No Strike, But Plenty of Misses

The Chicago Park District just barely avoided dealing with a strike.  Unfortunately, the Chicago Public Schools did not; their strike has been going on since last week.  Usually, the park district gets an overflow of youths needing activities to occupy their time while school is not in session.  However, the field house has been quiet and attendance in my boxing program has not gone up.

There was another sign-up yesterday, but I'm not sure what to make of that.  Amy is a 16-year-old who signed up for exercise purposes.  She's in a program at her school where she'll receive a good grade if she can show that she completed 50 hours of a fitness program.  This is the seventh week of the fall session.  Amy doesn't realize that she is not going to get all of her hours done before the session ends at the end of November.  I'm not keeping the gym open during the long break before the winter session begins in January.

Caiden still can't shut up when needed, and Keon and Keith keep allowing themselves to be distracted by their cousin.  I'm also tired of Caiden pestering Ivan to spar with him, something Ivan is not interested in doing.  Hamlin Park's boxing show is this week.  "Those kids at Hamlin will be ready for you all.  Y'all have to be ready for them," I told the boys.  Keon made a statement that hinted that doing a boxing match may not be something he can do.  Keith hasn't really shown much enthusiasm about the boxing show.  Caiden keeps thinking that street fighting skills are going to transfer into the ring.  I have a feeling that Caiden is going to lose another match.

I've given up on Ivan.  Now he's telling me that his swimming class only meets once a week.  Ivan has to leave in the middle of the boxing class to go to the pool.  But that does not explain Ivan's other absences from class.  Two of the staff members gave me funny looks when I got on Ivan about his attendance, but please - I'm not studying that, as my paternal grandmother used to say.  For any of the park district programs to work, people need to attend them on a regular basis.  Besides, Ivan doesn't have much interest in the sport. 

David and Vanessa keep strolling into class late.  It doesn't matter so much with Vanessa, as she has said she doesn't want to fight.  She also misses one day out of each week due to a swimming class, and she's absent often due to school activities.  It still ticks me off that her people pushed for her to be registered in the class knowing that she couldn't fully participate.  David, on the other hand, never does a full class because of leaving early every day to do competitive swimming.  Here lately, David keeps asking about sparring and appearing in boxing shows. I remember that David's dad doesn't want his son to fight.  David keeps forgetting that.  I informed David that fighting is something he'll never get to do as long as he's doing twenty minutes of my program and running off to the pool.  If his dad changes his mind, he'll have to personally let me know. 

The teen class is now full - at least on paper - with the addition of Amy.  The younger kids' class has seven kids, but only four of them show up.  Five people are signed up for the adult class, and Alex was the only one showing up.  But Alex has not been there for over a week.  I don't believe that Alex will be there anymore.

Sahia has been MIA, as well.  I don't have a cell phone plan with unlimited minutes, so I make very few calls.  An email was sent to her some time ago, but I've heard no news. I can only hope that all is well.

A Cool Night For Boxing

Finally, after two years of being rained out, there was another boxing show at LaFollette Park.  The skies were overcast in the morning, but as the afternoon went on, the sun broke through and the threat of rain went away.  Only five other parks were involved in the show: Franklin Park, Portage Park, Garfield Park, Hamlin Park, and Loyola Park.  Barry, the youth coach at Loyola Park, told me it was his first time at LaFollette.  "This is a nice big gym over here!" he smiled.  "This place is at least twice the size of Loyola's gym," Alan, who runs the adult class at Loyola, said. 

There was no fight available for Jaylen, the only kid from LaFollette who was available to participate in the show.  There were other eleven-year-olds on the premises, but Jaylen was bigger than the other kids. 

Before the show, Sahia was telling the Portage Park coach that she wanted to get back into boxing.  The challenge was going to be finding people her age to have fights with.  I understood that completely as it was always hard for me to get fights while I was competing for the same reason. 

Only eight fights took place.  The first fight was an exhibition match.  I helped judge the fights.  I had a hoodie on, and I shivered a little as the cool breeze was not summer-like at all. 

Gabe and his brother Sebastian, who I hadn't seen in a long time were there.  Gabe did get a fight against a guy from Hamlin.  Gabe lost, unfortunately.  The guy he fought kept jamming Gabe up against the ropes. 

All in all, it was a good day for fighting.  I told Jaylen that the next show we'll go to is the one at Garfield Park.  Hopefully, there will be an even bigger crowd of fighters who will show up there so Jaylen may have a better chance of getting a fight. 

Hand Throwing At Hamlin

Malik, Mikaela, and Noel came to the Hamlin Park boxing show.  Only Malik and Mikaela got fights.  Malik fought a lanky, slightly bigger kid out of Hamlin.  Mikaela's opponent was a girl from Humboldt Park, who like Mikaela, only had one prior fight.  Their fights were number four and five on the show schedule.  Alan helped me in the corner with both of them.

Malik hesitated a lot.  I had to keep telling him not to wait on the other fighter and be first with his left jab.  I liked that Malik kept moving a lot, but we've got to work on him throwing more combinations.  Malik fell down once and so did the other guy; both falls were ruled as slips.  Malik didn't win, but some in the audience thought he should have.

The girl Mikaela fought kept smothering her against the ropes and in the corners.  She was shorter than Mikaela, and she was holding her a lot.  I have to work more with Mikaela on slowing down fighters who like to rush in a lot as the other girl was doing.  Mikaela did her best, but she didn't win.

Mike, Rojan, Solomon, and Erik from Loyola Park had fights.  Erik was the only person from there who won his.  William was there too, but he wasn't able to get a fight.  Hamlin Park's fighters racked up most of the wins for the evening.

David Diaz was there; it was one of his boys who fought Malik.  "You're still hanging in there!" he smiled at me.  Fres Oquendo gave me a hug when he saw me.  I hadn't seen him for awhile.  The announcer at the show mentioned that Fres was cheered during his last fight in Russia.

All in all, it was a pleasant evening.  Phil was at the show.  He suggested that I get a buffer to help ease the discomfort with my left knee.  I will certainly look into that before I have to go see the doctor about it in November.  

Diappearing Acts and Usual Issues

Halloween is still a way off, but attendance in the gym is down.  When November rolls in, I expect most people to pull disappearing acts because the holidays become uppermost in their minds.  I appreciate those like Mikaela, Noel, Shay, and their mom, who give me a heads up in advance when they will not be in the gym.  But most don't give me any warning.

I see Brandon and his mom walking around the field house often.  They're pleasant when greeting me.  But Brandon has only been in boxing class once since his mom registered him.  Anwar has been missing a lot of days for someone who hasn't been long in the class.  Another boy, David, whom I pulled from the wait list, acted as if he was so eager when I told him he could be in the class.  David hasn't been there yet.  Eric is another one whose face I don't know because I haven't seen him.

Gael surprised me this past Friday by showing up, but his sister Jennifer wasn't with him.  Their mother gave me no explanation for the girl's absence.  I allowed Gael to spar with James.  They only did a couple of rounds because James didn't want to do a third one.  "Are we going to spar again today?" Gael asked.  There were no other kids in the 12-years-and-under class other than those two, as none of the other kids came in.  Gael asked about the next sparring day, not bothering to read the bulletin board as usual.  I informed him and his mother -- again -- that sparring takes place only on Wednesday and Friday.

I had to stop myself from making a sarcastic crack when Gael had the nerve to me ask about getting a match at the Hamlin Park show which is coming up this week.  That Friday was the first time the boy had ever sparred.  Apparently, Gael thought that qualified him for a fight.  "Gael, you're not ready for that," I told him in front of his mom. Jennifer and Gael hardly show up to the gym the three days their mom told me they could attend.  None of the three days they can attend include the sparring days.  Based on the days already missed and what I see in terms of training habits, Gael is never going to be ready for a match.

There have been a lot of inquiries from parents and kids alike about the boxing class lately.  I get the impression that most who've heard about the class don't investigate the basics, like when the class actually began and the days and times it meets.  People display a lot of disappointed looks when they realize the youth classes are full and that they have to wait for the January class.  I become disappointed too because I know most will forget to sign up in December, despite me having given them that information.  Even if they register early, most likely I won't find out they can't attend all five days during the week until after they're already in the class.  The others will show up in February expecting to get into classes that are already full.  

Chilling At Hamlin Park

The video above shows an interesting gentleman that I met at the Hamlin Park boxing show named Phil.  In his younger days, he was a boxer as well as a bodybuilder.  He was showing me pictures of himself doing both 50 years ago.  He has trained boxers, as well.  Phil was showing me how he trains boxers to step into their punches, and how to pivot so they can put more power behind them.  Phil was one of the judges at the show along with Gary.  I can't wait to get back to LaFollette Park to pass Phil's wisdom to the youths.

Alan was there for awhile.  He had expected Rojan to show up, but Rojan wasn't able to make it.  I had stayed home on Monday night, thinking that Loyola Park was closed for Columbus Day.  Alan told me the gym was open, so I missed one of my workout days.

Ernest, Kenny, Barry, Jeff, Gerald, Marty, and Marlon were the other coaches present.  Marty didn't have any fighters with him, but the other guys did.  Both Donovan and James told me they could not attend the show, so I had no fighters with me either.  I helped Barry in the corner with Solomon, one of his fighters. Solomon fought one of David Diaz's fighters; he did well but didn't get the win.

It was chilly in the basketball gym where the ring was set up.  All the windows in the gym were open.  The temperatures are dropping fast in Chicago; during the day, the temps reached the upper fifties but had gone down to the forties when the sun set.   I was already a little chilled when I got to Hamlin.  I left my car at home and decided to take the bus instead.  Not willing to accept that summer is past, I just wore a hoodie with a very light jacket over it.

A young lady who played "The Star Spangled Banner" on her violin at the top of the show also had a fight (check out her story here at http://wgntv.com/2016/10/11/violinist-finds-new-way-to-manage-chronic-pain/). She knocked down the woman she with whom she was in the ring.  Barry exclaimed, "She's really working the jab on her!"  The violinist won her fight.

I've got about two weeks to try and get the youths at LaFollette prepared for Humboldt Park's boxing show.  I'm going to need a whole lot of patience.

Just Like Frank Sinatra

The last time I was at work, I realized that I had to do some planning for the end of this year.  The holiday season will kick off as soon as Halloween has ended, so I've got to be prepared.  One of the best things Thomas told the coaches was, "You run your gyms the way you see fit."  He didn't have to tell me that twice.

I'm going to shut down LaFollette Park boxing gym after the last class of the fall session ends in early December.  I'm going to play like Sinatra and do it my way like I did last year.  I'll take that time to do my administrative stuff, and check and clean the equipment.  I might also take one or two days off, depending on what may come up in December.  I'll have to physically keep the gym doors open for those who wander in and ask questions about the program.  But I'm not putting out one piece of equipment, except for the radio to keep me company.

I'm also tentatively planning not to have an adult class in the 2017 winter session. Keeping that class going has become like beating a dead horse.  I'm tired of empty promises from those who act all hyped up about signing up for that class. I'm also tired of people becoming no-shows after two or three classes.  Sitting and staring out at an empty gym for an hour and a half is not my idea of being productive. In November, I'm going to make a case to my boss to drop the class permanently.  I'd rather expand the times of the youth classes.  

Time is running out for those who want to compete in the park district boxing shows.  Later this week, Hamlin Park's show will take place.  That's a popular one; I'm trying to convince Donovan, James, and Ariel to attend that one.  As for the other participants, most of them are too new to talk about putting in a fight.  I have already given up on some who have shown no discipline nor major interest in showing up to the class consistently.  If the youths are indifferent, bored, etc., about training while the boxing shows are happening, what are they going to do for that long stretch between January and June when those shows aren't taking place?  Scottsdale Park's show is the last on the list in February of next year.  But west side residents are not that interested in going out south, or to the north side, for that matter, to participate in anything.

Most of the parents/guardians and youths don't recognize what doors boxing can open up for them.  I would have never figured that I would become a boxing coach when I first took up the sport, but here I am.  I know others who've gone a lot further.  So many opportunities, in and out of the ring are waiting, but people do not take advantage of them.  It's hard to fight against mentalities that only go to the edge of the 12-to-14 block neighborhood that people live in.

Judging at Portage Park

I really need to stop trusting some Internet maps on how to get places.  Luckily, I left the house early enough, so I got to the boxing show at Portage Park yesterday on time.  And yay, they had a parking lot so I didn't have to worry about getting a ticket.

Donovan did not go to that show.  I had advised him not to because I figured there would be no fight for him there.  I was right.  Only a few parks were represented.  Unfortunately, that meant that James, who showed up with his parents, wasn't able to get a fight.  There was an eight-year-old boy from Garfield Park who could have been a match for him.  However, James was 34 pounds heavier.  George, the coach at Garfield Park, didn't agree to making the match, and rightfully so.

Still, I felt bad about telling James that he wouldn't be able to fight that evening.  He didn't get a fight at LaFollette or Harrison Park's shows, so that was the third time.  James has always been very eager to get a match when he arrives at the shows.  James is a quiet child, not given much to being loud and talkative like a lot of other kids are.  But I saw the disappointment on his face, and it bothered me.  I'm hoping we'll have better luck next week at Loyola Park.

Only five fights were scheduled.  I acted as a judge for all of them.  There was a match between two boys, Jordan and Ben, whom I had seen fight several times before.  Jordan was very hesitant about getting his punches off, while Ben kept pressing in on him.  The judges turned their sheets end, but it was decided that both boys were winners.

Marlon, the coach at Portage Park, had one of his boys up against one of Barry's boys from Loyola Park.  Everyone in the audience took note of how Marlon's fighter was ducking punches.  "You don't have to go that low!" Marlon told him from the corner.  But the kid kept doing it.  Barry's fighter took advantage of it, too, using uppercuts and body shots to make his points.  Both boys were dead tired in round three because they had given out so much energy.  Barry's fighter won.

Alan was there, along with his son Matt, but Alan had no fighters with him.  Bill, the coach at Hamlin Park, was concerned about the women Alan has in his adult boxing class.  Bill had a woman fighter at the show, but there was no one for her to get into the ring with.  The only woman I could think of who regularly competes out of Loyola is Kathy.  Alan's been reaching out to Geniece to come back and train, but she's hasn't as of yet.

My fall youth boxing classes at LaFollette are slowly gaining registrations.  But I'm not expecting full classes until halfway into the fall session.  That's how it has been going for the longest.  As for the adults, I'll be lucky if a couple of people sign up and stick with it.

Reunion at Loyola Park

I helped out at Loyola Park's annual boxing show.  I had been in the "war room" during previous shows before, but it was different being there as a coach.  I walked in the room, and Tommy introduced me as the new coach at LaFollette.  There were surprised looks all around with the exception of Alan, Barry, and Bill, who said, "I knew you would make it."

Kitchens, who I hadn't seen in a long time, was there, along with Sean.  Kitchens was on a cane.  "I just do the Park District shows now.  I don't go to the Golden Gloves or the pro shows anymore.  I don't take pictures at the shows, either," he told me.  He and Sean have known each other for over 50 years.  I told Kitchens I saw a photo of him when he had won a championship back in the early 1960's.  The photo was in a book that Sean wrote about Chicago boxing.

The coaches on hand were Pat, who is at Brooks Park; Sims, who is at Bessemer; Tommy, who is not only the head of the boxing program for the parks, but also coaches at Portage Park; Ernie, who is the coach at Fuller; and Johnny, who helps Bill out at Hamlin.  I learned from them that Clarendon Park, where Alan used to coach at was once the jewel of the Park District boxing program.

This is a photo of a couple of Barry's boys before the show started.  The boy in the back near the ring is Gus.  I didn't recognize him at first.  Gus has got to be about seventeen years old now, and Gus has muscle.

Gene, who is Anthony's dad, was there.  Haven't seen Anthony in a long, long time.  I think he's training at another park.

Meg was there, and I'm so sorry that she and Geniece did not get to fight.  Alan was disappointed as well.  They were ready to go, but Bill was concerned about the weight difference between the two women.  There was talk of them perhaps doing an exhibition match, but that idea was nixed, too.  I have no doubt their fight would have been the highlight of the evening.  Hopefully, there will be a next time.

Meg wants to really advocate the idea of more girls in boxing, and so do I.  We talked about maybe having a girls' boxing day at some point, perhaps at LaFollette.  As soon as I get an idea of how many youths I will have, I would love to help make that happen.  I still don't have any youths yet, even though the fall session has started.  Bill gave me some encouragement.  "When I started at Hamlin, I spent three months there drinking coffee in the kitchen because I had no fighters.  But don't worry, the kids will eventually show up," he said.  Adrian, who was the DJ at the boxing show, told me it will take some time to build up the program as well.  I'm ready to work with the kids, so I will continue to do more promoting to get them in the gym.

Collette, who is part of the famous O'Shea family of boxing, was at the show.  She was very pleased to hear that I was a coach.  "We've got to make some strides," she said.  She is willing to send some kids over my way as she comes across them.

Tommy (in the red shirt) talks with Ernie in this photo.  Tommy was busy weighing boxers in and making the matches.  During the show, Tommy had to be in the corner with his fighters, so I was the timekeeper.  That was the first time I had done that; I'm always happy to pick up a new skill.

Pat sits in the background, Johnny stands behind Bill, and Bill talks to Ben, one of Hamlin's fighters.  Ben won his match.

I had to keep my eye on the stopwatch, so I didn't catch very many details of each fight.  John fought with Gus in an exhibition match.  Gus didn't seem to be throwing heavy punches, from what I could tell.

Justin fought with a guy who came out of the corner throwing wild punches.  Justin kept getting smothered, and lost the match.

Barry warmed up Jeremiah before his fight.  Jeremiah won a clear victory.

This was the fight announcer, who was cool on the mic.  He mentioned JJ's upcoming fight in Brooklyn, New York.  The announcer said JJ was an alumni of Loyola Park.

Keith, Alan, and John have a conversation after the show.  John invited Keith and I over to his and his wife Jinn's apartment afterwards.  "We miss you at the gym, Hillari.  It's not the same without you there," he told me.  It's nice to be missed.  I miss all of them, too.  When the program is up and running, John, Keith, Colonel (who was at the show videotaping the matches), want to come up to LaFollette and check it out.

Back To The West Side

After finishing up work at my first job yesterday, I took a bus ride out to the west side to get a look at my new second job will I will begin next week.  The La Follette field house is located over in Austin, a neighborhood I lived in from the time I was eight years old up until I was fifteen years old.

I believe one of the advantages that I will have as a coach is that I will be able to relate to the situations and issues that some of the youths may be facing daily.  I have a lot of good memories about growing up in Austin during the 1970's.  It's not an area without troubles, however.  A lot of the same issues:  gangs, drugs, fractured families, etc., that went on back then still go on now.  My younger siblings and I avoided a lot of stuff mainly because our mother had zero tolerance for many behaviors.  But I understand that not everyone grows up the same way.  I also haven't forgotten from where I came.

There were kids hanging in and around La Follette, but the field house seemed rather quiet.  The first area I checked out was the swimming pool.  Several Chicago parks do have pools, but it's always a surprise to me when I come across one.  The pool is a nice one.  Staff was cleaning it as I looked on.  If only I could swim.  One of these days, I'll take lessons.

I wandered around the building, wondering where the boxing gym was.  Remembering that the gym at Hamlin Park is basically in the basement, I decided to take the stairs down to the ground floor.  I gasped when I saw the room -- it's way bigger than the gym at Loyola Park.  The room is circular, and a half-completed ring stood in the middle, the canvas on the floor, just like the old ring at Loyola.  The only equipment I saw was a heavy bag, an old double end bag, and an uppercut bag.  An old radio was also in the room.  No gloves or headgear were to be seen.  Perhaps they were stored in another area.  I didn't see any lockers, either.   "I'm going to have to put in an order for more equipment," I thought to myself.

A few signs on the wall referring to boxing workouts were up, including a few boxing posters of past fights.  I'll have to dig out some of my old boxing posters to further decorate the walls.

It won't be a jarring change being the person in charge.  I've held jobs where I was a supervisor, as well as being the second in command when the boss was unavailable.  It won't be a major switch working with kids in addition to adults.  I've had jobs where I worked around kids, and I was a substitute teacher in the Evanston School District at one point. The big adjustment will be getting used to being in a different gym. I've been at Loyola Park since the year my younger sister passed away.  That was twelve years ago.

I'll have to learn new names and new faces.  I'm already missing the old faces.

A Rematch for Andre

This time, I was all the way at the train station when I realized I left my camera at home.  No time to turn back, so I just went on to Hamlin Park's boxing show.  The photo above is from last October.

Barry was there, and he was disappointed that all of his fighters couldn't show up.  I think he had one kid in the show; everybody else had called and told Barry they couldn't make it.  "We're gonna have to have a meeting about that," Barry told me.

I ran into Meg, who told me she was back in action at the gym after an illness that kept her out for a long time.  She told me that people often get on her for boxing at all (I know the feeling), and it seemed they were complaining even more about her participation when she became ill.  But Meg is tough.  She had been cleared health-wise, and she won the fight she had.

Gary was there, also.  I hadn't seen him a long time.  He told Big Andre, who was the only guy from Loyola's adult boxing gym who was at the show, that he could come to the Chicago Fight Club and get some work in.  "Just tell them that Gary sent you,"  he told Andre.  Chicago Fight Club is owned by a guy who loves boxing, but has never been a boxer.  Fearless Fernando, Antonio, and Boban train there.

Johnny, a local promoter, took it upon himself to sing the National Anthem.  Johnny didn't do a bad job.  He also had the announcing duties.

Alan, Andre, and myself were all prepared to relax for a little bit.  Andre's fight was to be the eighth one of the night.  But when Andre went to the table to get his gloves, we learned that his fight had been bumped up to being the third one of the evening.  We had to scramble to get Andre ready because by that time, the second fight was in progress.  While Alan was using the punch pads to warm up Andre, an announcement came over the speakers that Andre should come to the glove table.  I went to check what was going on.  "Andre has his gloves already," I told the people manning the table.  "He still has to be over here," a beefy guy told me without giving further explanation.  Andre found out the reason was they wanted the fighters to sit and stay in an area that was set up near the glove table.  Alan shook his head at the request, Andre was irritated, and I wondered what difference did it make where Andre sat?  We've always sat out in the audience before our fights.

The female fights seemed rather intense to me.  One girl who looked to be 18 or 20 years old took a strong right from her opponent near the end of their match.  It looked as if she may have been cut open.  In another fight, an even younger girl was knocked to the canvas.

Oscar, the coach over at Seward, saw me and asked where Gabriel was.  Alan thought that Gabriel, Professor, and perhaps Matthew would have come to the show, but they didn't.  Oscar took a look at Andre's opponent.  "Didn't he fight that dude before?" he asked.  "Yes. . . .it's a rematch," I answered.  I noticed that Alan and I didn't match as far as our corner person's jackets.  I was wearing my Loyola jacket, but Alan had on his old Clarendon jacket.

During the first two rounds, Andre was tagging the heck out of his opponent.  The match was similar to when they fought during Loyola's boxing show last month.  The other boxer hung in there with Andre, but took a lot of hits.  The crowd got lit up when during the third round, the other boxer got several hits in Andre and backed him up a little.  But Andre went right back to work, throwing hooks and body shots.  Andre won the fight.

We stuck around to see another fight which involved a much smaller boy, William Perez, and a tall boy.  Perez worked to get punches in, but couldn't quite get close enough to throw body shots.  I told Alan, "That boy reminds me of me when I'm sparring with people taller than me!"  Alan agreed.  Andre and I were really rooting for the smaller kid, but in the end, the other kid -- one of Hamlin's own -- got the victory.

Oscar said there may be a match for Andre at Seward Park's show, which is next month.  Andre's had about four or five fights; Oscar's guy is 27 years old with no fights.  But Oscar is confident he can train the guy to take on Andre.

I may get a fight at Seward since I missed out on getting one at Hamlin.  But that may depend on my left leg and knee.  "Why are you limping, Hillari?" Alan asked.  "This has been happening a lot lately.  It comes and goes," I sighed.  I was just at the doctor earlier that day, too, but I said nothing about it.  I guess I wasn't in the mood to be poked at some more and getting yet another medication prescribed to me.

Punching On Columbus Day

In this photo, Anthony (on the left) spars with Matthew.  I believe it was Anthony's first time sparring.  "I'm glad I did that.  Sparring is intense," Anthony said afterwards.  I almost didn't recognize him when he first walked into the field house; Anthony was wearing a pair of glasses.

Anthony told me he'd been an athlete in high school, taking up all kinds of sports including football and wrestling.  An injury -- one of his fingers was pulled backwards -- cut down on the football, but Anthony continued to participate in everything else.  Matthew displayed more of his growing confidence in the ring against Anthony while they sparred.  However, after much prompting from Alan, Anthony threw straight punches and landed a few of then effectively.

Tall John and Keith sparred.  I have to come up with new nicknames for both of the guys named John who are currently in the gym so to distinguish between them.  Bearded John shaved his beard off (Tall John showed up clean shaven as well).

Colonel came in, but had to leave early.  "My knee is killing me.  I should have known something was up earlier.  When I was out walking my pets, my knee buckled on me three times," he told me as he rubbed it.  My right knee hasn't done that to me in awhile, but I know that is not a good feeling.  Colonel said he'll go swimming tomorrow; it helps his joints because there's no pressure on them.  I wish I knew how to the swim because I'd be working out my knees in the pool every day.

Tall John and I sparred, even though I didn't really give Alan an answer about whether I would spar or not.  I haven't been much in a sparring mood since early last month, but I need to spar because it clears some of the clouds that have been hanging over my head.

Alan told me he had talked to Bill over at Hamlin Park.  There's no fight available for me.  A list of Hamlin fighters that is in the gym has three females listed on it.  All of the female fighters are younger than I and lighter in weight.  It figures, since I'm experiencing a "when it rains it pours" situation in my life at the moment. I'm disappointed on one hand, but on the other hand I'm figuring it's just as well.   It's always better for a boxer to go into a fight with a cool head than with a heart full of rage.  My focus in the gym has been off ever since I lost my job, and my anger about the loss of income and how unjustly that situation went down is going to continue to boil inside me for a long, long time.  Maybe it will have lifted enough for me to take the next fight opportunity that comes up.

Polished Boxing

Alan wondered where everyone was not long after he opened the gym door.  Outside of myself, the only other people there were Matt and Heather.  "It's not quite the middle of the session, yet people are already gone," I commented.  But not long afterwards, people started trickling in.  Marcus is in the picture above.

A guy named Jeff stopped in.  "I really want to get back in shape and maybe spar a little," Jeff said.  Jeff used to box at Welles Park years ago.  There's no longer a boxing program over there.  Alan and I talked to him a little more, then Jeff said he would come back on Monday to sign up.  Jeff mentioned that his girlfriend was interested in boxing, too.  "Bring her in," I told Jeff.

The only sparring done was between 5 ft. 1 me and 6 ft. 4 Matthew.  I dodged his long reach for a time, but not often enough.  I really made an effort to be an inside fighter, but my head got cracked more than once. As usual, I went in to throw the body shots, but neglected to protect my head.  Finally, Alan reminded me to keep my hands up.

I wasn't moving my head enough either.  Sometimes I wonder if I will ever get that straight.  I never seem to be able to coordinate moving my head and throwing punches.  Twice I got Matthew with overhand rights, but while they landed, I knew I hadn't quite thrown them correctly as I should.

Afterwards, Matthew apologized for hitting hard at times, but I told him not to worry about it.  Colonel was watching from ringside.  He told me that I looked more "polished" and Alan agreed with him.  I might get a fight at Hamlin, but that all depends on whom Bill has available over there for me to box.  Matthew may get a fight at that show as well.

Later, I was throwing some crisp hooks on the heavy bag.  Alan told me I should hit like that during sparring as well as regular bouts.  "I was visualizing people that I'm angry with while I was throwing the hooks," I told Alan, and he grinned.  If I would channel that anger into my next fight, I would probably win.

Loyola Park's Winning Night

As promised some time ago, here is a photo of me wearing the lovely coach's jacket that Amy gave me a few months ago.  There was no fight for me at this year's boxing show down at the field house, so I helped out everyone else in my assistant coach role.

I got to the field house a bit late.  I saw Rob, a pastor who used to train at the gym.  His sons, both heavyweights, had fights.  Rob's sons didn't win, but according to their father, they put on a good showing.

Gabriel's fight came up not long after I showed up.  The announcer got Gabriel's last name correct, but kept messing up on his first name, which I found amusing.  Usually people have problems pronouncing the last name.  Gabriel was backed up into corners and the ropes a few times, but then he used his long reach to keep the other guy from coming in on him.  The other guy took some hard straight punches and hooks from Gabriel, especially in the last round.  Gabriel was the victor.

James, or Professor, as we commonly know him, was up next in a 168 pound match.  Throughout the fast three rounds, the other boxer never got one significant hit on Professor.  Professor was clocking the guy left and right. Professor had said all day long on his Facebook page that he was going to win his fight, and true to his word, he did.

Andres was in a super heavyweight fight.  Arnold and I kept yelling from the sides, "Hit the body!"  At the end of the second round, Andres' opponent was tired, and it showed.  Andres delivered some straight shots to the guy's mid-section, and threw some hooks in that direction as well.  Andres' hand was raised in victory after it was all over.

Of the adult boxers, Matthew was the last to have a bout.  From ringside, Alan instructed Matthew to relax. Matthew was aggressive enough to back the other person up into a corner at one point.  But after Matthew was backed into a corner, the referee stopped the fight.  Confused, I asked, "What happened?"  Matthew had raised up his knee -- the same thing he did the other night when Alan had him up against the ropes while they sparred.  I heard Alan telling him, "I should have reminded you not to do that," as he took off Matthew's gloves and headgear.   The decision went to the other boxer.

Arnold took a video of me on his cell phone interviewing Professor and Andre about their fights afterwards.

Barry's fighters didn't do bad, either.  The last fight of the evening was between Dominick, and another kid. Dominick was getting the best of the kid most of the time.  The other kid got two eight counts.  Dominick won.

Arnold (who looks very good with a beard, by the way), a friend of Andres, and Andres pose with Alan right after Andres' fight.

Andres goes in for a hook to the other boxer's body.

Arnold holds the pads to help Matthew warm up for his bout.

Eric and Barry with Dominick in the corner.

Matthew (in the middle) talks to Gabriel and Nina (Matthew's girlfriend) after the fight.

Professor and Andres after Professor's fight.

Professor and Oscar.

The champions:  Professor, Andres, and Gabriel.

It was a good night.  I saw Bill, the coach at Hamlin, and he told me there's six women in his gym.  I need to get over there and get some sparring in.  I also saw Sean, who was the referee during some of the matches. Rico, who I hadn't seen since the cops vs fire fighters match a few months ago, was there, too.

Tall John was disappointed that I didn't get a fight.  He was ready to take pictures.  Gabriel wanted to see me fight, too.  "I wanted to see you throw that overhand right on someone!" he grinned.  But there are still several more tournaments to go before mid-December, and I believe I will get at least one fight at one of those shows.

A Relaxing Night

The gym was closed on Labor Day.  Today was Rosh Hashanah, so I ran the gym in Alan's place.  The crowd was small, only Colonel, Gabriel, and Igor.  Igor revealed that he had an operation, which explained his recent absence from the gym.  "I like when there's not a lot of people in here.  It's relaxing," Colonel said.

I was dragging on the way down to the gym.  The holiday weekend wasn't one of the best that I'd had.  The bright spot was me house sitting for a dear couple who had gone out of town. It was nice to get out of my apartment for awhile, and see some cable TV, since I currently don't have that service at my place.
The couple also has the most content cat that I've ever been around, and the cat had a calming effect on me.  I needed that to counteract other problems I experienced over the weekend.  I wasn't feeling well most of the day on Sunday, and part of Monday as well.  I haven't had much of an appetite lately; maybe that contributed to it.  Also, I learned that a friend has stage four cancer, realized that I missed my half-sister's birthday by several days (not the one who lives here, but the one who lives out of state), and I had to drop kick several individuals from my friends list on Facebook.  Yeah, the weekend could have been a lot better.

As usual, Igor didn't stay the entire session.  Forty-five minutes and Igor was out.

Colonel had Gabriel cracking up with tales of his exploits.  Gabriel said that Colonel was "the most gangsta person" that he knows.  I had to agree.  Colonel does have some wild stories, and I believe all of them are true.  He told us that he joined the military when he was 24 years old.  "I was the old man among everyone else.  People would call me Pops.  I had graduated college, and I had been to several countries by that time.  I had more combat experience than the officers over me," he smiled.

Gabriel was asking me about upcoming fights.  He's back in school now, plus working during the day, so it's probably going to be a matter of juggling time in order to be able to participate in matches.

Colonel noticed that I was bit slow on the speed bag.  "Usually, you make that bag sing!" he grinned.  I was pushing myself to do the workout.  A combination of me feeling run down and me being distracted by numerous other issues made it hard for me to focus.  Jilberto, who opened the gym door, asked me if I was ready to take a fight during Loyola Park's boxing show later this month.  I want to fight, but at this point, I'm not so sure that I'm up for it.  Several people have been telling me that it looks like I've lost some weight, so that's a positive in my favor.

Professor sent me a message earlier in the day saying that he was told that people who take boxing classes via the park district can't have gym privileges at other park district boxing gyms.  This is different from what was told the park district coaches about two years ago.  Sigh. . .that may knock out long-held plans I've had to get some sparring in up at Hamlin Park.  I'm going to have to look into the private boxing gyms in the area to see what their day pass rates are especially on the weekends.

Temperatures Rising

Alan left a message for me around noon -- the coach twisted his ankle and wouldn't be at the gym.  That meant no sparring.  But it was just as well because the gym was steaming hot, and it felt like the temperatures kept climbing and climbing.

As usual when the coach is out, people who haven't been around for awhile decide to drop in.  Igor, who hadn't been around for about a week, showed up.  Josh came in about twenty minutes before the gym closed.

Teeherah left early, probably due to the heat.  That left me as the only woman in the gym.  The guys soldiered on, doing light sparring drills.  In the picture above, Gabriel held pads for both Franco and Tony.  Franco was wearing some nice handwraps that he brought while on vacation in Italy.

Everybody was soaked with sweat.  I kept sitting down in-between rounds, and drinking water to conserve energy.  Several people didn't stick around until the end, and I didn't blame them.

It's hard to work out when the temperatures are high.  I felt like I was slogging through, but I had to get it in.  Before the summer is out, I need to either a) get my tail out of bed early on Saturday to participate in the workout that Emmanuel runs on those days or b) get up to Hamlin to get some extra sparring in, hopefully with Meg.

And The Headgear Went Flying

Earlier in the day, I thought to myself that I wouldn't be surprised if Igor showed up at the gym.  Sure enough, Igor came in with a receipt in hand proving he signed up for the session.  John was really working the tear drop bag, even between rounds.  Igor was standing behind John, staring at him.  John didn't notice how close Igor was.  I wondered why Igor was so interested in John's activity.

Luckily, there were paper towels in the gym.  Gabriel sparred with Matthew.  Matthew was knocked to the canvas once.  The second time Matthew took a rough hit, he stopped sparring with thirty seconds to go.  Matthew's nose and mouth were bloody.  "Was I going too hard?" Gabriel asked me.  "A little," I answered.

Tony and John sparred, and Tony kept turning his head away from John.  Alan figured Tony must have taken a good punch the last time he sparred and became gun shy.  "I've never seen him turn his head away like that before," the coach said.

Alan was doing his usual moves, especially with constantly moving his hands.  However, Gabriel just waited on him, and planned what punches to throw back.  Alan backed Gabriel in the corners a few times, but Gabriel kept his cool.  A few times, he spun out to avoid Alan's onslaught.

I had another rough sparring session with Alan.  The coach always has troubles with the hockey mask-like headgear.   Near the end of the first round, I hit Alan with a couple of right hooks, and the headgear flew off.  Alan got right back into action, with his guard up, telling me to keep going.  I didn't want to hit him without the headgear, because truthfully, Alan shouldn't be sparring without the type that he had on.  Fortunately, we only kept fighting for a few seconds before the bell rang,  Alan put the headgear back on for the second round, and banged me up with a series of punches that left me against the ropes.  The coach got me in a clinch, and said, "Breathe."  I was okay, but I was overwhelmed there for a few moments.

In the above photo, Tenzin and Yadria work on the red heavy bag.  Franco is the guy to the left, and John is on the right.

I commented that several people were missing.  "It's only the second week of the session, and people are already out," Alan said.  Colonel came by briefly to show off the gorgeous new custom-made BMW he brought.  Kenny's still working on his book, so he didn't come in.

Gabriel and Franco asked me about the upcoming Chicago Park District boxing shows.  "Will I get my a#% kicked?" Gabriel laughed. I explained how fighters just have to show up an hour before the shows start in order to try and get matched up for a fight.  I assured him that there are usually plenty of guys who show up to Hamlin's boxing show who are tall and lanky like Gabriel is.  Both Franco and Gabriel were concerned about the fighters at Hamlin because they heard about the reputation they have.  I told them that Garfield Park has some good fighters, too.  "Hamlin is a pro/amateur gym; lots of pros hang out there," Alan told them.

"I don't want to have a fight stopped on me.  That situation would be embarrassing," Gabriel said.  "I know.  I've had a few fights stopped on me," I said.  "I'm sorry to hear that," Gabriel said.

The problems with my knees keeps me wondering if I will be able to take a fight.  In addition to feeling a little nauseous and out of sorts at work earlier in the day, both of my knees did not want to cooperate while I was walking.  My knees usually hurt every day.  Maybe I'd better stock up on Epsom salt and use it a lot.

Monday's Ring Stories

Can you see the bruise on Kim Kardashian?  This photo showed up online after she participated in a celebrity charity boxing match a few years ago.  I remember watching it on an episode of one of the many Kardashian reality shows on cable.  The woman she fought looked like she had some experience in the ring. I don't believe the woman beat Kardashian like she could have beaten her.

Yep, I forgot to bring the camera to the gym again, but I seem to keep posting the same type of sparring photos all the time, so I guess it's okay to take a break from that this time.  I need to start taking more shots of other things going on in the gym for more variety.

Franco and Ren sparred, and later, Alan commented that Franco was going a little bit too hard on Ren.  Ren is shorter than Franco and several pounds lighter.  Tony and Gabriel faced each other in the ring, with Gabriel giving Tony some tips.  Tony was better at throwing hooks this time, and Gabriel let him get in the practice.

Danny Bonaduce ("The Partridge Family") and Barry Williams ("The Brady Bunch") had celebrity boxing matches that were televised, too.  Bonaduce won his match, if I remember correctly.  Williams took a beat down during the match he was in, and ol' Greg Brady was really tired out afterwards.

I wasn't paying close attention to the sparring because I was helping Dianna (I will get the name straight) who just started in the class.  Franco joked that she should spar with me, but Dianne said, "Nope!  I'm just here for the exercise.  I'm not trying to get hit!"  Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut about the time I got knocked out by Ieisha and about the sparring sessions that left some badly bruised and bloody.  Franco told Dianne, "My nose has been broken three times," which didn't motivate her to want to get into the ring, either.  Dianne asked me if I had ever cried behind being hit in the gym.  I remember crying after I got home after my first real fight with Meg, not because I lost, but because I wished my late younger sister and brother could have been there to see it.  But crying from sparring?  Nah.  I just take those hits and deal with it.

Just like I took some hits from Alan -- again -- when we sparred at the end of the evening.  Alan kept calling me out.  "I'm gonna get you," he told me, and Dianne laughed.  "You see how Alan is always threatening me?" I grinned.  He easily got in all kinds of uppercuts on me, but I couldn't return them, even when I was in close range.  I kept finding myself backed into corners and backed into the ropes.  Then came the "oof!" body shots, one of which I'm still feeling at the moment.  I'm convinced that none of the body shots nor hooks to Alan's head I threw had any effect on him.  I was plodding around, and I got tired very fast.

Former ice skater Tonya Harding -- remember her? -- had a very brief pro boxing career.  Amy Johnson beat Harding in the last one the skater had.  Harding protested the outcome of the match to no avail.  Sort of similar to her protesting during one of her last skating competitions.  Harding didn't win there, either.