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Younger Me

  What would you say to your younger self? I have always found this an interesting question, because even if I could talk to my younger self, would my younger self listen to my advice? Probably not. We all come to our view on life through experience, and without going through those experiences I feel like we never really change. I also think giving advice to my younger self, or telling me what to expect, would be a disservice. When I first started boxing I lost a lot of fights. I kept fighting to prove that I could be better, than I could win, mostly to myself above all else. Had I had the ability to go back and tell my younger self not to worry, that I will eventually continuously win fights, I may not have trained as hard or been as motivated. And thinking about it further, there were people along the way that would offer encouraging words to keep me going. But I don’t think those words really mattered to me. They were just band aids that helped briefly. The pain of failure helped pu
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Sneakers

 I started watching a show on Disney+ called “The World According to Jeff Goldblum.” First of all, watching Jeff Goldblum host a show is very entertaining. The first episodes was all about the world of sneakers, from conventions to special sneaker makers to the science of how to design the sneaker. What I found really interesting is that while designing it, they study the reaction to the look of the shoe: from style, color, shape, etc, registering the emotional reaction with a device. They suggested that pleasure from how the shoe looks will ensure it’s performance on someone’s foot. Basically, because I like how the shoe looks, I believe it will feel good on my foot, and ergo it will. Jeff Goldblum also talked to some former basketball players about sneakers they wear to play, and they emphasized how even if they feel as though they are having an off day, if their trainer hands them a new pair of shoes suddenly they have a stellar game day. The confidence in their shoes, meaning looki
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Very good letter

 While in Torah study this morning, I stumbled across a concept that many of my boxers struggle with. The portion we were studying has to do with an outsider observing how pure Israelite culture was way back when, versus an insider commenting on all that the Israelites needed to improve upon. The article we read which was commentating on the portion is the issue I want to address. It reads:  “What is true of Torah and prayer is true of life more broadly: It is crucial to maintain a healthy sense of who we have not yet become. (The point of this, it bears emphasizing, is not to lambast or loathe ourselves but to hold in mind an ideal for which to strive.) When a student wrote to Rabbi Yitzhak Hunter (1906-1980) cataloging his failings and casting doubt upon his religious potential, R. Hunter responded that the student’s letter belied his self-description. It is a danger of religious culture, Hunter writes, that great figures are all too often portrayed as perfect from birth; what is for
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Burnout

 I wanted to write a blogpost today, and I was struggling to come up with a topic. So I thought, what am I experiencing, or my boxers experiencing currently? And I realized, burnout. Whether it’s from exercising, work, relationships, or boxing itself, I have noticed over the month of June a frustrated energy from people. Everyone’s mood and motivations are affected, all for different reasons, all in different ways. I feel it myself: I’m tired in general, and I have a strong urge to stay in bed for a couple of days in order to recuperate.  The question to myself is how do I coach burnout? When I can sense a boxer is frustrated because they do not think they are improving, or they don’t have the time to train, or they have trouble grasping certain movements or are too tired to condition? Everyone goes through an ebb and flow, an upward progression to a stagnate to possibly a regression back to progressing. Sometimes taking some time off helps, resets the mind and body. Sometimes lowering
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Anger

 “Anger provides the No. 1 difference between a fist-fight and a boxing bout. Anger is an unwelcome guest in any department of boxing. From the first time a chap draws on gloves as a beginner, he is taught to “keep his temper” - never to “lose his head.” When a boxer gives way to anger, he becomes a “natural” fighter who tosses science into the bucket. When that occurs in the amateur or professional ring, the long-head fighter leaves himself open and becomes an easy target for a sharpshooting opponent. Because an angry fighter usually is a helpless fighter in the ring, many prominent professionals tried to taunt fiery opponents into losing their heads and “opening up.” Anger rarely flares in a boxing match.” ( Dempsey, Jack. “5.”   Championship Fighting: Explosive Punching and Aggressive Defense , Simon & Schuster, New York, 2015, pp. 20–20.   )  Written by Jack Dempsey over 70 years ago, there are many things outdated. Such as the word “chap” and the lack of reference to female fi
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Brick by brick

 While reading Will Smith’s biography, he tells a story of his father making him and his brother build a wall from scratch. They had to form and mold each brick and add it to the wall, which took them about a year, considering they were very young. His reflection on this process and the lessons he took included to focus on the individual brick, instead of the gaping hole they were trying to fill. He reflects that looking at the empty space was discouraging, while focusing on a brick at a time helped the project seem more manageable.  While this is a common lesson, similar to one step at a time, what got me thinking about this story is the image of not looking at the empty space needed to be filled, but instead the individual elements needed to fill the space. Is this a good lesson for how we train in boxing? I think both need to be considered in the journey of training. Focusing on forming each brick is like perfecting individual moves, whether it be a punch, head movement, footwork, s
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Intention

 While reading about different tai chi exercises, I ran across one that discussed an idea I have experienced multiple times during sparring. The drill was to determine intention of a possible opponent. The author writes: “If you watch for his attack using just your eyes, you will only be able to initiate your defense after he starts to move and you have processed the associated sense data using the analytical part of your brain. However, if you use all of your senses including those yet unnamed, you will sense the opponent’s intention before he starts to move.” (Chuckrow pg 70)* The drill is set up to try to *feel* when your opponent will start their attack by having them stand behind you.  Many times during sparring or a fight, I know exactly what my opponent is going to throw before they do it. Or, my opponent prepares for a punch I have not thrown yet but I had the intention of throwing. My explanation of this is our ability to sense body language or predict patterns of another indi
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