Beaver Boxing II

I met this guy in the park who's got a dog very similar to mine (his is an American Staffordshire Terrier), and he knows some people at Beaver Boxing who he's going to introduce me to. Amazing, just as I was wondering about how to get in there fate sorts everything out. Hope this doesn't sound too wanky, but if anyone's read Paulo Coehlo you'll know what I mean ... its like whenever you're commited to doing something enough then the universe conspires to help you do it. I think Brad might come and train too, apparently he's done some martial arts and sparring before so he'll be a great addition to the training

Calf muscle injury

There's been a bit of a set back .. I knew I was going to miss week 7 of the training because of a trip to Las Vegas (sales conference with work), but just before I went I pulled my calf-muscle playing football. Especially annoying because I was feeling really good about the football season so far. My performances have been loads better than last season just because of the training ... faster, more stamina, stronger ... but anyway thats all gone to shit because of this. The stupid thing is, I pulled it a little bit just running with the dog in the park, then knowing that it was hurt I went to play anyway, on astro-turf that didn't help at all. Should know better. So now I'm out for week 8. I'm going anyway because there's feedback on our progress.

Happy Father's Day

In honour of Father's Day (Canadian) and to prove that I should have some pedigree for this caper, here is a story that my old fella told me about when he was an engineering apprentice in Liverpool (see 'The African King' for a story about my grandfather).

My father and all the other apprentices had to work on a technical drawing, free-hand of course as part of their apprenticeship. He had finished, and it was looking good until one of the others threw a cup of coffee all over the page ... on purpose, probably out of envy. My father's name is Dave, the coffee-spiller's name is Davie and he went on to be my father's best man. This was maybe one of their first encounters and there was a score to be settled. My father chased Davie around the factory floor, but Davie was quick. Eventually, as tempers had settled they were able to communicate that a fist-fight wouldn't do because they may both lose their jobs .. so they'd have to settle it another way. From what I understand, scores did not go unsettled in the good old days.

So they decided that they would take turns to punch each other in the arm, and whoever yielded first would be the loser. In England its called a 'dead-arm', here in Canada its called a 'charlie-horse' and Davie tried to give one to my Dad my sneakily raising his middle-knuckle in his fist and swinging his best shot. My father did not flinch at all. Even though it hurt like hell, he didn't move a muscle, his expression stayed the same ... and this was enough for Davie. He ran again, my father didn't even have to throw his punch because he won by default because of being hard as coffin nails.

Beaver Boxing

So we are half way through the first Whitebrook boxing technique class, 4 more weeks to go and then the classes stop for 3 weeks for renovations, and then there's the summer schedule. We're definitely signing up and sticking with this program, but its time to find a place where we can spa too.

There is a boxing gym in town called Beaver Boxing, so I have to email Chris the Coach at Whitebrook for an introduction. I dont want him to think that we're not continuing with his fitness plan because we are, I imagine everyone knows each other in the boxing community. He started out at Beaver too so hopefully he'll understand and be helpful.

Skip-to-the-loo

I managed to do the speedbag continuously for 2 mins. Its funny because I set that as a goal, and seperately Konrad bought himself a rope and set himself a goal of continuous skipping and achieved that too. Amazing how fast you can progress when you really want to. Which is good because we're up against the clock if we want to fight in 10 more months.

We are now doing cross-over skipping, where you cross your hands in front of you to jump through the loop. Pretty fancy.

The bathroom is almost done, still no running water and no toilet available last night but the walls are the right colour and the tiles are on the floor.

Having a dog with the jog

mmm its not been the best week for sticking to the plan, diet has been good but workouts have been few and far between. First I cancelled the weightlifting with Konrad on Wednesday because of taking the dog to the vet. That was horseshit because I hate going to the vet anyway, I always feel like I'm being gouged for more money for shots / parasite treatments / fleas etc etc .. she's in grave danger of something or other new every time we go. Anyway, she's getting fixed next week and then we're not going back unless she explicitly asks me to. Then, my football match was cancelled on Thursday. Only a friendly pre-season but I'd already chalked up 90 mins on the exercise log which now I'll have to scrub, thats a pyschological blow!

On the otherhand, I've worked out a decent schedule for the mornings now. Up at 6.30-40am, bowl of Kashi cereal/juice ... 6.50am go for a jog to the dog park inc 3 times round the perimeter. Its a bit of a chore teaching her to run alongside but its going to pay-off big-time because 1) getting 2 jobs done at once and 2) she's been asleep in her crate since we got back. 7.40am After the park, come home, get a drink of water, go to the gym across the street, quick 15 min swim / sauna, shower, back home in front of the computer by 8.25am. Trick is to do it again on Monday.

Mornings

So the morning workouts are not going that well, in that they are not going at all at the moment. Didnt do the home workout yesterday or today, or bother going swimming. I have to sort this out and get in the groove. At least start by taking the dog for a longer walk / jog or something. Weightlifting tonight with Konrad

Speed bag II

Cannot wait for the camera to get me doing speed bag next time! At the last class, I had it almost going for the whole 2 minute station ... even during the class before Brent 'the other coach' said, "it normally takes rookies a lot longer to master than that". Wouldn't say mastered, but just shows when you concentrate and really want to you can progress quite quickly. I read Coach Chris's story of getting into boxing after some difficult times in his life, and I can definitely see how focussing on something like this would give you a big lift. I'm feeling really good in general (less stress even though I wasnt that stressed before, lighter, fitter, healthier, better mood). Chris used to box at Beaver Boxing Club so I think I'll get him to introduce us when the time is right to start the sparing. This is week 3 of the technical training. I havent missed a class (x 2 per week). Marcus has missed one, and Konrad didnt show on Saturday am, presumed hungover but I havent spoken to him yet.

More good news, I bought a scale and I am 169 llbs .. way better than I thought I was and now I think about it, my jeans are fitting much better. Getting a bit obsessed with the weight aspect just cos I'm so pleased with myself. I have been eating meg/veg far more but I'm pretty sure the thing that has had the most impact has been cutting down on the booze. I havent had a beer for about 3 weeks now I think. I did have a few drinks on Saturday for Cynthia's birthday but I stuck to a red wine then vodka shots. Did the trick, less calories, felt a bit shitty on Sunday morning which I take as encouragement to stick with the program. Actually, I feel like stepping the program up ... I've been doing pre-season soccer training which should help with cross-training, plus a bit of swimming but we havent been too regular at the weights for one reason or another (normally clashing schedules etc) so I am going to start doing the Tranz4m again every morning. That dropped off because the house is upside down with the bathroom renovations, and I dont have a shower .. but these are just excuses. No reason I cant do Tranz4m downstairs instead of in the usual room, then swim then shower if I get up just a bit earlier. Let you know how I do with that one tomorrow

The African King

My grandad just told me a story about when he was a kid. Apparently he was pretty good at boxing and even thought about trying to be professional. Anyway, in those days there were traveling carnivals with boxing rings where you could try to stay in a fight for three rounds to win a pound. I can imagine it exactly, in my head its in black and white and they're wearing all-in-ones. So he lined up to get fixed up for a fight, and he was supposed to fight the Welsh Schoolboys champion but when they weighed him in they found he was too heavy, so they matched him up with the biggest boxer there. He was called "The African King". My grandad told me it was doubly frightening to him because this was the first black fella he'd ever seen. He got battered, but managed to stay in the ring and win his pound. In his words, "That African King couldn't catch me with a bike, it was like if you've ever seen one of those films where the bloke sees the other bloke and tries to get under the ropes but they won't let him, it was just like that." Brilliant image ... he did catch him though because when he got home his father, my great Grandfather John, saw his nose spread all over his face and smacked him again. They were in the back yard and he threw a shilling on the floor and said, "If you want to fight, your brothers will give you a fight for that right here". They didn't fight, the point was made. I told my grandad not to worry, I have no intention of fighting at the fairground.

Boxing weights

That got me thinking ... wondering what weight class I would fight in ?

OK, so here are the weight classes according to the Olympic rules :

200 lbs + Super heavyweight
200 lbs Heavyweight
178 lbs Light heavyweight
165 lbs Middleweight
152 lbs Welterweight

... no point typing any others out cos I'm not getting lighter than 152 lbs, no chance. So right now I'm a light heavyweight. I dont think I fancy anything with 'heavyweight' in the title. This is very motivating, I would rather be a middleweight. So the new goal is 165 lbs (11 stone 11 lbs). The other goal is body fat <10% because I know weight isn't the best measurement of fitness.

Speed bag

Good news, the speed bag went miles better today. No cameras on, but it was probably mostly because I'm getting practise. Chris the Coach gave me some advice regarding the shape / distance of my stance which he said he usually reserves for Week 2 or 3, but that I needed because I was picking things up quickly. So I'm well happy with that. Like I said, I think the key to progressing quickly enough for the project is getting the fundamentals sorted, and I'm really concentrating in there. Loved the workout again by the way. In other good news, I weighed myself at the gym, and the scale said 170 lbs (12 stone 2 lbs), and I thought I was more like 185 lbs so provided the scale was right then I'm on the right track. Better buy our own scale.

Day after the night before

So last night was the first class, and it was brilliant. Marcus came too because he can't make his normal one on Saturday mornings, which was good because we all got to start together. The whole thing was great. Heavy bag was good, amazing stress reliever, but while I was hitting it I was flooded with the images of actually fighting. There is a long way to go. Its obvious that technique is everything with this, apparently most of boxing is in the feet, and coordination. I got carried away several times, but I'm going to concentrate on these basics and get a good foundation. As soon as you get the hand-wraps on you feel like you can do it just because you've seen it all before. I was devastated about how poor I was at the speed-bag. I've always wanted to try it, when I stood there looking at it, I felt like it was something I'd definitely pick up no problem, but there was a problem and I didn't work it out yet. Maybe Saturday. Skipping was funny, I can do that because I had a lot of practise when I was a little girl.

First day of the rest ...

Today's the day we start the training, can't wait ... its also coincidentally the day the full renovations start on our bathroom (getting completely gutted) so at least on Tuesdays and Saturdays I'll be able to shower at the gym

Spoke too soon

Spoke too soon, this often happens, its almost too predictable ...just as I start getting smug about my commitment to fitness I fall off the wagon. This weekend was shameful, loads of red wine, white bread and even chocolate, even chocolate ice-cream. What a fanny, must be getting my period ...oh well, the class starts tomorrow and I am buzzing for that. Bought the heavy bag gloves yesterday from Canadian Tire (Everlast $29.99 good deal)

mapmyrun.com

Feeling quite pleased with myself, because we've started the workouts quite seriously and I'm already feeling pretty good. I'm even seeing a few results I think although its hard to tell since I always suck in my gut in front of a mirror, pure reflex and I cant help it. Anyway, Joey showed me this website which is really helping to track what I'm doing. So far in Apr I've done 4 x home workouts (by http://www.tranz4m.com/), 3 x circuit training with Marcus and Konrad (Konrad is lifting around 30-50% heavier weights than me, slightly worrying but he's on course to be a heavyweight and I'd rather fight in the featherweight class if at all possible), and 2 x pre-season football (soccer) training. According to the website I have burned 3,945 calories doing it. I'm not sure whether this is a good measure but it tells you anyway. Also according to the site its 0.49 miles to Marcus's gym from my house and since I'm jogging there and back I'm counting 3 miles of running too http://www.mapmyrun.com/

Boxing training starts next Tuesday

Do I have to ?

This weekend I had the first talk to my wife about how sensible this all is. Inevitable I suppose, and it went something like this :-
Ian : What do you think we should call the blog ? At the moment its called My First Fight
(we were in the car driving back from the kitchen remodeling showroom, honestly)
Karin : Why do you have to have a fight, you're making it all about the fight, not the fitness thing
I : We can call it whatever, thats just the title for now
K : Why do you have to have a fight ?
I : Its to see if I can become a boxer after 12 months
K : Of course you can
I : Oh ?
K What do you think your mum will say ? She won't like it.
I : I'm not telling her, she won't have to know
K : Really ? (mock threateningly, but really threatening)
.........
K : I am worried, you're going to become a retard. You're a bit sensitive
I : I'm just going to have one fight, win one fight and thats it
K : How do you know
I : They wear head gear and everything
K : Well I'm just worried about ... etc etc

I can't remember the rest, it didn't especially escalate from there but suffice to say that Karin is not coming to the fight, I think she's secretly looking forward to the six-pack though. When and if that happens. Marcus and I worked out last night, 5 min jog, 10 min cross-trainer, 40 min weight circuit (light), 5 min interval running. I didn't drink at all last week except for 5 beers on Friday night, more later on dieting. I did have 2 slices of left over pizza yesterday afternoon.

Its not the size of the dog ...

Karin and Fern (3 months)

"Its not the size of the dog in the fight, its the size of the fight in the dog" Barry McGuigan MBE, Irish World Featherweight Champion

Whitebrook Boxing Kinetics

This is the Champagne Fitness Centre at the end of my street, and its where Whitebrook Boxing Kinetics hold classes to teach boxing technique and fitness. We went to see the advanced class, and met Chris the owner and trainer to ask him if we could join and film it. He agreed and will give us extra tips and training if we share the footage of our progress with him to use for his promotions .. fair enough, should be some good stuff. There are five levels of fitness according to his program, it takes about two years to get to level 3. We don't have that much time, so we'll have to do a lot of our own work outside. We've signed up for twice a week. Chris was a CFL player-turned boxer who stopped fighting after 9 successful bouts because he got a CAT scan and saw the damage done. So they don't spa at WBK, its all about the fitness and that suits us for a start.

Introductions

My name is Ian, and I have never had a fight in my life (there I said it). Actually I have had one or two minor skirmishes in school ... vs Stephen Wincote age 6, and vs Mark Laven age 13 ... but that's it. I don't want to fight anyone in real-life, its just not me. I only tell you that as a jumping off point for this project.

Over the next 12 months I am going to document, on film and on here, my journey to become an amateur boxer. Haha, I said amateur as if there's the option to be professional ... I am 32 years old, will be 33 in July, I work as a Sales Manager for a large software corporation, and I live in Ottawa, Canada with my wife of 5 and a half years and my dog, Fern.

I am in reasonable shape, judge for yourself when you see the introductory video, but don't judge too hard because I ate a load of junk food and drank a load of booze before those shots to make the footage 12 months from now look even more impressive! I even went and ate a pain au chocolat on the way to the studio ... so dedicated to the cause.

Konrad is an Economist. I have to say I was pretty surprised when he said that he wanted to join in when I told him about my plan to transform myself into a boxer over the course of 12 months, with the goal of having a real boxing match on a proper bill. We were in The Brig pub on York St and we had a few Guinneses while we quickly came up with the plans. Konrad is younger than me. I would guess that he is fitter too, but I think its fair to say that we both have some hard work to do to keep this from being downright dangerous.

Marcus is a Market Analyst, and is probably the fittest of the three of us starting the training. As of today Marcus has not commited to actually fighting but he wants to train, and I think he may get into it. I don't know, no pressure.

Firuz is filming it all. I 'pitched' the idea to him about 2 months ago, and he liked the thought of tracking rather average, normal men trying to get fit enough not to get humiliated by some little shithead first time we step into the ring.

Starts here

So it looks like this is actually happening, this weekend we filmed around 4 hours of footage. We caught the boxing fitness class that we're going to join in 2 weeks from now, the "before" full body shots of Konrad and me (bet you can't wait to see us looking all podgy in our undies) and then we got Konrad, Marcus and me doing our first jog ... the roadwork as boxers call it