Sparring

Tonight , at training, I sparred Mick. Now Mick has fought for England, had over 60 bouts when he was active and was all set for turning pro when he buggered his knee up. After that he joined the army and boxed at amateur level there too. He is easily the best boxer I have been in with although my coaches son runs him close. Needless to say he battered me, with one punch in particular giving me double vision! However Mick also teaches you a lot from his sparring and whilst I take a pasting, I also take that pasting and learn from it and use it as a positive.

He gave me some tips during the session, and when I tried them, it immediately made a difference. Afterwards he complimented me on my jab and my body shots. I do sometimes have the raving hump when a sparring session goes badly but tonight, whilst I was quiet, that was more down to the sheer intensity of sparring. I think that my footwork and moving around has improved greatly as has my blocking and parrying. Sadly though, not quite improved enough to stop some of them bloody hard shots coming through but it’s getting better all the same.

I made a point of thanking Mick for the sparring and the lessons learned therein before I left. I am now looking forward to having another blast tomorrow night.