots per round (you’ll need a punch counter ringside)
Work on my _______ (jab-hook-pivot, right cross – left hook, etc.) combination.

Sometimes I even tell my opponent what, specifically, I’m going to work on. Yes, they’ll then be on the lookout for my left hook, but at least they understand that I’m going to throw a boatload of them, and I may even ask them to stop mid-round so that I can go through some slow-motion in order to tweak my form, or ask them why a particular move keeps falling short of power.

Sometimes your trainer will pick for you. Recently I was in the ring with a guy who was my same height, but every single time he threw his jab, he brought his glove back to his shoulder rather than his cheek or chin. So I had easy pickings on a right cross to his face, and was taking them on an intermittent but regular basis. But between rounds, my trainer told me to take every single one of those shots in the coming round. I wasn’t to let his jab return — ever — without shooting my right cross into his face. “And put a little more power behind it,” he told me.

Midway through the next round my opponent realized, without anyone having to tell him, that he needed to work on one specific thing, which was getting his glove back in the correct position after a jab. He knew very clearly at the end of the night what had improved in his boxing!

And I’ve been in his position plenty of times. If you don’t pick a goal, your opponent or trainer may pick one for you, and you’ll discover it the hard way!

Sparring is your absolute best opportunity to learn and improve your boxing, so you want to focus on and optimize that time as well as you can. Choose a goal (or two) and make them your priority.

You can even keep track of your goals in a notebook. I know I’m going to be in the ring every single Friday night, so sometimes I’ll write my goals on a post-it and stick it on my computer at work so I’ll be thinking about it in advance. Then, when I’m in the ring, I know what to work on. And I’ll also know, coming out of the ring, just how I did that night.

You can’t work on everything all the time. But you can box on a baseline, and focus hard on a few choice skills or techniques, so that you’ll be able to see clear improvement over time.

Stay strong. Train hard. And box smart.

Photo of me sparring with Coby by Ken Hall Photography

Boxing Art Weirdness

Lisa Creech Bledsoe — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 13:29:25 +0000

I just happened to stumble across this image on Flickr (captured by Brandonschauer, who is in no way being held responsible here on The Glowing Edge for this freaky Warhol-kissing-Jean-Michael-Baptiste piece) and thought that there was no way in hell that I could work out on heavy bags with a pasty face of Jesus drawn all over them.

It’s not so much that it’s Jesus — you know, GOD — it’s more that it’s just such a stupid image of Jesus, he’s all pansy-looking. Not that I know what he looked like IRL, but please. I hate these passive, meek little storybook pictures. When I think of Jesus I think of someone who can kick my ass then take me out for a beer after. Sorry if that doesn’t work for you, but there it is.

Yes, I understand that it’s art, and Andy Worhol (plus Jean Michael Baptiste) art at that. But no.

Just.

No.

And no, you may not send me links to the Jesus-as-boxer painting. I’ve seen it, and I can’t envision this whiteboy Jesus with a back-lit 80s hair-metal hairdo that …precious. OMG, if you take my meaning.

(Now you’re sorry you clicked through to the Jesus-as-boxer link, aren’t you? Aren’t you glad I didn’t stick that one at the top of this post? Count your blessings, people.)

Boxing Bragging Rights

Lisa Creech Bledsoe — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 13:26:17 +0000

Check it.

The most recent Women’s International Boxing Association rankings put my trainer Bonnie Mann at NUMBER 3 IN THE WORLD in the Light Heavyweight division.

Yeah, read that again, and wish you were so good.

You can click over there yourself at this link and browse the ratings, but pay PARTICULAR attention (sorry, there’s no other way to do this except in all freaking caps) to the World Champion in the 175 lbs Light Heavyweight division, Carlette Ewell, who is ALSO here in North Carolina.

Can you say “Give us a match-up,” people?

That’s what I’m hoping for. Carlette (14-7) fought just last week and won against newcomer-to-the-ring Tiffany Woodard (2-3) who who impressed everyone by going the distance against a much more experienced opponent, and who is now ranked 4th in the Heavyweight division. Tiffany is also an NC pro boxer, and works out of a gym in nearby Wilson, NC. She made the drive out to get some sparring in with Bonnie before her fight with Carlette, which I got to corner for. Once this young fighter hits her stride, she’s gonna be a force to reckon with.

Meanwhile, I’m ready to see a HUGE hometown match-up between my boss and Carlette.

Fingers crossed for that, but meanwhile, putting my SWAGGER on for Bonnie Mann, #3 in the world!

Basic Boxing Workout

Lisa Creech Bledsoe — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 19:40:21 +0000

It comes and goes in waves: you get in really good boxing shape and stick there for a while, then you suddenly remember that you have to parent, your job heads toward overtime, you get behind in the universe, and one day you are in the ring wishing you had one of those oxygen canisters and a little plastic tube to blow it into your nose so you could finish this round without passing out.

Hello, that’s me.

And last week I was working on the heavy bag and my trainer strolled by with her arms folded, evaluating. I immediately sucked in my gut and racheted up my punch count. Bam! Bam bam bam! Dance to the side. Three killer combos in a row, fast. Hope she quits watching soon, cause I need to suck for air. My jabs were dropping down to oh, about waist level. If only my opponents would lay on the floor, maybe I could stomp on them; it would be easier.

She said nothing of course; she didn’t need to. I confessed on my own, later: “Ahem, my cardio’s down a bit.” As if she were my priest and could give me penance. She knows boxing is its own penance. You get in the ring with low cardio and you aren’t going to go very far. Your opponent’s gonna chew you up and spit you out and you’ll just be grateful it’s over with.

She gave me that half-smile of hers and shook her head. “It may be boring, but you just gotta get in here and do the same thing, over and over again. It’s how you get back.”

She’s completely right. You can come up with all the new diet plans and cardio exercises (run, elliptical, skate, row, etc.) in the world, but in the end, it’s about boxing. Round after round of it.

So today I got back in the gym during my lunch hour and spent some time working the hell out of the basics. Since my cardio is low, I set the round timer on 2 minute rounds with 30 second recovery. And here’s what I did, and plan to do again for the next several boxing workouts, pushing up my numbers and moving eventually to 3 minute rounds.

2 rounds jump rope; sprint the last 30 seconds of each round
1 round stretching
2 rounds shadowboxing
5 rounds on heavy bag; speed punches the last 30 seconds of each round
2 rounds on the speed bag
1 round shadowboxing for cool down
10 minutes on the spin bike to finish

Grab a shower and get back to work!

Photo by Wootang01

New Lessons in Sparring: Controlling the Ring

Lisa Creech Bledsoe — Mon, 31 May 2010 19:38:57 +0000

I like to box from the center of the ring.

I was never that boxer who floats endlessly around the ring, dashing here and there and making the entire fight more of a dance than a boxing round. It’s a thousand times easier to stand in the center and pivot to face those opponents who like to run laps in the ring.

I guess I must have been used to standing in the center with few to challenge me for the privilege, because on Sunday I had a new sparring partner, and I never once wrested control from him. It was a bit of a surprise, and a deeply pleasurable learning experience.

George is a philosopher. As we were warming up and casually discussing use of power in the sparring arena, he sagely pronounced, “The amount of power a boxer should be sparring with should be such that if you make a hit square in the nose, it might bleed but it won’t break.” I loved that.

George is twenty-one years old, 145 pounds and close to my height. I saw some video of him sparring with a newbie and immediately understood several things about him. One, he has a teacher’s heart. Two, he isn’t a giant ego, waiting to show off his stuff on someone who is not as good a boxer as he is. And three, he clearly loves fight sports and wants everyone else to love them too — he has an infectious grin that rarely leaves his face.

As soon as I saw the tapes, I immediately began working to arrange time in the ring with him, and he was most gracious and accommodating.

On Sunday we bumped gloves and settled into our rounds. He let me take the lead, dictate the level of power we would be trading. He smiled and nodded, encouraging me as I worked my combinations. I could see his strong martial arts training in his stance, his way of using his entire body — rather than just his upper body and feet — to box. There was a sense of poise, of balance in him. He wasn’t afraid to lean waaaay back to avoid a punch, something boxers rarely do. He used my own momentum to swing me into positions I hadn’t planned on. And his gloves were blindingly fast.

Four or five rounds in I suddenly realized it: I’d not once controlled the ring. His offense was constant, no rests or pauses, and I was forever on the defensive and near the ropes. But there was something else, too. I stopped us.

“Why am I never able to gain the center?” I asked, pulling my mouthpiece out to talk.

He grinned, pulled his own mouthpiece out and pointed it at me. “You’re always in the center, aren’t you? I’ve seen you spar; I don’t think anyone’s challenged you. I like to keep control of the ring, too. And I haven’t been letting you take it.” We walked through some moves and he showed me how he was constantly staying one step ahead of my pace, cutting me off whenever I tried to get past him. And for some reason I was often inclined to circle left on him rather than right, even though we were both orthodox fighters.

It was in naming that last fact that I realized what the extra “something” was. “You’re squared up!” I cried. “You’re facing me dead on. Boxers never do that!” We always try to keep one shoulder forward, presenting as small a target as possible. His wide, straight-on stance had been triggering my desire to circle left, as I would on a southpaw. On a conscious level, I knew he was orthodox, but on a subconscious level, I had never been certain which way to go.

He laughed. “Not quite,” he corrected. “I’m squared up until we engage, then I shift to throw or defend.” He demonstrated. Full on, then shift to an angle. Then full on again. Quick, economical movements. So that was one of the factors that had kept me off-balance.

Add to that the fact that he never rested. Dude had a full tank of gas and was willing to burn it. I have been in the habit of throwing, resting, throwing. Or even allowing my opponents to throw themselves out so that I could then move in with my own offense. George never quit throwing punches! He was a master of flurries, and there was nothing to do but defend, eat some punches, and throw despite an oncoming combo. It was fascinating to realize it, and hard to break through.

One step ahead. Full-on approach coupled with an angled defense and delivery. Constant offense.

Utter control of the ring.

This is what having a new sparring partner does for you. I was absolutely thrilled to encounter it all.

And I can’t wait to get in the ring with him again.

Image by melanieburger

Make Your Punches Count

Lisa Creech Bledsoe — Thu, 20 May 2010 16:40:26 +0000

Eight phenomenal non-stop rounds in the boxing ring last night with my trainer.

I am consistently amazed at how much my boxing improves when I’m in the ring with her. I work so hard, learn so much, and have such an incredible experience.

I had gotten to the gym an hour early to do 30 minutes of slow cardio and a long, careful stretching routine. I felt pretty warm and flexible, but wanted to preserve my energy for our rounds. I have not been training with intervals lately so I knew I’d have to work harder than usual to go whatever distance she chose. She knows I always want at least 6 rounds, but she has the capability to do far more; I’ve seen her go 15 straight rounds as fresh boxers on our team cycle in and out with her. She has phenomenal stamina.

Last night I was a little nervous before we began; I couldn’t get the image of Bonnie’s last fight out of my mind. The jab-right combo — which instantly dislocated her opponent’s jaw and ended the fight with a first-round TKO — played itself over and over again in my head. I didn’t want to say too much about it in advance to Bonnie because I didn’t want listening bystanders to make jokes.

It helped that she was relaxed but very serious as we geared up; this is a pro boxer coming off a big win, maintaining her form for her next fight in August. It could be a title fight. What we’re doing together is for real.

Right before the bell rang I caught her eye. “I’m a little nervous,” I said, tapping my left glove to my jaw.

She immediately caught on. “No need,” she returned quietly, shaking her head slightly. My fear immediately dissipated. What this woman says, you can take to the bank. The bell rang, we tapped gloves, and began to box.

She almost always lets me throw the first combinations. Sometimes it’s spooky; you have the sense that she’s sizing you up and once she has your measurements will quickly put you on the canvas. When I’m in the ring with her I can feel her coiled power, all that potential energy swirling and packing into her body and awaiting release. Mostly I take the open shots she gives me with the sure and certain knowledge that I have one solid defense against a boxer who is better than I am: one million jabs.

I have to throw more shots, whether they are good, bad, or otherwise. Jabs are the way to keep your opponent from thinking and planning. They keep her off of you, make her hesitate or defend. A wall of jabs is the surest way to open a path to a real shot, a solid right or a hook to the body, whatever it takes to get in on your opponent and score some pain.

Lucky for me the old Bonnie, the pre-getting-ready-for-a-fight Bonnie, was back last night. She was content to make me work hard for four rounds while she sat back and sipped lemonade, periodically shooting a wicked punch out to make me remember just how deadly she can be.

I was thrilled and amazed at how many of her left hooks I slipped. I got into a pattern with my combos — finally! — of punch-punch-punch SLIP. And it worked, because Bonnie loves to throw those hooks at my head when I come in at her. Several caught me clean, but many more slipped, catching no more than the edge of my glove or headgear. I was jubilant.

In round four I began trying to throw my own left hooks. We’re both orthodox boxers but I frequently circle left on her for fear (respect, I meant to say respect) of her left hook. Last night I was circling right, having figured out the left hook but now being wary of that deadly right cross. I threw several hooks, but they were all in my arm, no body power behind them because I was staying to my right. Where the hell is Mike Tyson when you need him? I kept at it until I saw her grinning.

“What? I’m trying to get in a left hook, dammit,” I slurred over my mouthpiece.

“I know,” she said, “but you have to move in closer to get it.”

Yeah, right. Move in closer to that right cross. My jaw ached just thinking about it.

“Use your jab,” she advised. “Get in behind it, then whoomp.” She demonstrated for me.

I tried a few times, even demanding that she slow down and let me move through it a few times on her. But when we got back into the action, I bailed. Back to a thousand jabs and slips, at least that was working for me.

In round five she started in with her real power. “Bonnie’s warm!” I shouted to the gym. “That means cheer for me, not her,” I joked to one of the guys watching ringside. I was comfortable, in the zone, stoked. Honored that she knows she can unleash that kind of power on me, and more: I can take it!

The gym echoed with the sound of serious blows being exchanged. I went ahead and exchanged all my chips for power and threw the hell out of what I had. She and I both roared with that crazy, brutal, we’re-in-it-now joy. I was drenched, working hard to breathe after combos. The world faded and there was only boxing.

At the bell for the seventh round I realized a small crowd had gathered to watch. I suddenly realized that this was the first time Bonnie had been seen in the ring since her fight. I had made my six rounds with joy, with pleasure, with power. And now I was sucking for air and people were watching. Oh well, I thought, let’s see what I have left to give. And we boxed.

Unfortunately, I caught a solid uppercut to the diaphragm toward the end of the seventh round, and all oxygen exited my universe. Bonnie knew it immediately, and I turned to the ropes and raised my arms to let some air back in to my lungs. “Just a second,” I gasped, “…need just a second.” She backed off and paced, and I cursed gently (because I find this helps) until I could breathe again.

Ten seconds later I banged my gloves together. “Let’s finish this,” I called, and we touched gloves and worked.

I finished the seventh round and collapsed gratefully against the ropes, finished. Except Bonnie wasn’t finished. “That was seven rounds?” she asked our ringside crowd, sneaking a look at me. “That feels so… unfinished.”

I groaned.

“I hate odd numbers,” she continued, laughing. “And I’m not even tired. Let’s do one more.”

She knows I can’t resist. I’m helpless against her charm. Or else I am stone cold crazy.

Yeah, probably that latter one.

“You got it, Boss,” I told her, dumping half my water bottle over my head. I had no jabs left. I’d thrown everything I had. My arms were marshmallows. I got back in my corner, mentally prepared a battle plan for keeping out of range and covering up with a tight guard, and awaited the bell.

It was true, she looked fresh. She performed with power and precision, hardly winded at all. I survived the eighth round with determined grace, and stripped my gloves off at the bell. I felt incredible, awesome. Best night of my week.

But I was thinking later about why she was so fresh after eight rounds.

As I looked back on it I realized that as the better boxer, she knew she didn’t have to throw as many punches as I did. She threw far fewer, but many more of hers were good or even excellent hits. Many of my jabs, which are effective at keeping her out of my space, don’t land with power or don’t land at all. They are still effective, but it means I’m throwing far more than she does. I go after her with everything I have, staying on offense at least 80% of the time, rarely resting.

She boxes as if on very serious holiday, absolutely nothing is wasted, no moment is unplanned. Every combination, every segment of footwork, each careful moment of rest and defense is laid out like a fierce ballet. Every single punch counts.

God, I want to box like that.

I’m guessing she’ll give me more lessons. Meanwhile you can call me Woman of 1000 Jabs.

And keep your eye out for my left hook, people. It may be young, but it’ll mature and bring a house of pain with it.

Image of me sparring by Ken Hall Photography.