Sunday, December 20, 2009
Brief Update
There was no "fight club" today because Glen was not available, so we're on our own for training until next Sunday. That's fine: I need a break to do some mental training and visualization, so I can absorb everything I've been practicing during the last few weeks. I'd like to get in one workout this week that is dedicated to footwork. Some of the combinations I'm working on are good, but they're only going to work if they are built on a foundation of solid footwork.
Meanwhile, I keep working on the basics such as practicing my left jab hundreds of times. I figure I can never practice the basics too much. Hopefully, next week will be a bit more normal for training and I'll be able to get some good sparring. Until then, it's practice, practice, practice, and more practice.
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Sunday's Training
I trained with Jim and Jeff and Glen on Sunday morning. As always, Glen kept things interesting with a variety of sparring drills that focused on attack and defense and counterpunching. When I was first learning to box, I remember hearing something about the jab being about 60% of the punches a boxer will generally throw during a round. While I've never counted how many of my punches were jabs, I have noticed that I do throw a lot of them and that seems consistent with what I see other boxers do. Thus, the jab is an important punch to master, so we spend a lot of time drilling it. When we win, we're most likely to win on points, so it's essential to have a quick, solid, and accurate jab that can score a lot and create openings for other punches such as a straight right or left hook off the jab.
The other drills included the straight right, the old one-two punch, blocking the opponent's combination and answering back immediately with a combination, and limited sparring with one or two punches to practice them.
It went well. After the drills and limited sparring, I sat out the regular sparring because my left ankle was bothering me. If I take a break and ice it, I generally don't have any big trouble with it. That's a good preventive strategy for the ankle, but I was unhappy because I was fired-up for sparring and looking forward to the chance to practice some new footwork and combinations I've been working on. Thus, it was a disappointment. My ankle sprain, suffered during a shirts-and-skins pickup basketball game at BahÃas de Huatulco, Oaxaca, Mexico in the summer of 1991, came back to haunt me again.
In any event, I finished the workout strong, with the usual abs and "30s" routine. There's always room for improvement, and I intend to keep improving.
I capped today's training with 38 minutes of roadwork. (It's getting cold out there!)
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Tuesday Training with Glen
I didn't get to the Sunday workout this week, but I am hoping to be back to that this coming weekend. Hopefully, as it gets colder outside, more of the guys will show up more regularly.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
This Week's Training
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
General Update on Various Things
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Lawyer-boxer-blogger-tweeter!
Thanks, Lance and 22 Tweets, for your interest; it was great to talk with you and it's good to get to know you, too.
Sunday's "Fight Club"
Glen pushed us really hard this week. It was a great workout. I am liking these Sunday morning sessions; they're a great way to start the week.
I also did one hour of roadwork. It was good training. Hopefully, we'll have a few more guys at the workout next Sunday.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Nobody Here But My Roadwork and Me
I didn't get to "fight club" on Sunday because fierce sinus congestion and headache made me immobile until around 10 am. I really missed seeing the guys, sparring, and doing all the practice drills, but after not sleeping well, I wasn't exactly eager to get punched in the face!
My plans to get to the gym later in the week have been foiled by work and helping my parents with some improvements at their home. Thus, training this week has just been roadwork. Here's the breakdown for the early part of the week:
Sunday: 1 hour and 5 minutes
Tuesday: 52 minutes
Wednesday: 31 minutes
It's less than optimal, but I am in this for the long haul, so when I keep that in mind, it seems alright.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Busy Week
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Sunday: One-on-one Training
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.
Friday, August 14, 2009
If I Drink More Coffee, Does That Mean I Will Win More?
Hat tip to fellow lawyer, Aaron, at Iced Coffee and a Bagel.
Friday, August 07, 2009
Instant replay? In boxing? Are they nuts?
I don’t like this idea. Boxing judging, scoring, and refereeing are subject to enough controversy as things stand; I don’t think the sport would benefit by the kind of second-guessing that instant replay and review would encourage.
Football season is approaching; regular NFL games start on September 10. (For all you pre-season fans, those games begin this coming Sunday, August 9, as the Buffalo Bills square off against the Tennessee Titans at Fawcett Stadium, in Canton, Ohio.) I mention football because I’m not wild about the use of instant replay in NFL games. I’m even less enthusiastic about the specter of any role it might play in boxing matches.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Lawyer-boxer Joey Gilbert Forms Firm with Partners in Reno, NV
Congratulations, Mr. Gilbert, on the start of your new firm. May it bring a lot of success for you, your partners, and your clients.
A recap of the other lawyer-boxers I've featured on this blog is available here.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Replying to "The Generation M Manifesto"
Umair,
Thanks for posting this thought-provoking manifesto. There is much that I like about it. There is also much that I don't like. Initially, calling it a "manifesto" is problematic for reasons that, I think, are self-evident.
More seriously, many of the ideas you espouse in the Manifesto are not really "new," and certainly do not originate with "Generation M." On the contrary, they are the aspirations of humanity, including most, if not all, humans alive today. Casting the Manifesto as an answer to a supposed intergenerational conflict appears to misunderstand the division that has prompted you to write this statement of aspirations. It's not a matter of "old" vs. "young" or even "old" vs. "new." What you are seeking is human progress, not a division based on age.
That progress does not depend on age or upon a new "generation" (presumably a wiser and more enlightened one) as you use that term. Instead, it depends on people working together. Let us unite, rather than divide, our potential allies in this work. Note my use of “us” and “our” here; it’s intentional. I consider myself part of the “M” generation that you describe. For the record, I’m 45 years young. People like my parents are also part of the “M” generation, but if you use a demographic term to describe what is really a social movement, then we might leave them out. If you do that, you’ll alienate a lot of talented people who have contributed much to the world—people, including many of those you deride—whose work has, at least in part, made it possible for you to be blogging your ideas here.
I recommend you add another “M” to your list: mindfulness. Mindfulness has its roots in ancient teachings, and is increasingly used in areas such as psychology, psychotherapy, medicine and healthcare, law, and even economics and business. Without this important “M” (or call it “consciousness,” if you prefer), we are likely to commit the same mistakes as those “old people” in your salutation, and probably even worse mistakes as technology advances and exacerbates the impact of our mistakes. (Eckhart Tolle discusses this last phenomenon, what he calls “technology in the service of madness,” in his best-selling book, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose.)
Finally, please lose the “Dear old people” in your salutation. It’s unnecessarily—and probably unwittingly and unintentionally—offensive and sets a negative tone right from the start.
Overall, I like the Manifesto. You have collected several important ideas that deserve attention, individually, as well as holistically. I’d like to see more discussion of these themes in a context that does not depend on conflict between “generations.” After all, like it or not, we really are all in this together.
Thanks again.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Walking the Walk
Friday, June 19, 2009
Nerdcore Boxing Returns!
To the rest of my readers, I encourage you to read his blog. As you can see from his past blog entries, he publishes a lot of useful content and logs his experiences, which seem fairly similar to my own adventures in the sweet science.
Hat tip to Marc at My Boxing Blog, who keeps punching as the Australian winter sets in.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
A Training Update
Here's the roadwork recap for this week.
Sunday: 1 hour and 10 minutes
Monday: 47 minutes
Wednesday: 1 hour and 1 minute
Thursday: 34 minutes
Not terrible, but not ideal. I'm planning to get some gym time Friday morning, and do some cycling before this week is over.
Monday, June 08, 2009
Monday's Roadwork
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Back to Blogging: Coming Out Swinging at Sunday's Training
I had a really good session at the gym today. Just Glen, our coach, and Eric were there, so I got tons of focused attention--and, of course, that means tons of nonstop working hard with very few breaks in the action. Indeed, those few breaks were very short, too, so it was a great workout.
I got to spar a lot with Eric today. He and I work well together, and it was good, tough work. In each round, we started at a moderate pace, but were really going at it when Glen called time to end the round. Great stuff. Thanks, Eric!
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Slow Progress
Friday, April 24, 2009
Alive and Well, Writing and Boxing
Monday, April 13, 2009
I'm Still Here and Punching
I'm supposed to get together with some of the boys later this week to have dinner at one of the guys' offices (which I am told is huge) and then attend some of the Chicago Golden Gloves finals. I am looking forward to that. Otherwise, regular training continues, albeit at a somewhat more "flexible" schedule. Nevertheless, it's going well overall so I have no complaints.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Busy Week at Work
I'll be back to more regular blogging soon. For now, a brief update. I had some good sparring on Sunday and decent training during the week. I spent the evening with some guys from the "fight club" by having dinner at the Terragusto Cafe. The food was quite good, but there was really too much served (I don't even remember how many courses there were--it was insane) and the price was a lot higher than I had expected--about a week's grocery bill for me. It's a good thing I don't eat like that regularly; if I did, I'd have to train 6 hours a day just to keep the extra weight off.
After dinner, we headed to St. Andrews gym to watch some of the preliminary bouts at the Chicago Golden Gloves tournament. A good time was seemingly had by all and it was fun to have a guys' night out with the new friends I'm training with on Sundays. It was also a nice break in the action of a really busy work week.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Sparring Improvement
I sparred 3 good rounds with Eric (not the Eric I have been sparring with during past weeks, let's call this one "Eric 2"). It was a tough sparring session. He pushed hard and so did I. We have similar styles--more aggressive, moving forward, and pressuring the opponent.
It was a good workout. I got to practice some defense and I got my jab working well: two or three jabs in a row. I'm polishing my footwork and moving better. Let's see how it goes next Sunday.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Update on Sunday's "Fight Club"
The workout was a pretty standard boxing training session. Here's how it goes.
During the first part, we do a warm-up and then practice several rounds on all the bags (heavy, speed, double-end, uppercut), jump rope, and do shadowboxing. I almost always do some easy stretching after I break a sweat; I want to remain flexible and avoid injuries. This first part is the least structured; there are about 12 guys training in the gym at these practices, so having some time to get into the routine on our own is helpful.
While all the individual work is happening, Glen calls each of us into the ring to work one round on the punch mitts with him. We get just one round of this, because of the number of guys present, but if a smaller group showed up on any particular day, I think Glen might do more rounds with that. I felt a lot better this week working with Glen. Since the time is limited, there's an added sense of urgency to stay focused and mentally present during the round, in order to squeeze the most benefit out of it.
My round went well. My "finisher" right, which had been a bit sluggish last week, flowed easily as I threw the combination: left jab-straight right-left hook-right cross. It was good to have some power on that last punch without sacrificing speed or accuracy on the first three.
The next part is contact sparring drills. Because we're practicing punches, we wear headgear and mouthpieces and 16 oz. gloves. We start by working on the basics, such as left jab (so far, there are no southpaws in the group), one-two, and so on. As round follows round, we work at more complex combinations, defense, adjusting stance and balance as needed, and counterpunching. This is very helpful to me because it is realistic and lets us practice the fundamentals a lot. (I don't think any athlete can ever spend too much time practicing the basics of his sport.) It's safe and fun, but the guys punch about as hard as they do in sparring, so using defense is an important part of the practice.
Next, we have sparring. The drills and sparring are at a fast pace and Glen keeps everyone moving. There's a lot of rotation, so everyone gets some experience practicing with all the other boxers. I like the quicker pace and it allows us to practice with more of the other boxers. For example, this Sunday, I sparred four rounds with three different guys and had the benefit of practicing with their different styles. What worked well with Mark didn't work so well with Eric, and my two rounds with Brian had plenty of challenges.
(Mental note: I need to move more when sparring with Brian. I could easily see him and me standing toe to toe and trading huge bombs. There is definitely a time and place for that, but I'm trying to avoid developing bad habits, or, as the case may be with my willingness to get into a slugfest, to avoid sliding back into old bad habits.) The pace and power were perfect, too; no one is trying to take anyone's head off, but the guys do push each other and encourage one another to improve. There's a camaraderie--even a team spirit--in this intense, most individual of sports. For example, Eric commented that my jab was working a lot better this week, so it was good to see some of that ring rust falling off.
After sparring, we do some abs work. It's a straightforward routine, but beneficial, and you can work at your own pace in an encouraging environment. The medicine ball gets to play a part, and I always feel especially alive when I get that lactic acid burn as I push myself to do yet one more crunch.
Finally, we finish strong with "30s"--three rounds of punching the heavy bag as hard and as fast as we can for 30 seconds, while a partner holds the bag. Then we switch with our partner and he punches for 30 seconds while we hold the bag. That goes on until all the guys have done their three speed rounds. Final stretching and cool down is on our own.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Visiting Some Boxing Blogs in the 'Hood
First, the tenacious Marc reports that he is back in training "again...again." Way to go, Marc! Keep up the fine work.
Next, the author of Toe to Toe (sorry, I don't know his name and couldn't find it on the blog) has a bout coming up on March 20, 2009. Please join me in wishing him much success.
Last, Jonathan Moreland continues his process of Earning a Nickname and recounts the highlights of his recent bout. Congratulations, Jonathan, and good show of sportsmanship in the match.
I'll have an update about my own training soon, maybe even later today.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Back to Blogging; Busy Weekend; Training Hard and Enjoying It
Here's a recap of what has been going on lately, in work, life, and boxing.
- In my defiant approach to the economic recession, I have been hustling to get some new clients. I have two new prospects and one to contact tomorrow. I am not being naive, but if the basic laws of chemistry and physics still apply, matter and energy can neither be created nor destroyed. Thus, in the aggregate, there is no less matter or energy in the universe today than there was a year or two ago, so we haven't truly "lost" anything. The matter and energy may have changed into different forms, but they still exist. As a practical matter, this means that the opportunities are still available, but we will have to be more persistent and imaginative as we look for them.
- Life continues to send its nonstop series of ups and downs. I'm enjoying my new neighborhood--and am confident I'll enjoy it even more once spring arrives with some consistently warmer weather.
- I helped my good buddy Mark move his home over the weekend. He's in the same building, but has moved to an apartment two floors above his former unit. I'm thrilled for him. He's still relatively new to Chicago, so I am glad he's getting settled comfortably in his new place. Mark is one hell of a great guy and a really good friend. Unfortunately, he recently lost his cat, Fritz, so it's a difficult time for him.
- Training got an added boost on Sunday. It was my first time attending the Sunday "fight club" (also known as "Small Group Boxing") at my gym. I was there in a group of about 12 guys and Glen, the trainer, who runs the 2 pm Sunday gathering. It was a great time and I look forward to attending the practices regularly. In addition to the shadowboxing, work on the bags, abs training, punching-and-defense drills, and work on the punch mitts with Glen, I got in some good sparring, too. (Thanks to Jim and Eric for pushing me hard and making me work!) It was a blast. Since all of the boxers are midlife guys--basically late 30s to late 50s in age--the group might offer some good business networking opportunities, too, as well as the chance to make some new friends. After all, some of my closest friends are guys I have punched in the face. I'm hoping my buddy Mark will attend some Sundays.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Simple Training Update
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Mid-week Training Update
1 hour of roadwork
Monday, January 25
45 minutes of roadwork
Tuesday, January 27
- 53 minutes roadwork
- 5 rounds on the heavy bag
- 4 rounds on the uppercut bag
- 4 rounds on the speed bag
- 3 rounds on the double-end bag
- 4 rounds of shadowboxing
- 5 rounds of stretching
Wednesday, January 28
45 minutes of roadwork
Thursday, January 29
40 minutes of roadwork
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Good Interview with Rich Franklin
Here's a good interview with the UFC's Rich Franklin. Franklin is an interesting guy. Before he dedicated his career to full-time pro fighting, he was a high school math teacher.
That career change has gotten me thinking. A couple of years ago, a local friend changed jobs, going from being a patent lawyer to being a high school math teacher. I wonder if my buddy will become a cage fighter next?
Minimal Training Today
Gary Wimsett's Interview with L. Jon Wertheim
Again, while I don't focus on MMA here, I am definitely interested in the sport. I also intend to learn some of the basics of ground fighting and grappling. That will help me improve my overall skills as a fighter and allow me to do some cross-training.
Good job, Gary. I look forward to reading Mr. Wertheim's book and to more of your writing on SportsAgentBlog. I hope your training is going well. If you can fight as well as you write, I feel sorry for your opponents!
Freezing in Chicago
It's cold outside, but invigorating. The key, I think, is to keep moving. Once I get a warm hat that covers more of my handsome mug, I'll be riding my bike along the lakefront trail again, assuming, of course, that there isn't a lot of ice. I don't mind an intense ride in the cold, but sliding on ice that's often invisible--and possibly falling down hard after sliding--or becoming a human popsicle (aka frostbite sufferer) don't appeal to me. I thoroughly enjoy a good, tough challenge, but I'm not that desperate for fun!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Hey You...Wanna Follow this Blog?
In the right-hand column of this blog, scroll down the page until you come to the area preceded by the "Followers" heading. It's between the section marked "Subscribe to Lawyer-boxer's Blog" and the picture of the boxer yakking on his cell phone and his annoyed-looking opponent.
Click on the text that says "Follow this blog" and follow the instructions.
You'll need a Blogger account to follow my blog; if you don't already have one, the instructions will tell you how to set one up.
That's it: so easy, even yours truly can do it. Thanks in advance.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow
Saturday, January 10: 34 minutes
Sunday, January 11: 37 minutes