Sparring

I think the thing I looked forward to the most was getting in the ring and getting the chance to actually hit someone, but at the same time it was quite nerve racking.  The first time I sparred was against other people from our group, we started off just doing body sparring, well I remember thinking this isn't too bad at all, but this was just the start of it....

The first time we sparred full body was not a fun experience at all, I don't know why I thought being hit in the face would be fun but I can tell you now it wasn't.  Rotating with other people around the ring for 2 minute rounds, I never realised how knackering 2 minute rounds could be...At the end of it I went a shade of green and felt like I was going to pass out...to the amusement of my coach.... but soon recovered once I actually started to breath....The strange thing is once it was all finished it kind of got you, you just want to keep going, have another go at it, so in the end I actually kind of enjoyed it and couldn't wait till the next time.

During the last weeks of sparring we had a few minor injuries, mainly bust noses, nothing really serious, but I was a little worried as I still didn't really know what it was like to take a really hard punch directly to the nose, I mean how would I react if it happens in the fight?

In the last couple of weeks I did everything I could do to be ready for my fight, I was Shadow boxing at 6 am in the morning to a timed boxing app on my phone(Boxing iTimer lite). I was eating well, training with a good friend Anthony Hardy who is a professional boxer, basically anything to help me not make a fool out of myself in front of hundreds of people including my friends and family.

What was really cool about this training is how my body transformed, my arms got bigger and my stomach got smaller, I even started to see my long lost six pack, this had been lost for around 13 years !