Tag Archives: boxing gym

Getting back in the swing!

Getting back in the swing!

Whether it’s perfecting your left hook or flexing your mind (as in keeping a “daily” blog) – getting back to a regular regimen is tough going when you’ve been away from it for a while!

Having stepped into the gym on Saturday for the first time in three weeks was a case in point. I’m nursing sore abs, a creaky shoulder and a mindset that is less focused on perfecting the minute shifts of tuned-up training, than just getting to the gym at all.

So my job is to push my momentum, meaning, getting myself back on a weekly gym schedule that *builds* rather than maintains! I’m also trying to talk myself out of the neat excuses for not going such as, “I’ll be out of town on Saturday” or “I’m tired” or “it’s raining out” … you know the drill!

I can say the same for writing! When I don’t write every day I get out of the habit — so, starting today, I am bound and determined to get back on the writing stick! And yes, I’ll even give myself some slack for having finished up my degree, et alia, but a daily blog is just that, a daily blog. That means putting fingers to the keyboard with a mindset that can get past the range of reasons *not* to do something.

Meanwhile, it’s 2012 and I’m already over three weeks behind in getting my resolutions in order for the year! So here goes!

1. Write a daily entry for Girlboxing!

2. Gain more strength, endurance and flexibility. Being in my late 50s means I need resistance training and a lot of it to keep my bones strong. I also need to do more aerobic training, and yoga. That means getting back to a training schedule that has me doing at least one thing a day and on some days all three!

3. Eating better! Yikes. This one is tough. Having been diagnosed with LPR (Laryngeal Pharyngeal Reflux) and GERD (Gastric Esophageal Reflux Disease) PLUS having Barrett’s Esophagus (the cells in the esophagus near the gastric junction actually CHANGE due to acid erosion), I’ve been living a low-acid/low-fat life! What I have to get to, however, is better balance in selecting meals and foods and how they are combined. This one is a tough to sort out – and I’ll actually do a column on it sometime soon, suffice to say that I’m getting there. I’ve lost nearly 25 pounds since the change in my eating regimen in July 2011, now the trick is to go the rest of the way (another 10 pounds), while continuing to build muscle (which has suffered as late) so that when I eventually meet my goal, I’ll be a healthy and toned – rather than depleted and weak.

4. The next project: now this is the tough one! I’m thinking book and just have to move into the space by DOING rather than angsting about it. And therein lies the sticky problem: getting to the DOING part. Again, it’s a matter of starting and once in the habit continuing the process until it is concluded. Easier said than done? No, probably not ‘cause we all have goals that we set and follow. It’s that pesky issue of getting started!

What it all comes down to for the year: Doing!

So, day one in my reforecast New Year means putting the fingers to the keyboard to say thanks so much to my Girlboxing friends for listening and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

And how nice that it happens to coincide with the Chinese celebration of the Year of the Dragon!

GONG XI FA CAI

Sonya Lamonakis: Working to make it a lucky 7!

The boxing gym.

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The boxing gym.

My daughter had an assignment to write an essay using imagery for her 7th grade English class. She rocked my world with it!

Gleason’s Boxing Gym

Gleason’s Boxing Gym is a place in Dumbo that many people go to. When you hear about Gleason’s, what you may picture is a nice clean gym with the best equipment in the world. However, once you go all that you really see is sticky duct tape holding the heavy bags together, and dirt that is probably two years old.

This is what I love about Gleason’s the most:

When you walk into Gleason’s, what you see are boxers that are young or old, the heavy bag swishing back and forth. People are skipping and sliding trying to dodge the fast perfect jabs from their sparing partners. I hear the speed bag that sounds like a helicopter, the encouraging loud criticism from the trainers.

In Gleason’s Boxing Gym all I can smell and taste is the stench and sweat that comes from lots of hard work. However, as soon as I start to train I can feel the cotton of my hand wraps, the linen covering the ropes. I can feel the pads that I hit, the concrete when I try to strengthen my hands. I can feel the leather speed bag hitting my hands and then coming back, as if asking for more.

In conclusion, I think and believe that Gleason’s Boxing Gym, home to many pro-fighters, is an amazing place filled with imagery. At Gleason’s everything that happens sets your mind into a frenzy of images that will come back when you think about the moments that you have had at Gleason’s Boxing Gym.

In celebration of the art of boxing.

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In celebration of the art of boxing.

Mischa and Kristina

My schedule has been hectic and fraught with the conflicting needs of family, job and thesis writing, so getting to the gym yesterday felt triumphant.

Lennox Blackmore and I had miscued on our time which meant I did most of my work out on my own starting off with my usual four round sets: shadow boxing, heavy bag, double-ended bag and speed bag. When Len arrived, I pulled out four more on the pads working my jab-jab-right combination plus the right-left dig, left hook combo. My last was to work my way through 80 ragged sit ups — but they did count.

The point of writing about it is less to “crow” about boxing for a solid hour — and more about the work itself and the work of everyone in the gym. ‘Talk about inspiring, everyone and I mean every last person was pushing themselves and hard. That meant young kids, older kids, men and women of a “certain age” and everyone in between, not to mention the boxers sparring with speed and tartness prepping for upcoming bouts!

It got me to thinking that with all the controversies of late whether it’s bad refereeing, bad judging, obnoxious fighters mouthing off unnecessarily or the specter of female athletes wearing short mini skirts in their debut at the 2012 Olympics, the other side of boxing, the miraculous side is all the time spent in the gym, working.

That is what boxing is, isn’t it? At its essence? The magic of aligning the mind and the body to perfect exacting movements so that when a boxer enters the ring there is an opportunity to soar as an improvisational artist at the height of his or her craft.

As with jazz musicians who spend hours a day practicing scales and sonorous trills to keep their lips, fingers, hands, arms, legs and every other part of the body in condition, so does a boxer spend hours at a time perfecting the body and the subtle movements necessary to ply the art.

That doesn’t only mean round after round of throwing the intricate combinations, but understanding the subtleties of the pax de deux — after all, boxing is not a solo sport, but an intricate dance. No tag team, it is a one-on-one battle of skills, stamina, ring knowledge and what we all call heart. It is also performance art as there is that extra shot of adrenaline that happens precisely because it is a competition on a stage bounded by the four sides of the storied boxing ring.

And that is part of it — despite the hype and the crappy stuff that seems to accompany the professional side of boxing and even the amateur side; the ring itself is an arena of magic. It is the place where all of those hours of gym work and road work and mental work thinking about boxing gets played out in the brief snippets of time between the bells.

I know that boxing can be a heartbreaker — as terrible and cruel as any indifferent lover, but it is also a place of work and pride that at the end of the day every practitioner can feel triumphant about.

So yes, while the split decision of the latest Manny Pacquiao versus Juan Manuel Marquez championship bout may feel like ashes in the throat to some, we should also celebrate the hard work of boxing, it is after all what brought those two remarkable athletes into the ring in the first place.

My dinner with Mischa Merz!

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My dinner with Mischa Merz!

Mischa Merz

Former Austrialian national champion Mischa Merz and author of the book, The Sweetest Thing: A Boxer’s Memoir has come to New York to meet up with old friends and promote her book. She’ll be reading a chapter tonight (September 8th) at the Sidewalk Cafe (94 Avenue A @ 6th Street) in the East Village beginning at 6:30 PM.

Mischa will also be reading in at her Bookstore Boxing event along with author Binnie Klien, documentary filmmaker, Leyla Leidecker and for the “main event” a women’s boxing exhibition featuring WBC Super Bantamweight World Champion Alicia Ashley and 2008 Golden Glove winner Camille Currie. The event will be held at BookCourt (163 Court Street, Brooklyn, NY) on Sunday, September 11th beginning at 7:00 PM.

Last night, I had the opportunity to meet up with Mischa at Gleason’s Gym and after a workout we headed over to Rice Restaurant on Washington Street for some well deserved dinner!

Generous with her time as always, Mischa talked about the process of writing her book noting that much of the book “wrote itself” because as she put it, “I have the luxury of this great reality I can write about.”

For those Girlboxing readers who have not read Mischa’s book, it is a personal journey through the world of women’s boxing in the United States at a particular place and time — and ends with an epilogue about the 2010 Women’s World Championships in Barbados.

In talking about how she came up with the concept for the book she wanted to write a contemporary history of women’s boxing so that the flashes of brilliance found in such fighters as Bonnie Canino wouldn’t be forgotten. “In another five or ten years it’ll be like trying to dig out people that are just lost,” she said.

This germ of an idea expanded to become a more personal journey through the story, and as she says, a lived experienced. “The book was more about spending time with people and training with people I’d admired from a distance,” adding that in writing the book, “it was a matter of producing, it was a matter of tying it up. It was a very tight deadline I had 6 months to write it and live it. I spent 5 weeks here fighting, writing up notes every night in cafes about what was happening and then from August to December I had to turn it into a manuscript.”

The book is also a sojourn through a personal passion best stated in the preface to her book:

My relationship with boxing has been like one you would have with another human being. I have loathed it and adored it. It has both invaded my dreams and turned my stomach. I have resolved to reduce its significance in my life only to see my passionf or it intensify. Boxing is my man. Even my husband will tell you so. (ix)

Sitting across a dinner table, Mischa is no less passionate about the sport. Talking about the 2010 Women’s World Championships in Barbados she said, “Barbados really was a dramatic seismic shift in my mind. It was like every where you looked the women boxers were really great: explosive, technical, hitting hard. Many women don’t know that they can be much more explosive, but these women were amazing. There were 300 or so and they were fighters, not just women, but great fighters.”

When Mischa isn’t taking fights or working as a boxing trainer in Melbourne, Australia, she writes.

“As a journalist, I continue to write about women’s boxing, but I like to write about other things as well, not get stuck too much. I’ve discovered another potential book, but it’s much more Australian. It’s about an aboriginal boxing gym, in Melbourne. It’s history is actually connected to the Black Panthers movement here, and the [American] civil rights movement, was its inpsiration. That movement has been completely derailed in Australia. The gym has got the boxing at its core, but the ripples go beyond. It’ll be more of a historical book, but again, I may need to write it in the same way, by being inside.”

Having spent a lovely evening talking about boxing – not to mention a fabulous meal, we headed off in our separate directions. If you can make it through the water logged streets of New York, do try and catch her reading tonight @ the Sidewalk Cafe and for you Brooklynites (or folks who just love a great time), do try and make it BookCourt on Sunday evening. Otherwise, R-E-A-D Mischa’s book, its great!

Tricia Turton: Boxer, Coach and Evangelist for Boxing!

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Tricia Turton: Boxer, Coach and Evangelist for Boxing!

Tricia Turton, as an Amateur Boxer in 2003. Photo Credit: Ellen N. Banner/The Seattle Times

Tricia Turton (8-4, 3-KO’s) took up boxing after her successful amateur career as a member of the United States Women’s Rugby Team making it all the way to the World Cup. She has subsequently had a fabulous career in amateur and professional women’s boxing, but has found her true calling as a coach and trainer at Cappy’s Gym in Seattle, Washington.

Recently, Tricia was kind enough to enter into an email correspondence to talk about her life in boxing and her feelings about the sport. Her interview follows.

***

For Girlboxing readers who may be unfamiliar with your career as a professional boxer, please tell us how you got started in women’s boxing? What drew you to boxing in the first place? What keeps you in the sport now as a trainer?

A friend and previous rugby teammate told me about Cappy’s Boxing Gym and what a great workout it was. I was retiring from my rugby career and wanted something else to do. After attending my first lesson, I was hooked. Coach Cap asked me if I was interested in competing and the rest is history.

***

You had a 16-2 amateur boxing career including winning the 2004 USA National Title in the 176 lb.+ weight division. How did that desire to box motivate you to take the plunge from amateur to professional?

In 2004 I was 34 yrs old and the Masters division did not exist. I had quit my job at United Parcel Service to commit to a coaching career at Cappy’s Gym. But, I had a lot in the basement about competition and wasn’t ready to give it up, so turning pro seemed like a logical step.

***

You fought some pretty tough opponents including Mary Jo Saunders and Holly Holm, and you even fought Dakota Stone who just got the decision against Christie Martin. What was it like to fight at that level of boxing?

Tricia Turton (L) sparring with Dakota Stone, Photo: Ellen N. Banner/The Seattle Times

Not only did I fight tough opponents, I fought in their home towns for 10-round title fights!

My biggest opponent and toughest matches were versus Lisa Holewyne. The first match was only my 5^th fight and around her 40^th. It was also my first main event at home and my first 8-rounder. I won our first bout by unanimous decision and she accused me of running. We re-matched and I was motivated to take away her excuse. I stood toe-to-toe with someone who outweighed me by 10 lbs. and again won by unanimous decision.

It is more about the training to fight at the 8-10 round and title level than it is the actual fight. This realization has motivated me as a Coach more than ever. At Cappy’s another motto is, “Training is Your Trophy.” My fights versus the other top boxers in my weight class solidified my belief in this motto.

***

You retired from fighting in 2007 after your loss to Miriam Brakache having fought twelve professional fights. Looking back on it now, do you feel you left at the right time?

I definitely left at the right time. Balancing coaching and competing was too difficult. I needed to pursue one with my all. After my performance with Brakache, Coach Cap and I decided that it was time to take on matches outside the ring.

***

You’ve been at the legendary Cappy’s Gym for some time and it seems as if it has become a real home for you. Tell us about the gym and what its like to be a trainer there.

Tricia Turton, training a boxer at Cappy's Gym

I love my Coaching Job at Cappy’s. We have a rigorous coaching training track – at least 1 year before you can become a coach. We work with Boxers from 6 years of age to 70+ and we train competitive and recreational boxers at all levels. Our specialty is our Everyday Fitness Program, where we teach people how to train and take on personal matches in life.

My entire life has changed because of boxing, and specifically from becoming a coach. I have hit the mat, gotten back up and become stronger for facing all the matches that I have experienced in life and coaching. I have found my home and my career at Cappy’s. There is a lot of pride and passion in our Gym and neighborhood, The Central District, and I love being a part of it.

It feels natural to express myself through coaching. One of our coach training principles is to take on yourself what you ask your boxers to do. This training principle helped me in my transition from competitor to coach. Through coaching and training at Cappy’s, I learn a lot about taking out personal stuff so the boxers can be themselves.

***

Switching gears a bit to talk about women’s boxing in general, I’ve read that you were on the US Women’s National Rugby Team. That got me to thinking that there must be some challenges for women crossing over from a team sport to an individual sport such as boxing. It would be great if you’d talk to that for those readers who may be in a similar position.

Yes, I played for the U.S. Eagles Rugby team and played in the 1998 Rugby World Cup. It was an awesome experience and I still tear up when I think about standing on the field listening to our National Anthem. My rugby team experience prepared me for boxing. I have found that boxing is much more a team sport than an individual sport. You don’t do anything alone, even after the bell rings.

At Cappy’s we model this concept with a team coaching staff. If it weren’t for the team, getting in the ring would be near impossible. I do think that team athletes can cross over to boxing, because, if you have the mindset of training, a lot is possible. Everyone can find a home in boxing and boxing training. At Cappy’s we call it a Boxer’s Lifestyle. We also believe that a Boxer must live a Boxing Lifestyle to achieve the elite status of going to the Olympics.

***

Do you think that the inclusion of women’s boxing in the Olympics will change the sport irrevocably or will there still be space for women athletes to cross over to become competitive amateurs and professionals after having trained and competed in other sports.

As the sport progresses, I believe the level of competition will require that women athletes start out younger.

***

For those women reading this who may not be experienced boxers, what advise can you give the novice who is just coming into the sport? Are there any specifics related to general fitness, diet and so on that you feel it is important for women to incorporate into their boxing regimen.

The most important thing is finding the coach and training style you want to work with and stick with it no matter what. I found my home as a boxer and as a coach at Cappy’s and the possibilities are endless. The second thing is, give over to boxing. If you are going to get in the ring and give and take punches, then boxing is all you can think about — it has to be your lifestyle.

***

For the last question, I’ll note that you obviously have tremendous love for the sport of women’s boxing. What has the sport given you and what are you trying to give back?

I have tremendous love for the sport of boxing. I appreciate that Cap and Cappy’s have given me a career that I can believe in. This belief in boxing helps me grow and increase my overall life skills. I want to give back so that others have the opportunity to follow that path.

***

If you happen to be in the Seattle area, be sure and stop by Cappy’s Gym to shout out a big hello to Tricia, Cappy and the rest of the crew. They are located at 1408 22nd Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122. Telephone: (206) 322-6410.

Great gym morning!

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Great gym morning!

There’s nothing like a great morning at the gym to start off the day. This morning did not disappoint either — between working out with Lennox focusing on pushing off the body to throw a right dig, straight right, left hook combination and watching everyone work through the heat and humidity of the gym to shake of the summer doldrums, the focus and energy seemed to shake everyone awake.

It’s as if everyone felt inspired by the work of everyone else too. Punches seemed a little bit crisper, body work a bit more dug in, and the sparring seemed more like dance than boxing. Even the mirror work felt fun with lots of talking and instruction through the rounds and a genuine feeling of camaraderie to add an extra something to everyone’s work out.

I started off with a slow and steady one mile run and then did my usual sweet 16, though I admit to flagging hard in my third round with Len. Still, I pulled it out and after allowing myself a round off, started to work the double-ended bag with renewed vigor especially went it came to doubling up the left hooks.

All I can say is count me lucky to have had such a great way to ease into the last weekend of summer.

Women’s Boxing: The talk of Soweto, South Africa.

Christy Martin and the decision: Is a hand worth more than an eye?

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Christy Martin and the decision: Is a hand worth more than an eye?

As has been widely report, in a 5-0 decision by the California State Athletic Commission, Christy Martin lost her bid to overturn her June 4th loss to Dakota Stone.

Writing to question the Commission’s decision, Christine Lusey started off her August 16th piece by writing SAY WHAT > Did a Boxer lose a Fight to Sex Discrimination? She also quoted directly from Christy Martin’s appeal which stated, “In my 22 years of experience as a professional boxer, I have never seen a fight stopped by a referee or a fight doctor because of a broken hand or because a boxer winced.”

Over at Boxing Insider.com, Jackie Kallen took another tack in her piece entitled, Should we have instant replay in Boxing? Her take was to ask if the way around questionable calls is to add instant replay — especially since the issues in the moment may be more readily understood. She also opined that Christy’s choice of *power* attorney, Gloria Allred may have annoyed the Commission enough to turn Christy down for that reason alone. Kallen’s other point was to talk about the general issue of bad calls and how they tend to even out.

What I was wondering is whether a broken hand is worth more than say a broken eye?

So let’s talk about another fight, the Pawel “Raging bull” Wolak vs. Delvin Rodriguez back on July 15th a mere 6 weeks after Christy’s 50th fight as a pro.

Wolak v. Rodriguez was the fight that had everyone watching Friday Night Fights going wild — including the commentators. In fact, the fight was sooooo hot, FNF suspended commercials from the seventh round on.

This is what Pawel Wolak looked like in the 9th round!

That eye started getting big in the seventh round, and he kept fighting with it THROUGH THE END OF THE FIGHT! And if you watched the fight you could see that it HURT, but he told the Referee Steve Smoger and the doctors he was good to go … and they let him fight on! Not only that, but the commentators ALL agreed that the fight SHOULD CONTINUE AND THAT THE REFEREE WAS MAKING THE RIGHT DECISION IN LETTING IT GO ON!

Christy broke her hand in the fourth round and kept on fighting even rocking Dakota in the fifth. It reminded me of boxing gym tales about the guy who won fighting with nothing but lefts ’cause he broke his hand — and was the reason my old trainer Johnny Grinage used to make me do at least one round of lefts on the heavy bag every time I trained.

All I can say is that Christy was living that old saw. As she went on to fight in the sixth round she had NO intention of quitting and only winced after throwing a huge right. As she shook off her obvious discomfort Referee David Mendoza called the fight.

When it came to pain, however, it seemed as if the real pain on her face was when Mendoza stopped the fight!

Yep, she broke her hand, but stopping the fight with one minute left to go in the bout wasn’t going to do *anything* to help her hand — it was already broken. What it did do was deny Martin and Stone the opportunity for a real close to their fight.

A lot of things could have happened in that fight and the Ref owed it to Martin to let her finish it out.

Let’s face it, the Martin v. Stone fight was a war — not unlike the Wolak v. Rodriguez fight. I’m all for stopping fights when it is obvious that a fighter is being badly beaten and damaged — or is no longer able to defend themselves.

Was this the case here? In my estimation no because we’re talking Christy Martin, as brilliant a phoenix as has every graced the boxing ring. Christy, a dedicated professional deserved the benefit of the doubt, much as Pawel Wolak was given the benefit of the doubt by Steve Smoger — and Dakota Stone deserved the opportunity to win or lose unhindered by what seemed like a very unfair decision by the Referee.

I don’t know that I’d go so far as to say that the call was strictly based on gender — but it sure wasn’t boxing.

Boxing committed, boxing crazy!

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Boxing committed, boxing crazy!

Working out in the heat, Gleason's Gym, July 22, 2011

Given that I boxed in the heat on Wednesday, I had zero intention of finding my way to Gleason’s Gym this afternoon — in 104 degree heat! In fact, I was all set for a 9:00 AM training session with Lennox Blackmore (with a temp around 90), when we got to texting and his 4:30 PM Saturday became my 4:30 PM on Friday!

Amy Scheer, "wait for it" blogger

Meanwhile, I’d already met up with Girlboxing pal Amy Scheer visiting NY from Grand Rapids, Michigan who had a fabulous morning training session with Len @ Gleason’s.

We hooked up near Gleason’s at the edge of Cadman Plaza Park (when the temperature was a cool 98 degrees) — and gab, gab, gabbed over lunch at Taza’s about boxing, training and how to get to the next level. (BTW, check out Amy’s terrific blog, wait for it.)

Amy has been boxing for a while, but is looking to step up her game with sparring, improved technique and maybe even a go at some amateur boxing at the masters level.

After lunch — when the temp reached 100, my plan was to get back to the cool of the office, and figured my exercise of the day would be the sprint home to husband and AC!

Double-ended bag, Gleason's Gym, July 22, 2011

Rock, Trainer, Gleason's Gym, July 22, 2011

Well, the best laid plans … at Gleason’s, however, having missed my connection with Len — I figured what the “hay” and started in on the double-ended bag.

Call me crazy, but I had a blast as did the handful of other boxers and trainers working out! And really, it wasn’t that bad.

Sandra from Switzerland, enjoying her visit to NY! Gleason's Gym, July 22, 2011

The funky gym smell seemed to have dissipated and I just felt plain old tickled by how good it felt to whale away.

John "Superman" Douglas, Trainer, Gleason's Gym, July 22, 2011

And yes, it was hot, and even hotter on the way home, but I also felt kind of special for hanging in and sweating my way through 12 dripping-wet rounds on the hottest day of the year.

Shadow Boxing, Gleason's Gym, July 22, 2011

Mid-summer and remembering what hot means!

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Mid-summer and remembering what hot means!

As with most parts of the United States, Brooklyn is baking under the sun and about to get a lot hotter today. At Gleason’s Gym after work yesterday, I found myself dragging and remembered what that hot, funky mid-summer gym smell was! Pretty ripe — but as I worked out and my muscles loosened to a gelatinous mass I also remembered why I love a summer workout.

Keisher "Fire" Mcleod-Wells

Still, it was hard to get the rhythm and I never did get my usual overheated combinations on my combinations going, rather I found myself throwing punches at a slow and steady pace … meanwhile, as one of my fellow gym denizens remarked, women actually out-numbered men at the gym, including Keisher “Fire” Mcleod-Wells sparring and working out in preparation for her upcoming NY State Championship bout on July 30th. That alone was inspiring enough to keep me going for a couple of more rounds — that and a look at just how hard everyone was working.

And that’s the thing isn’t it. So much of what we do is in relation to the folks we share the mirror with. Checking out moves, stances, combinations, cute tricks, and level of effort. To me that’s what the real hot means.

Whether it’s catching a glimpse of Fire in the ring as she works her magic or on any Saturday morning when all three rings are filled with sparring, some of it skilled, some of it less so, and some of it showing all the beauty of an improvisational pad de deux; catching the pulse of the boxing all around us is a boost like no other.

I wished I had more energy yesterday to match some of the effort, but even at my plodding pace, I felt the heat of the place as so much boxing energy winding its way through the gym as a giant wave capturing us all in its wake.

Odd Bins: Short takes on Women’s Boxing from around the globe.

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Odd Bins: Short takes on Women’s Boxing from around the globe.

Sparta Gym, Photo: Fernando Lara

The talk of El Centro, California are the two girls in the “Selected 7” — representing the Sparta Boxing Gym who will go on to the Ringside World Championships this coming August in Kansas City, MO!

Julie “Bazooka” Muñoz, 13, and Danika “Babyface” Lara, 13, are two of the seven fighters who began started training in earnest this week for the championships. Click here for the full story.

Jessica Diaz, Mission Boxing Club, Photo: Gabe Hernandez

The Christian Science Monitor recently ran a feature about women’s boxing at the Mission Boxing Club in Mission, Texas. The following quote from Jessica Diaz is typical of women training to box the world over, “You just have to push yourself, you have to be dedicated” Diaz said. “I started training hard. I would come in twice a day and when I wouldn’t come in, I would run. I’d eat right and only drink water.” Diaz will fight her first bout nn Saturday, July 30, at “Beto’s Boxing Club Show: Rumble In The Jungle” in Mercedes, TX. Click here for the full story.

Irish Boxing — and in particular Irish Women’s Boxing received a huge boost with a 2.3 million dollar infusion of cash issued by the Irish Amateur Boxing Association to improve facilities at boxing clubs across Ireland. The funds are being allocated to provide women with such things as changing rooms of their own! The intent is to encourage more women to take up the sport — and honors Ireland’s great amateur champion, Katie Taylor acknowledged as a serious Gold Medal contender in the lightweight division in next year’s Women’s Boxing debut at the 2012 Olympics.

The 2011 National Championship’s have begun — in Lao Cai provence, Viet Nam that is. There will be not less than 86 women boxers representing 20 teams from across the country participating in the tournament across five weight categories. The winners of this year’s tournament will be invited to join the National Team and participate in upcoming regional events to include the 26th annual SEA Games scheduled for this coming November in Indonesia. The top seed for the championships is Luu Thi Duyen who was a silver medalist in April’s World Youth Boxing Championships in Turkey and a gold medal winner at this month’s President’s Cup tournament in Indonesia.

Missing boxing today

Must see TV: Frederick Wiseman’s “Boxing Gym” on PBS!

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Must see TV: Frederick Wiseman’s “Boxing Gym” on PBS!

The American documentary filmmaker, Frederick Wiseman’s latest film is called “Boxing Gym.” Released in 2010, the film presents an unfettered look at Lord’s Gym in Austin, Texas.

The gym is owned and operated by Richard Lord, a former professional boxer who opened the gym over 16 years ago. It accommodates a cross-section of boxers: young and old, men and women, plus an array of kids, all of whom come to the gym for reasons running from fitness on through training for amateur and professional fights!

The film is a loving portrayal of what many of us think of as our home away from home where camaraderie, focus and hard work are our daily diet, not to mention a dream or two.

PBS will be airing the film in its entirety @ 9:00 PM on Thursday, June 16th (Eastern Standard Time). Check local listings for an exact time if you are out of the New York City Area.

For further information on Lord’s Gym click the link here.

For a link to a nice piece on the film click here.

Of villages, gyms and dojos

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Of villages, boxing gyms and dojos

My daughter successfully tested for her next level in Aikido yesterday wowing us all with her prowess, strength, sweet laughter and compassion.

Compassion is perhaps a strange way of describing acts of tossing her “Ukais” from one side of the dojo to the other — but was just that as she worried her way through this person’s hurt back and that person’s smaller stature all while performing the complicated forms she has come to master with such grace.

It got me to thinking that my daughter’s art — as it has become since she donned her first Gi at the age of 5 turning 6 — is so many parts herself, but also many parts her Aikido teachers who have patiently, and sometimes not so patiently, taught her the large and small points of placing her body in this or that posture.

The more important lessons though have had to do with taking responsibility for herself and for how she comports herself through the rituals of the culture of Aikido. Along the way she is finding moments of body-mind union — where she loses her self-consciousness to act in a kind of unison. This last is the hardest, and yet as I watched her yesterday, I knew that she was well on her way.

It got me to thinking that her dojo has become her village filled with all the nuances of a community each playing a part in helping her to grow into a young woman. It also got me to thinking that boxing gyms seem to have that same effect on young people. They learn an art — essentially an art of violence, and yet what they learn is not violent at all. What one sees is an inculcation of gentleness, sure not all the time, but the intimacy of learning those arts does give rise to the village life for those kids — seen scampering around, their heads jostled as they imbibe the skills of honing the body and the mind into a kind of harmony.

And its not just kids. Adults can find that subtle part of village life too. A community within a community where you work your butt off — and afterwards just hang around for a while to chit-chat with your friends and cheer on others as they put in the work too.

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