Escape from Starbucks

It's a dark, Saturday afternoon at a Starbucks in Chicago. I'm sitting in a comfortable chair near the door, and the place is buzzing with activity: the occasional blast of chilly air as someone enters or exits the door; the whirs and whines of blenders and other electric-powered devices preparing our coffee drinks with their 16-syllable names, and the incessant chatter that some individuals nearly yell into their cell phones. Above me, a recording of piano music from a Peanuts TV special plays a cheery little tune. That music bears the strong imprint of Vince Guaraldi's style.


In a different time and place, that music might carry me away to some boyhood memory of being fascinated by the adventures of Charlie Brown, Lucy, Snoopy, and the awful, squawking voice who was supposed to be the teacher in a school classroom. Today, however, my reverie is broken by these damned people who are arguing with someone at the other end of their mobile phones. Damn, why do they always have to yell and argue into those phones about the most inane crap? Don't they realize I don't give a rat's ass about what Keesha, Jack, or some third party did or is doing, and how awful it supposedly is?!?


Alas, there's no cause for worry because my silent, mini-rant itself is being interrupted by a man seated--like I am--in a single chair, his being just a few feet from mine. My beef with this guy? He's listening to something via headphones, reading a book, eating, and talking to himself--all at the same time. I sigh deeply as that audible self-talk triggers frightening memories in me. I have an uncle who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia; he used to talk to himself a lot, too. It's an unpleasant sight. When I stop and practice mindfulness, I can see my thoughts in mid-flight. The memory really is a lot worse than what is happening in the present moment.

I’m thinking of leaving. After all, laundry waits for me at home. I’ve let it pile up so long that I even have to wash workout clothes, if I want to get to fight club tomorrow morning. I hate to leave, because I want to learn how to deal with aversion without running away from it. At the same time, I’ve learned a little from this experience, even if I’m not working with aversion in the best way.

I try to keep an open mind about and be kind to people who suffer from mental illness; I am working to make things better for them. The man next to me just returned with a sandwich, and he’s complaining to himself: “My meat went dark…” Agh!

Dang, now on the recorded radio stream, that wretched “Me and Mrs. Jones” song has started playing. Bleh. Since I was a boy, I’ve hated that obnoxious little ditty that seems to glorify adultery and extra-marital affairs. That’s it; I can’t take anymore. I’m leaving.
  

A few minutes later, I arrive home to my toasty-warm apartment. Are there any football games on tonight?

Sunday: One-on-one Training

Image via Wikipedia

Sunday's workout ended up being a one-on-one training session with Glen. The rest of the "fight club" guys were not present, so I had the opportunity to train for an hour with Glen. It was a tough workout and Glen really pushed me. I'm grateful, but I was plenty tired at the end of the hour.

For most of the workout, Glen held the punch mitts for me and kept me busy throwing combinations, working on my speed, power, and balance. We worked a lot on counterpunching and answering back with hard, fast combinations. For example, if my opponent throws a left hook-straight right combo at me, I block the hook and right, and immediately follow up with my own straight right, left hook, and second straight right. I have to perfect the timing--an important element of any effective punch combination--but I look forward to practicing this a lot more and trying it out in sparring.

One of the great things about boxing is I get instant feedback about how well something works. If I get hit, then I know I need to practice a technique or movement a lot more, really focusing on the perfecting the basic elements of it. By contrast, if I land every punch of a combination and my opponent doesn't score on me, I can work on fine-tuning the move and making it smoother and faster.

As usual, we finished up with abs and the "thirties." It was a good, tough workout, and Glen is an awesome coach. As I've mentioned, I've known Glen for over 12 years. He and I met when he was coaching my opponent in the corner for a bout I had at that time. I am sure glad he's on my side now.

I appreciated the intensity of the workout. Of course, I’m hoping the rest of the guys will be there next week. I also did 68 minutes of roadwork.

Mike Tyson Training Video Courtesy of MarksTraining.com

Marks has a good blog post up with an embedded video of Mike Tyson training. Check out the video and Marks' commentary about it; it's worth seeing.

I might disagree with Marks about whether Tyson "was the greatest boxer to step into the ring." Then again, I might not. These are fun debates to have over a few beers with friends, but as far as answering who was or is "the greatest," I find the debate itself is a lot more important than whatever conclusion one reaches (which is bound to be different from the other guys talking about it).

It's helpful and inspiring to see a masterful presentation of some of the things my coaches have been trying to get me to do over the years.

Also, I hope you'll spend some time at the rest of Marks' blog. He has a fair amount of boxing content, along with the various other martial arts and MMA.

Monday's Workout

Ever have one of those days when work consumes more time than you thought it would and you come close to talking yourself out of going to the gym? Today was such a day. As I was scrambling to finish various projects and get on my way, I began to think, "Maybe I'll just take today off and go in early tomorrow morning." Doing that was tempting, but I am glad I got to GoTime this evening.

Here's a recap of the workout.

• 35 minutes of roadwork
• 3 rounds of shadowboxing
• 3 rounds on heavy bag
• 2 rounds of stretching
• 7 rounds on double-end bag

I spent a lot of time on the double-end bag to work on my speed and timing. I'm trying to improve some combinations with it. I love that bag--it's like a close friend--because, as frustrating as it is to use, it always teaches me a lot.

I'll write more about my routines with the double-end bag soon. I'm trying to make the practice as interesting as possible so that I'll stay with it.

Some Thoughts About "Charging"

Recently, I was talking with a friend about boxing styles and technique. He commented on the tendency of some shorter boxers to "charge in" on their taller opponents head first, without even bothering to use their jabs or other punches. Since I frequently have to move inside on a taller opponent, here are some of my thoughts about "charging."

I use my jab a lot, all the time. I need to get inside and punch--that is very often a key component of my offense--but I have found that using the jab is the best and safest way to do that. Jab low. Jab high. Fake low and then jab high (nice to add a quick left hook after that one, if possible). Or throw repeated jabs at him while I'm working to cut off the ring.

I know what my friend meant about the shorter guys who charge a taller boxer head first. Some guys can pull it off, but to me charging seems like a recipe for disaster. For one thing, if you just charge in, you give up an opportunity to score with the punches that help you get inside. In amateurs, especially, that can really put you at a disadvantage since those bouts rely so heavily on points scored, and don't give you any extra credit for a hard punch unless you knock the guy out or really clock him hard enough to get the referee to stop the match. For another thing, not using the jab throws away the "built in" defense (as well as distraction) that you have when throwing the jab. You're a much easier target to hit.

That second point can compound yet another problem that happens when you charge: getting off balance. I can't recall seeing any boxer looking well balanced when he was charging his opponent. I have seen lots of instances where the charging boxer ends up in the ropes as his opponent quickly (and rather easily) steps to the side, or where the charger finds himself in a very awkward position at an angle where he can't punch, but can probably be hit pretty well.

Finally, if the other problems aren't enough, the risks of getting clobbered while charging are just too great to make doing it worthwhile. I have spent quite a few rounds in the gym practicing for dealing with chargers when my coaches thought I would be facing one. Charging can definitely be very intimidating when you are first starting out, but if you practice drills against it, charging seems like one of the most beatable approaches out there.

The boxer who is charging is in full view of his opponent; the boxer being charged can see everything the charger is doing and he's probably in a great position to launch his own attack with both hands. Think about it. If you're the taller boxer/puncher and if I try to charge you, when I end up at the edge of your "blasting range" (my friend's term), are you going to just wait for me to finish the charge, in effect saying, "Hey, come on in; it's all yours!"? I don't think so!!!

I think I learned to box pretty much the same way my friend did--placing a lot of emphasis on developing a good jab--so the jab is an essential element of my strategy. In addition to lots of rounds of using the jab on the heavy bag, I can remember countless more rounds of jabbing while stepping forward, jabbing forward and then moving one step back, jabbing while moving laterally to left and right, jabbing while circling, and so on. Heck, I still do those kinds of drills fairly often. I've been blessed to have coaches over the years who always emphasized the importance of the basics. I figure you can never really practice them too much. The basic punches, moves, defenses, and counters are the foundation of the sport.

Even after working on some new, "fancier" technique, I might still have to resort to the basics like a good left jab and hard right cross if I can't pull off the fancy-schmancy stuff for whatever reason. I had one bout against a taller guy who was about my level of skill and a hard hitter. I was ready for him. Man, I had been practicing quick hooks to the ribs and head, uppercuts for being in close, and so on: all the textbook technique. During the first round, I was faking a hook to the head, going for a hook to the body, and so on. The problem was that it wasn't working. The guy had kind of an unusual stance, plus he moved at some strange angles that made him hard to hit. Even worse was the fact that he was hitting me, a lot.

I was really frustrated after the first round. Back in the corner, my coach gave me some of the very best between-rounds help I've ever gotten. He said, "Steve, forget about all that fancy stuff. If you couldn't do it with this guy in the first round, it's not going to happen. Use your double-jab and right hand to get inside and then pound the guy with everything you've got."

I followed his suggestion and it worked great. The irony is that it was the basics, the Boxing 101 stuff, that let me get inside and start working the speedier combinations I had been practicing. The other boxer was a very tough opponent and brought out the best in me. It just so happens that the best was the elementary boxing skills. I love this game!