Monthly Archives: April 2011

Time and the clock

Time and the clock.

My daughter’s alarm clock is blaring through her door as regular pulses reminiscent of the loud echoing blasts announcing a prisoner escape.  How she is sleeping through it amazes me.  Her strategy is to have multiple devices yell at her land of nod until one or another pierces the veil of her dreamscape enough for her to join the world of the awake.  She then stumbles up and out of her room towards the bathroom and the beginning of her morning.

It puts me in mind of how much of what we do is regulated by time.

We have the “masters” of the industrial revolution to thank for that one; having invented mechanized devices as the means of production, they needed a “regular” workforce to man and woman those machines.  Hence our alarm clocks which still beckon us (more like rip us) from the delicious warmth of bed and dreams into the world of work and dare I say a bit of drudgery???

Not so the boxer’s time clock!  Least ways not in my estimation.

Those intervals of time feel more like the explosions of musical notes with three minutes to blow your ax before resting and blowing again.

Shadow boxing around my living room gets to feel like an improvisational dance, throwing punches this way and that as I circle my way left then right, hop skipping forward or to the side, my arms flailing at the air to their own rhythm.  Then the dead s-t-o-p before repeating it all again — and yet different.

A jazzed solo, the improvisation of a boxing performance has all of the nuanced grace of a horn pushing out its notes in a staccato rhythm all its own and yet timed and lovely and full of melodic undertones, the dance of the body fluid and full of the momentum that pushes it from one posture to another for three full minutes before the ding of the bell signals the end of the round.

Reminders! Lamonakis, Merz & a Uruguayan Women’s Fight Night!

Reminders! Lamonakis, Merz & a Uruguayan Women’s Fight Night!

Fight Reminder:  Sonya “The Scholar” Lamonakis

Girlboxing friend Sonya “The Scholar” Lamonakis (4-0, 1-KO) will be fighting on the under card of the “East-West Showdown: Andre Berto vs. Victor Ortiz,” welterweight pairing on this coming Saturday night, April 16, 2011 @ the MGM Grand, Foxwoods to be broadcast live on HBO.  Promoted by Lou DiBello Entertainment and the always exciting Sonya Lamonakis, ranked the number 3 women’s heavyweight contender in the world by   will be mounting her 5th professional fight since turning pro last year against boxer Gigi Jackson (2-1) .

Tickets for the event start at $65.00, and can still be purchased through Gleason’s Gym (minus the ticket handling charges!).  Contact Gleason’s as 718-797-2872 for tickets and further information.

Reminder:  Mischa Merz Book Signing 2night!

Another Girlboxing friend, Misha Merz will be having a book signing 2night for her boxing memoir The Sweetest Thing at Gleason’s Gym running from 6:00 – 8:00 PM.  Misha will be on hand to read from her memoir to the wonderful sounds of the sweet science in the background.  For further information you can contact Gleason’s Gym @ 718-797-2872.  Or just come on by to 77 Front Street, Brooklyn, NY (in DUMBO).

Reminder:  Boxing in Uruguay!  Yep, Uruguay on April 19th!

Cecilia “La Reina” Comunales

Hold the date of April 19th for a great night of boxing in Uruguay promoted by Sampson Boxing.  The main event will be UBO Women’s Lightweight champion Cecilia “La Reina” Comunales (7-1-0, 5 K.O.‘s) from Uruguay taking  on Alicia Susana Alegre (7-4, 7 K.O.‘s) from just across the river in Argentina for an exciting evening of women’s boxing at its best.  Dubbed “La Defensa Del Reino” or “Defending The Kingdom”, the event is being heavily promoted in South America and will be viewed on Vtv, in Uruguay.  The fight will also likely be video streamed – so do some checking online.

 

Good morning from Brooklyn!

Good morning from Brooklyn!


It is way too early, and yet with books from my latest grad school paper strewn about me on the couch, the noise of buses beginning their early runs and the thought of a Starbuck’s morning bun to get me going, I’m feeling rather privileged to be able to write a blog piece.

Plus I’m feeling quite joyous at the realization that today marks my 200th post!

I’ll admit it, I’m wowed!

And having put one foot in front of the other since starting this blog on October 7th — (is that really just a little over six months ago) I’m doubly wowed at how much writing Girlboxing has meant to me not the least of which because it’s brought me into two intersecting communities of things I love: writing and boxing. 

Thank you all for being the audience for my musings!

And for the chance to wake up at ridiculous hours in the morning to do my daily something which has grown to include writing, morning yoga and the occasional shadow boxing foray around the living room.

It’s also gotten me back in the gym on a regular basis and most importantly, a renewed appreciation for the sweet science and overwhelming respect for the men and women who practice the art.

On the more personal side, writing Girlboxing has been my own private Kaddish.  A way to honor memory and loss as a daily act of positive intent by exalting the best in life.  Some days are better than others, but I always, always write with a sense of wanting to have each day be that much better than the last.

Thank you all again for your generosity in listening!

 

Sleep, per chance to dream…

Sleep, per chance to dream…

My sweet sixteen felt more like The Dirty Dozen yesterday.  I worked my butt off — with lots of right to the body, left to the body, straight right combinations during my pad work with Lennox, but was I ever ragged.  I’m not sure how I made it through the fourth round of the that set, but I managed it with some pretty pitiful arm punches, but, hey … I got through it.

The double-ended bag was also pretty pathetic, but I rallied for the speedbag and had really nice rhythm through most of it.  What helped was peering at some pretty great sparring in the two rings in my line of sight — along with my inner Gonna have a funky good time beat (thanks James Brown) and “legs don’t fail me now” entreaties.

What did work yesterday was upping my sit-up chair time to three rounds.  So all in all I was 16 + 3 for the day, if in limp mode for half of it.

In analyzing why my energy was so low, however, I had a true “duh!” epiphany.  Yep, the missing ingredient: Sleep!

From no less a source than Harvard Medical School Women’s Health Watch (link here), six important reasons for getting enough sleep include:

1. Learning and memory: Sleep helps the brain commit new information to memory through a process called memory consolidation. In studies, people who’d slept after learning a task did better on tests later.

2. Metabolism and weight: Chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way our bodies process and store carbohydrates, and by altering levels of hormones that affect our appetite.

3. Safety: Sleep debt contributes to a greater tendency to fall asleep during the daytime. These lapses may cause falls and mistakes such as medical errors, air traffic mishaps, and road accidents.

4. Mood: Sleep loss may result in irritability, impatience, inability to concentrate, and moodiness. Too little sleep can also leave you too tired to do the things you like to do.

5. Cardiovascular health: Serious sleep disorders have been linked to hypertension, increased stress hormone levels, and irregular heartbeat.

6. Disease: Sleep deprivation alters immune function, including the activity of the body’s killer cells. Keeping up with sleep may also help fight cancer.

Oy.  Who knew.

I mean, yes, I knew, but like many of us, I continue to blow-off the importance of getting those zzzz’s in favor of all the seeming have-to’s, not to mention the dumb want-to’s (like watching really bad TV) that get in the way of a decent night’s rest.

Put another way, getting a good night’s sleep on a regular basis is no less important to health than eating a balanced diet and doing all that cardio in the first place — and may in fact, help with curbing the pounds and upping your energy in the process.  Least ways I sure hope so!

Gleason’s Gym – All Female Boxing Clinic

Gleason’s Gym – All Female Boxing Clinic on April 28, 29 & 30, 2011!

Gleason’s Gym will host its first All Female Boxing Clinic on April 28, 29 and 30, 2011 at its headquarters in Brooklyn, New York.

The three-day event will include two-days of boxing training and will culminate in Gleason’s first USA Boxing Metro amateur-sanctioned All Female Boxing Show to be broadcast live on www.gofightlive.tv.

The two-day clinic will focus on a range of boxing skills for beginners and will feature the Gleason’s World Champion talents of Alicia Ashley, Jill Emory, Melissa Hernandez and Belinda Laracuente as well as boxing trainers Mark Breland, Juan LaPorte and Hector Roca.

The clinic is open to anyone with a desire to learn the fundamentals of the sport — and for those who have more skills, opportunities will be offered to perfect your talents.

Having first walked into the door at Gleason’s in 1997, I can personally attest to the genuinely supportive atmosphere of the gym, which has always been particularly inviting to women. It’s also meant that I’ve had the chance to observe first hand the explosion in Women’s Boxing  — as well as the chance to applaud the prowess of Gleason’s many boxing alumni!

Girlboxing recently had the chance to sit down and talk with Gleason’s Gym’s owner Bruce Silverglade about Women’s Boxing (see video below).  As an early proponent of the sport, Bruce has been a champion in his own right through his strong advocacy for Women’s Boxing and continues to provide opportunities for women in the sport from Saturday boxers on through dedicated pros.

Spaces are still available for the chance to perfect your boxing prowess or take the plunge into your first foray into the ring. If you are interested contact Bruce Silverglade at Gleason’s Gym.  The telephone number is: 718-797-2872 and the email address is: info@gleasonsgym.net.  The cost of the clinic is $299.00.  You can also sign-up to participate in the All Female Boxing Show by contacting Angela Querol @ 718-797-2872.

One breath at a time

One breath at a time.

If there is one thing I’ve been trying to gain out of a daily yoga practice aside from the physical benefits, it’s been the reminder to take things as they come.

With yoga, one performs poses to the rhythm of the breath (or at least tries) and in doing so can be “present,” with the experience.  Or put another way, the mind helps push the body to extend itself to its best place — and through regular practice the possibility of great flexibility and strength, not to mention a more focused mental attitude and the *chance* for some clear moments free of mind-movies!

The practice, however, doesn’t always guarantee the focus or the release of all that mental junk that clogs the thinking which can hamper one’s ability to perform at one’s best.  Focus being another whole facet of every discipline and whether it’s yoga or boxing it requires a lot of inner strength to maintain.

That’s where in my estimation the emphasis on the breath in yogic practice can help in priming the mind towards focus:  a great way of tricking your mind into paying attention.  Kind of like Lennox Blackmore’s pop to my head as he yell’s “wake-up, wake-up,” when I make a truly fundamental blunder during our workout. It’s also a reminder to slow down racing thoughts that are extraneous to the task at hand.

This morning was a case in point for me.  Doing yoga, my mind wandering, I lost an entire pose, meaning, I *did* the pose, but lost to a mind-movie I “woke-up” somewhere at the end of it, not really remembering how I got there and in a teeter-totter not to fall down.  So yes, I did yoga, but I really didn’t because I lost the stream of what I was doing and without that, can I truly say that I practiced?

Try that in boxing, and one ends up in a face-plant on the mat, and frankly in yoga too, because so many of the poses not only require balance, but mental “presence” to truly gain mastery of the practice.  And it is that presence, that “be here now” concept that see’s one through so much of the daily struggles of life.

So, full-circle to the breath … take a few moments out of your busy day and remember to breathe and in so doing, slow down enough to be where you are one step at a time.

Roadwork

Roadwork!

My notion of roadwork came from watching the movie Rocky.  There was Sly Stallone huffing and puffing his way through Philly, until finally, the meat hanging in the processing plant conquered, he was able to run up the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum in triumph.  From his old-school converse sneakers to his gray sweats, Rocky was an everyman (everywoman) kind of hero that sought to over come adversity to get back into the ring.

The image of Rocky running up the steps remains iconic and in many ways continues to inform boxing’s notion of roadwork: rising well before dawn to don sweats, boxers the world-over will run 5 – 6 miles through the streets before hitting the gym. A lot of boxing gyms also have running machines and boxers will do their roadwork in the gym adding a component of interval training by alternatively running fast and slow along with changing inclines.  In a gym environment, the running will often occur after regular training is completed, though this varies widely, as do the beliefs on the relative benefits of running in the wee hours of the morning on through evening runs.

The bottom-line is that running is used as an important training component to build stamina and conditioning — and knees aside, the idea is to increase muscle efficiency and aerobic fitness to improve performance during the short burst intervals of the ring.

On the Saturday boxing side of training – a brief jog/run can also be a helpful way of loosening up before stretching and commencing training.

Given the state of my knees, hard-on running is kind of beyond me, but having run for distance earlier in my life, I can attest to the physical conditioning that comes with a regular program of running — as well as its merits as a training tool.  Still, old school running for boxing is not without controversy as some trainers have switched from straight-on roadwork to other forms of interval training or using the controlled environment of the gym for running in place, running sprints, jump-rope intervals and other forms of conditioning.

For an excellent article on the science of running for boxing on Rossboxing.com click here.

 

Women’s boxing from around the amateurs!

Women’s boxing from around the amateurs!

 

AIBA Women's World Championship 2010 in Barbados

Cuban women’s boxing

It seems that Women’s Olympic boxing in 2012 will be minus one potential powerhouse team:  Cuba.  Why?  Well as noted in a piece on Reuters yesterday, “Cuban head coach Pedro Roque was quoted as saying in 2009, when women’s boxing was added to the Olympic programme, that Cuban women “are made for beauty and not to take blows around the head”.

Hmmm.

Meanwhile, AIBA (International Amateur Boxing Association) officials stated yesterday that they are confident that the lure of gold will eventually sway Cuban officials to support women’s boxing at the elite amateur level, perhaps in time for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.  The link to the full article is here.

 

Team USA to compete in prestigious Feliks Stamm Tournament in Warsaw, Poland, April 6-8

The United States along with 15 other nations will take part in three days of competition at the Feliks Stamm Tournament in Warsaw, Poland beginning tomorrow.  The team sported by USA Boxing will consist of 2010 USA Boxing National Championship Silver medalist Tyrieshia Douglas, the 2010 National PAL and USA Boxing National Championship Bronze medalist Stephanie Han and the 2009 National Champion & 2010 National Golden Gloves Champion Alyssa DeFazio.

The team has been training at the Polish Olympic Training Center with the Polish and Italian Team readying for the competition.  As noted by USA Boxing, “the event is the first international competition for the trio of women since the Women’s International Dual Series in Oxnard, Calif., in November and will provide valuable international experience for all the competitors prior to the Olympic debut of women’s boxing in 2012.”  The link to the full article is here.

2011 USA National Championships!

 

2010 USA Boxing National Championships

 

The 2011 USA National Championships are set to run from June 19 – June 26, 2011 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.The published schedule is:

June 19: Arrival/Event Registration
June 20-24: Preliminary – Bronze medal bouts at the Colorado Springs Christian High School
June 25: Championship bouts at the City Auditorium
June 26: Departure

Participant forms are due by June 1st!  The link to USA Boxing’s information sheet is here.

REMINDER: New York City’s own 84th annual Daily News 2011 Golden Gloves Finals!

REMINDER:  New York City’s own 84th annual Daily News 2011 Golden Gloves Finals!



The Golden Gloves finals will be on April 7 & April 8 @ the Madison Square Garden Theater!  Come on out for two great nights of fighting — no doubt you’ll be watching some future Olympians and world champions!

The fight roster is listed here.

For more information on tickets click here. You can also contact Gleason’s Gym. They’ve set aside a nice block of tickets and still have some available, but you’ve got to act fast! Call (718) 797-2872 or email info@gleasonsgym.net.

>>>>PS:  Nice piece in 4/6/11’s Daily News here.

Under the gun: Or how I learned patience from the ring!

Under the gun: Or how I learned patience from the ring!

“I don’t see you studying,” I say.

The prodigal says, “Did you know that the French Revolution started in 1789?”

I say, “yes, but what’s that got to do with biology???

Prodigal says, “but Mom, I thought you’d like the fact that I know a random fact.”

Ugh!

I hate 6th grade biology.

I hate tests and I hate having been chained to my beloved youngin’ variously cajoling, pushing, pulling, commiserating and otherwise attempting to aid and abet her as she has variously studied, grumped, whined, drifted and finally studied some more for her very b-i-g test tomorrow.

Getting the picture?

We’re talking ten rounds of constant battle and I am up-against-the-ropes losing … badly!

So, what’s to be done as she pushes up from her book to organize a deck of playing cards … PLAYING CARDS?!?!?

BUT … we also have a eureka moment, viruses, bacteria, and now protists done!

And wait … ah ha.  The cards are down and its fungi time — and not only that, I can see that somewhere deep in the recesses of her brain she is thinking, “but I really do want to get a good grade!”

Yep, I’m off the ropes.  She’s quiet, and focusing, fingers flying across the keys of her mac book as she confidently says, “Mom, I’ll be in bed by ten.”

Seeing through the noise

Seeing through the noise

Sometimes when life is really, really busy and bogged down with minutia, it’s hard to see through the noise.  We get so wrapped up that we find ourselves wrapped up in our wrappings.  We don’t remember what our intentions were in the first place — and how to get to where we intended to go.

To place it terms of the ring, we get so hung up the business of boxing whether as an amateur, a pro or a Saturday boxer like myself, that we lose site of the work itself.  We forget the lovely feeling of pushing our bodies to the limit; of feeling the grace of the fundamentals; and importantly remembering that being in the gym is a lot of fun.

I guess reading about Rola El-Halabi has upset me a lot — I cannot begin to imagine the dynamic that led to the horrific actions of her stepfather, but it does put me in mind to be very thankful indeed for the opportunities that I have, that many of us have, to be able to practice our sweet science in relative freedom.

So next time you’re feeling tied up in knots, take a deep breath and whether your passion is writing, boxing, running, cooking or throwing clay on the wheel — have a go at it again, only this time nice and slow so that you can remember just how wonderful a feeling it is to practice the thing that you love.

 

 

What’s up with this?

What’s up with this?

 

Rola El-Halabi (11-0, 6-KO), Lightweight Female Boxer

So what’s up with this:  “Female boxer shot before fight” !?!

The AP wire had it this way, “German female boxer Rola El-Halabi‘s career is in doubt after she was shot by her stepfather and former manager before a title fight on Friday. The undefeated 25-year-old was preparing to fight Irma Balijagic Adler of Bosnia for the vacant IBF lightweight title, when the 44-year-old man entered her dressing room and shot her in the hand, knee and foot.” (link here & link here)  Also shot were two security guards both of whom are expected to make a full recovery.  Rola El-Halabi had reportedly ended her stepfather’s role as her manager back in January.

As WBAN points out, this is the second shooting of a female boxer, following on the horrific assault Christy Martin endured late last year.  (link here)

Am I missing something here?  I know people get shot, but this is really too much.

Girlboxing sends heart-felt wishes to Rola El-Halabi for a swift and full recovery.

Here’s a great video of Rola El-Halabi and Mia St. John from last year.  This is really tragic.

My gym day

My gym day!

Saturday is my gym day.

I walk my daughter to her Aikido Dojo — where she usually does her three hours split between the open and advanced classes — and make my way over to Gleason’s Gym for my own sweet 16.

Today’s practice will entail a straight no-chaser kind of morning:  four rounds of shadow boxing, four rounds of pads, four rounds on the double-ended bag with four rounds on the speed bag to finish the circuit.  Then it’s off to two-rounds of easy crunches on the sit-up chair as I mentally drift into a nice tired feeling in between catching glimpses of folks sparring in one of the boxing rings.

It’s become a kind of bliss.  My shirt half-soaked with sweat.  My face flushed.  Perspiration matted in my hair. My legs a little shaky as I make my way into the locker room to change; today kind of special, because instead of three hours, my prodigal will be spending her day at a seminar so free until 5:00 PM, I can tarry at the gym before taking my time walking home.

Reflecting as I walk; I know I’ll feel like summer: slow, deliberate, easy.  My body supple and warmed and ready for anything on my lazy meander up the hill near Gleason’s; smiling at the tourists under the Brooklyn Bridge overpass and finally returning to my usual self somewhere near Cadman Plaza where the rush of people will start to catch me back into the flow of a busy Saturday.

 

 

 

Women’s WBO Jr. Middleweight Rematch Results: Hanna Gabriel v. Melisenda Perez

Women’s WBO Jr. Middleweight Rematch Results:  Gabriel v. Perez


 

Before a sold out crowd of excited fans at National Stadium in Costa Rica where the WBO Women’s Jr. Middleweight championship heralded the return of professional boxing to the Central American paradise, champion Hanna Gabriel defeated Melisenda Perez with a vicious seventh round knockout to retain her title.  The fight was stopped by referee Luis Pabon in the seventh round of the rematch after an unrelenting barrage of by Gabriel.