Brief Training Update

Roadwork and shadowboxing outdoors have been going well. Here's a recap of recent work.

• June 8: 53 minutes
• June 9: 1 hour, 13 minutes
• June 12: 46 minutes
• June 14: 45 minutes

Winning the Mental Game

Do you frequent RossBoxing.com and RossTraining.com? If you don't, you should. At his Web sites, Ross Enamait offers a wealth of information about boxing and other combat sports. In addition to his blog, his discussion forum, numerous free articles and videos, and free newsletter, Ross has some excellent training manuals available at prices that are very reasonable, considering the amount of useful information Ross packs into each of them.

Now that you've probably gone to Ross's site, started surfing it, and adding it to your favorites or bookmarks, allow me to point out a specific blog post that I find very helpful. I recently wrote about the mental game in boxing. On his blog, Ross offers his insight about the importance of the mind in combat sports. He also links to two of his articles that discuss the value of mental training in more detail.

On the important subject of dealing with nerves and the pre-fight "butterflies," Ross observes:

"As for dealing with nervous energy, nothing beats experience. You need to become comfortable inside the ring (or cage). This won’t happen in the gym. You need real/competitive experience. A fighter isn’t developed overnight. It takes time."

Ross really knows his stuff. My experience agrees completely with his comments. There really is no substitute for experience. As I gained more competitive experience, I started to feel at home in the ring. As one of my former coaches, Todd Collins, put it, a boxer has to feel like the ring is his workplace, his office. In that space, he must be comfortable. I don't know if Todd and Ross have ever met, but they have taught me many of the same things.

I always feel I have much to learn; I absorb training tips and new information like a sponge. I hope I'll always continue to learn about training and technique. As I mentioned in my earlier blog entry, I will be focusing even more on the mental game in the near future. I will use Ross Enamait's articles and training suggestions to unify my mind and body and become a better boxer.

And...in the blue corner...it's Photographer-boxer!

Leon Rose, a 38-year-old professional photographer in Auckland, New Zealand, is going to have his first bout on June 16. According to this news story, Rose and 15 other regular guys will be boxing in a Corporate Fight Night sponsored by Ringside Boxing Ltd. in Auckland. Ringside's Web site has more details about the event at this page.

In the article, Rose says, "[Boxing] is great for anyone who runs a business or has high levels of stress in their lives." I couldn't agree more. I've run my own business for the last 13 years and have had plenty of high levels of stress, and the boxing workouts have always been perfect for me. They also appeal to my competitive side; I really enjoy the intensity.

Leon Rose says he's ready and mentally prepared for his bout. I believe him. Those photographers are tough! Several years ago, I had an intense sparring session with a photographer named Art at Pug's Boxing Gym. Art and I spent 3 rounds in almost nonstop, toe-to-toe action, much to the chagrin of my coach who was telling me I needed to move more! Patrick, my coach, was right, but for some reason I felt compelled to get into a slugfest with that mild-mannered photographer. What can I say? I learned from the experience.

Therefore, I have no doubt Mr. Rose will be ready for his match. I hope it goes great for him, his opponent, and the other boxers in the event. I certainly hope they all will have as much fun in the ring as I've had. Good luck, guys!

Monday, Monday...

And a very rainy, dark one at that! It was raining on and off most of the day. For a while, there was a heavy downpour. Still, I managed to squeeze in 26 minutes of roadwork and shadowboxing. Not great, but not bad. Keep going!

The Mental Game

Since I am in a rather strange time of transition, I am going to start focusing a lot more on the mental aspect of my boxing training. I've worked a lot physically on punches, footwork, balance, movement, defense, counterpunching, and strategy. However, I always feel I can do much more with the mental game. Therefore, I am going to be doing more of the following activities to help me improve as a boxer:

• brainwave entrainment,
• relaxation,
• guided imagery,
• affirmations, and
• visualization.

Meditation is part of the regimen, too, but I have not listed it here because I already meditate regularly to practice mindfulness and to relieve stress. Since I'll be giving the mental game more emphasis, I will start blogging about it here more frequently. I'll post some of what I am doing and share the valuable resources I find along the way as I work to unify mind and body for boxing and in all areas of my life.

Training Update

On Thursday, May 31, 2007 and Saturday, June 2, 2007, I did 23 minutes and 51 minutes of roadwork respectively. Life has still been a bit busier than I like and I am sort of in transition with my boxing club now, but things ought to stabilize soon.

Hot Summer Weather is Here

I did 24 minutes of roadwork outside today. The temperature was 88 degrees and fairly humid. It will be great when I figure out my new gym arrangement. Hopefully, I'll be able to do that soon.

Sunny Sunday

Got out and did 41 minutes of roadwork today. Great day outside!

A Rainy Saturday

It has been raining all day today. I waited until evening to get out and do some roadwork. I squeezed in 27 minutes between periods of rain. The whole day has been like that: pretty intense downpours punctuated with short periods of no rain or just a light drizzle. It's kind of an easy day today. The good news is that I have no soreness from yesterday's workout. Yay!

Friday Workout

I did a workout with my friend Roger today. He did not have his mouthpiece with him, so we didn't spar, but it was a good session anyway. We started out with 2 rounds of shadowboxing and 1 round of stretching. Then we did about 10 rounds of practice drills. We stayed with the basics and did the following drills:

• Left jab and defense against left jab;
• Left jab, defense against left jab, and immediate counterpunch with left jab; and
• The old one-two punch and defense against it.

I wasn't sore after this workout, but my left arm was a little tired from throwing so many jabs. My coach, Bernard, always talks about drilling the basics: throwing the left jab for an hour. It's an important punch; since it provides the foundation for my offense as a right-handed boxer, it is worth practicing it over and over. We may spar next time to put everything together.

I also did 40 minutes of roadwork today. It was a sunny, mild day--a great day to be outside.

101 Blogging Tips

Since, in addition to being a lawyer and a boxer, I am also a blogger, from time to time I'll share some thoughts about blogging and some useful sites, blogs, and books about blogging. Here's the first of those recommendations from your friendly neighborhood lawyer-boxer-blogger.

At his excellent blog about blogging, Bob Walsh, the author of Clear Blogging: How People Blogging Are Changing the World and How You Can Join Them, points us to "101 Steps to Becoming a Better Blogger," posted at lifehack.org. That's a very useful list and I am going to implement many of those suggestions on my blogs, including Lawyer-boxer's Blog.

Also, I highly recommend Bob's book, Clear Blogging. I have not finished reading it yet, but I already reaping benefits from the book's practical content and easy-to-follow guidance. I cited Bob's book in an article I wrote about Internet radio yesterday, and I have used suggestions in the book to help with the blog consulting work I do for some clients. If you're interested in blogging, Clear Blogging will give you tons of useful information in an easy and accessible format.

Sparring Update

I recently had a good workout with my friend Roger. We sparred a total of 6 rounds and did a lot of rounds of practice drills. We first sparred 3 rounds at a moderate pace. Then we did many rounds of practicing basic punches, defending against them, and counterpunching. The punches we practiced were the left jab, straight right, and left hook. After that, we sparred 3 more rounds at a somewhat quicker pace.

All in all, it was a good workout. I like doing the drills because they provide a great opportunity to reinforce the basics through repetition. Schedules can sometimes be difficult to coordinate, but I am hoping to do some training with Roger fairly regularly. Thanks, Roger, for the good workout!

Amateur Boxing Event in Seattle, WA on May 19, 2007

My friend and fellow boxer, Jeff Gilbert, mentions an amateur boxing show that will be held in Seattle on Saturday, May 19, 2007. Visit Jeff's blog for the details. Thanks for the heads-up, Jeff!

Online Friend and Fellow Boxer Returns!

I am happy to report that my online friend and fellow boxer, Duncan Higgitt, who lives in Wales, has returned to his boxing training and, perhaps even more importantly for our purposes here, to blogging. Woohoo! Great news, huh?

Here's a link to his new blog.

http://boxingaches2.blogspot.com

I hope you'll visit his site, wish him well, encourage him in his training, and urge him to update his blog a little more frequently. ;-)

Boxing Club Blues

Things have been a bit strange and difficult at the club where I box. We are suposed to be shutting down for a year for some major construction and renovation. That has been delayed because the closing on the related real estate transaction was supposed to happen on May 7, but the deal has not yet closed. I am not entirely sure what is happening.

Setting up arrangements for our guys to train at another location during that year of construction has not progressed as I had hoped, so I have no clear idea of where we'll be training after another month or so, or even whether we will continue training together as a club. I hope we do, but there is no meaningful assurance that will happen.

I am exploring other gyms where I can train, even if I have to go on my own. For a lot of reasons that I won't explain now (but perhaps I will at some point), this situation has been really emotionally difficult for me. It has been aggravated by the stress of my recent office move and my uncle's illness.

Even so, I am determined to maintain a positive attitude. I will find a way to be at peace with the situation and derive enjoyment from my experiences.

Boxing Fights to Increase Popularity

Theledger.com - Sun May 6, 10:17 am GMT

Source: Boxing Fights to Increase Popularity