Rumble, young man, rumble!

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This was the quote that greeted me on a whiteboard when I first stepped into the Ballard Barbell and Boxing Club in April 2021. That was just over two years ago. Those words have stuck with me since, especially when I see how far I have come both in terms of overall fitness and skill at boxing. Aside from the need to walk from A to B and the occasional on/off spurt of jogging, I guess I had been living quite a sedentary lifestyle for many years. Working in front of a computer screen all day doesn't help. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, when I was reading in the news that people with pre-existing conditions or low overall fitness were particularly vulnerable, I kept thinking to myself, "Would I survive a bout of the virus unscathed?" This spurred me to take my health and fitness more seriously.

I have always had a passing interest in boxing, mostly from watching the big-name fights when they were on TV. Throughout my childhood and teenage years, I've dabbled in a lot of sports, but this is the first time that I have found a physical activity that I have grown a genuine passion for. I'm confident that most people would just look upon boxing as two people beating the crap out of each other until one of them wins. I did. But it's not just sheer brutality, and when you start to train in the art of boxing, you begin to appreciate that there is so much more to it than that. To be really good, one has to develop not only high levels of physical fitness but also discipline, timing, coordination, stamina, adaptability, confidence, speed, and power.

So, needless to say, I am enjoying learning to box and the associated health benefits. It was around September of the same year that I stepped into the ring for my first sparring match. You can spend all of your time perfecting your punches and making sure your footwork is tidy, but when you get into the ring with someone, that all tends to go out the window. You need to be much more reactionary and adaptable than set-piece floor exercises will completely prepare you for. I was definitely nervous in the lead-up to my first time actually fighting someone, but it's great practice. At that point, you actually find out what you know (or don't know), and I admit, it's exhilarating! Sometimes your head can get so wrapped up in doing everything right that it can be good to have someone advance on you while swinging punches. It encourages you to start to recognize what move or reaction feels right based on what the other person does. In our sparring sessions, you only hit as hard as you want to be hit in return, so you also develop power control because dodging an opponent's attacks is much easier said than done!

I've included a video from my first ever fight below. My footwork is a little rigid, and I don't get a lot of combos in, but it wasn't bad for the first time. I'm the 6'7" guy in the gray trunks. Wait, no...

19/10/23 Update: I've added a new video below of one of my last sparring matches at the gym before I leave Seattle. Comparing both videos, I'm glad to have made some demonstrable progress in two and a half years.

On a related note, I recently finished watching the Ken Burns documentary, "Muhammad Ali". I've watched some other documentaries about Ali before, but this one explored his private life and his political leanings in greater detail. Everyone is likely familiar with the image of the show-boating, braggadocious Ali, who trash-talked his opponents and announced his own greatness, but he was actually a man of great principle. He risked his entire career, his reputation, and his success because of his association with the black nationalist Nation of Islam organization and his refusal to be drafted into the military during the war in Vietnam. It's rare to find a person of such conviction in his actions, even if they go against the norm.

In the ring, Ali had an unorthodox style, but man, was he fast. With his amazing reactionary speed, he could dodge an opponent's swings with incomprehensible ease, then counter with a flurry of rapid, precise, powerful punches that overwhelmed his opponent. He was highly adaptable and came back from defeats with new tactics to change up his fighting style. His defeat of the knockout machine, George Foreman, in the fabled "Rumble in the Jungle" was astounding. Although he made some questionable decisions in his life and career, I definitely came away with a deeper appreciation for Muhammed Ali, the man.

La Música

Please note: All song links shared below will bring you to Spotify. You'll need to create an account to listen.

Otis Redding - Scratch My Back

A fantastic, funky song from Mr. Otis Redding.

Ronnie Wood - I Can Feel the Fire

It's your man, Ronnie, from The Rolling Stones! This one's a feel-good song for the summer.

Jim Sullivan - Johnny

I discovered the music of Jim Sullivan a few months ago, and I really love the album, U.F.O., from which the song above comes. The strings and arrangements are just really beautiful. He mysteriously disappeared in the New Mexico desert after releasing only two albums.

Hot Chocolate - Caveman Billy

Hot Chocolate - Lay Me Down Nice an' Easy

Growing up in Ireland, I was definitely familiar with the UK band Hot Chocolate's more popular hits such as "You sexy thing" and "Every 1's a winner". Recently, I explored their albums a little more and found quite a lot of other songs that I really enjoy. I really love the guitar strumming that repeats throughout the song "Caveman Billy" and I have been replaying that song a lot! "Cicero Park" is a great album to listen to.

Willie Dunn - I Pity the Country

Another recent music discovery, Willie Dunn, was a Canadian folk singer of Native American and Irish/Scottish backgrounds. He was a poet and an activist, and his views on politics and social issues really come through in his songwriting. He has some really beautiful music and lyrics. When I first heard the song "I Pity the Country", so much of it still seemed relevant to today's political atmosphere.

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