"Did I get clipped?"
Enter Week 05
Tuesday (Session 09/16)
So this Tuesday session with Nayan marked the start of the second half of the training program. We began by adding the Body Hook to our repertoire. This was something I really struggled with. I put it down to my awful flexibility and hip movement. I also could not get my brain to comprehend that I needed to get my fist to impact thumb up rather than having my hand connect horizontally. This is something I made a mental note to work on during the week.
The second part of the session we moved back onto sparring. We were split into two groups, <=84.9KG and >85KG. Due to odd numbers I was asked to drop to the lower weight group for that session. Being 85.3KG this gave me a bit of a weight advantage to the lower in the class. In all honesty this was a good ego boost as I felt that those I was partnered with were not quite matched in my ability so it gave me a good opportunity to spot weaknesses and practice taking advantage of gaps and openings.
Thursday (Session 10/16)
After the elation that I felt after Thursdays class, this session ended slightly differently. If my ego was a balloon it was well and truly deflated by some of the punches that caught me. It did not help that the day previous I injured my left wrist striking the heavy bag in the gym with a poorly formed body hook.
Fais and Nayan split us down further into what I understand will be the final weight classes <79.9KG, 80.0KG to 89.9KG and 90KG+. Having dropped from 96.6KG in January down to 85.3KG I fell smack bang in the middle of the 2nd weight category. Looking at my potential opponents, I had already sparred with a couple and was nervous to see a few more that I had not, apprehensive knowing their abilities.
Fighting in the heavier weight category definitely felt more difficult yet there are a wide range of abilities and fitness levels in the group so I am sure there will be a challenging yet fair match up for me.
The conclusion of this session was 3 rounds of 2 minutes with the alternating non fighters spending 2 minutes in between doing a wall based squat for the round in between.
ROUND 1: This I felt was reasonably evenly matched. We both traded a number of punches going at a steady pace. Where I landed a larger number of head shots my opponent caught me out numerous times with body blows
ROUND 2: My second opponent had a similar build to me yet I felt their punches had much more power behind them. Even though I was able to defend them I was struggling with the counter and felt that I quite clearly lost the round with the few shots that cleanly hit their target.
ROUND 3: This round was a bit of a nightmare for me. The guy was much taller, I estimate 6" 1' to my 5" 6' frame. He was leaner and more flexible too. His long reach and tall guard meant I struggled to connect both my jabs and body shots. The underdevelopment of my hooks meant I was often left open to the right. This flaw in my battle plan resulted in a downward 'Hammer of Thor' punch to the bridge of my nose resulting in a minor bleed. My only solace came right at the end with a feigned left body hook which I followed with an over hand right to connect with his jaw, albeit lacking in power to do too much damage. Man, boxing can be tough!
"One drop nose bleed...must keep my guard up!"
Saturday
(Private Session 05)
Today I once again worked with Nayan and James, playing off each others weaknesses to improve our own skills. One thing we both needed to improve on was the counter.
Nayan had us throwing flurries of between 2 and 8 punches to which when we spotted a gap we were to counter. This was great in getting us to really think about how we could turn a defensive situation around so that we were on the offensive.
We also did a lot of work on body shots and body hooks, then progressing onto head hooks. We began to string together a conveyor of combos, with Nayan pointing out where a punch thrown was likely to drive your opponent. This school of thought I felt really helped me to begin to spot the gaps in the defense, predict opponent behavior and therefore plan my strikes accordingly.
By the end of the session I managed to catch James with 2 body shots and a great left hand body hook. Although I felt terrible at winding my training partner I was secretly smug I managed to pull off at least one clean body hook without looking like I was bending down to cuddle a dwarf!
(Extra Group Session 04)
"Fais' Pony Club Of Pain!"
Taken by Fais, Master of Pain, this session began with some hard hitting abdominal work. We then moved onto many rounds of Chest to get loosened up and prepared for sparring. The session ended with more technical open sparring but concentrating on landing specific shots. For example, one round it was the double jab, another round it was a body hook.
This session of sparring was a mixed bag. Again, fighting both in and out of my weight category I at least got to experience different styles of fighting and abilities. I felt that I was able to hold my own in many of the match ups but I also took a fair number of hits. The worst being in the only place that the head guard will not protect you from, right in the kisser. Thank god for the mouth guard as I am certain I would have lost some teeth from that jaw rattler. Again, I at least managed to finish the round strong with a right body hook and a left cross to the jaw.
Sunday (Private Session 06)
For this session I was joined by no other than Joe "Salt N" Pinnegar himself and Karl Byrne. As this was the 5th session of the week and I had an injured wrist, Nayan kept the session solely technical, initially working on stretching and reflexes to aid our development.
For the latter part of the session Nayan worked us through combo and offensive drills designed to take advantage of common defense strategies. Working at a slow speed really helped to nail the footwork and make sure we did not loose our composure, stance or grounding. A completly different yet worthwhile session all round.
So from this week I am hoping that I have learnt some lessons, corrected some bad habits and fingers crossed acquired some tips and tricks to put into play net week during the match making sessions.
As always, thanks for reading my latest take on life
Steve
P.S It was with great sadness that I had come to the conclusion that I was going to have to remove the nipple piecing I had done as part of an agreement with a group of university friends over a decade ago. I feel it is the last reminder of the stupidity of youth and how impulsive you can be in your teenage years.
"19 year old me the day I had my nipple pierced"
Removing the ring which has grown into being a part of your body for over a third of your lift is no mean feat....getting it back is even harder. Looking at that malformed, poor excuse for a nipple minus the jewelry is just plain sad. It is like chips without the dip, tea without biscuits and Paul without Barry in the Chuckle Brothers. My nipple needs it soulmate.
Feeling sorry for me and not wanting me to have my midlife crisis too early, my wife went out and bought me a new piece of metrosexual nipple bling which is easier to get in and out without making my raisin resemble an angry albino mole rat.
I now have a happy nipple again in 2016!
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