training

What to Expect the First Time You Spar in Boxing

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Whether you started boxing for fitness or because you want to compete, one of the most scary and exciting things you’ll ever do is step into the ring for your very first sparring session. Depending on how long you’ve been training, who you’re stepping into the ring with, and how trustworthy your trainer is, your [...]

Boxing 27 comments Read the full post →

Runner Redemption

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Ready for my confession? I’ve made them before (see here and here), but it must be time for a fresh one. Forgive me, people, for I have sinned. Again. But this story is different, I promise. I went for a run this week and in the course of the first mile alone I found myself [...]

Training 7 comments Read the full post →

Chevelle Hallback Announces “Fists of Steel Boxing Academy”

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Ahh, the powerful, beautiful, pro boxer Chevelle Hallback (28-7-2). She’s in my top five favorite boxers of all time. I’ve written about Chevelle, interviewed her, and I even got to talk to her on the phone right after I won my first fight, and I am unbelievably happy to hear this particular news of hers. [...]

Boxing 7 comments Read the full post →

Boxing Lesson: Advance on the Jab

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It may be that trainers have been saying this to me for years now, and I’m only just recently able to hear it. There is so much to be mastered in boxing that sometimes it’s all you can do to cope with the basics. You have to simply survive in the ring for a long [...]

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Fighting the Dread of Boxing Training

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Having just moved to a new boxing gym, I’m once again reminded of how hard it is to make inroads into a new gym, a new team. I don’t mean overcoming the reluctance to train, but rather the simple and profound fear of boxing itself, and all the insanely hard work it takes to stand [...]

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Hair Metal Playlist for Running and Roping

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Warning: rambling post filled with (clearly labeled!) tangents ahead. Feel free to skip to the bottom for the playlist. It was about 90 degrees outside but the sun was dropping when I headed out for a run. I’m not yet acclimatized to summer heat workouts, although I have no choice but to get there eventually. [...]

Bands & Music 7 comments Read the full post →

How Boxing Inspires People

How boxing inspires people

Train Me Right — What We Are About from jill Morley on Vimeo. I just found this awesome video over on Jill Morley’s blog and was glued to the screen as each fighter told just a small piece of his or her story. The woman who appears at the end of this video, Kaiyana Rain, [...]

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Olive Channelling Henry

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Most of the time Olive is just as sweet and empty as a grassy lawn with no trees. Once in a while she channels Henry, who uses the word “douchebag” and ruthlessly shreds anything people call darling. And while I rarely catch Henry being charming, I sometimes see Olive being grouchy, and those are the [...]

Henry, Olive & Rocky 0 comments Read the full post →

Atlanta Corporate Fight Night 2, Merz vs Bledsoe

ACFN2 fight video

ACFN2 Merz vs Bledsoe from Lisa Creech Bledsoe on Vimeo. I promised to post video from my fight so here it is. Try to ignore the blinking — I should have messed with my codec settings, but I wasn’t willing to spend the time on it. Also, I compressed the crap out of it with [...]

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Trying Out a New Gym

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Walking into a new boxing gym for the first time is excruciatingly difficult for me. In this particular case, there had been a number of obstacles to overcome even before I walked in the door. I’d heard about them, but couldn’t find an up-to-date website. Rumor had it they had recently relocated, and I knew [...]

Boxing 12 comments Read the full post →