A little jab time
Holly Holm v. Tricia Turton
Girlboxing is having one of those busy days! Too much work, too many obligations, not enough time! To pep it all up and to remind us all that Spring *will* come — here are some secrets on how to perfect your Jab from across the pond!
Daily News 2011 Golden Gloves Reminder!
Dicky Eklund surprised Christian Bale on stage at the SAG Awards 1/30/2011, Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images
Congratulations to the cast and crew of the Micky Ward biopic The Fighter for picking up fresh awards from the Screen Actors Guild last night. Aside from Christian Bale who won Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for playing boxer Dicky Eklund, Melissa Leo won Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for playing Micky Ward’s mother Alice Ward.
The UK’s Daily Mirror has a nice read entitled The real fighter Micky Ward talks about the movie and Mark Wahlberg here.
84th Annual Daily News 2011 Golden Gloves Week Three bouts reminder!
2/2/2011 – Saint Patrick’s School, 9511 Fourth Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11228
2/3/2011- New York Athletic Club, 180 Central Park South, New York, NY 10019
2/4/2011 – C-Pac Center, 1020 East 48th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11203
2/5/2011 – Mid-Hudson Civic Center, 14 Civic Center Plaza, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601 (7:00 PM Start)
For more information click here.
Women’s Boxing Upcoming Fight!
Gleason’s own four-time Golden Gloves winner Keisher “Fire” McLeod-Wells (3-1), will be fighting on February 9th, 2011 at B.B. King’s on a card promoted by DiBella Entertainment. This will be Keisher’s first six round bout where she will face off with San Francisco fighter Melissa “Mighty” McMorrow (4-1-3). For tickets and more information about this bout, contact Gleason’s Gym here.
Rock Chicks Live has a piece about it here. WBAN has a piece about it here. And take a visit to Fire’s website here.
We are all one #Egypt
The Girlboxing blog is a place to engage in a dialogue about personal growth, courage and the extent to which we can use our physical prowess to affect change in our lives. Given the momentous and historical events unfolding half a world away, it is also our place to bear witness.
In my opinion, the very fact of this blog site and the hundreds of millions of others on the web means that we are all creating a place where information and communications are truly becoming democratized — along with the ready availability of such things as mobile phones, texting and so on.
At this very moment, at Tahrir Square in Cairo, the nexus point of the Egyptian uprising against Hosni Mubarak’s regime, Egyptian F-15 fighter jets are circling the square in ever-lower circles. During each round, the tens of thousands of people in the square have raised their hands towards the sky and erupted in a roar of “get out,” “get out,” “this is terrorism.” The images and accompanying audio are being sent and reported via the Internet – and rather than be intimidated, many of the protesters in the Square are refusing to leave in part heartened by the fact that they know that their message is being seen and heard. As well, others are walking to join the protesters. We are thus privy to the unfolding of these events in real-time — not only “living” history, but experiencing a democratized form of history. One not told from the point of view of leaders shaping the “perspectives” of their people, but from the people themselves as they live it.
I am reminded of civil rights protesters singing, “We shall not be moved,” as they faced down water canons and a phalanx of police — and of watching snippets of these events on the evening news, all of which revolutionized how individuals experienced America’s civil unrest paving the way for the communications opportunities we share and take advantage of day in and day out today. At any rate, it is something to think about.
For real time information on what is happening: Google is here. Live images here. BBC here.
True Courage #Egypt
Defying the curfew in Cairo, Egypt, January 29, 2011
Boxers know a thing or two about courage. Walking into the ring to risk injury or worse is never an easy thing. Yet boxers also train long and hard to mitigate the risks of the ring in their favor.
The hundreds of thousands of people who have taken to the streets of Cairo, Alexandria and Suez, however, have not trained themselves for battle. Yet, they have risen on mass, young and old, men and women, professional and worker, student and pensioner to demand an end to over thirty years of oppressive rule.
This is one of those extraordinary moments — such as the fall of the Berlin Wall when we must all stand as one to support the courageous people of such places as Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen in their bid for democratic freedom. We must let them know that they are not alone — and that we honor and cherish true courage where we find it.
Information and live video can be found here, here and here.
To tweet encouragement add the following to your message #egypt, #jan25, #jan26, #cairo or #alexandria
We should all help to shine the light on a very dark night of oppression.
The world keeps on spinning
As pressed for time as my life is it’s nice to take some moments to do nothing but drift. By drift I do not necessarily mean gorking-out in front of the TV or getting memorized by online catalog sales. No, drift time are those moments when the imagination can soar — such as going for a walk where you let your “feet do the walking” instead of taking yourself on a straight line from A to B.
It’s those opportunities for shaking up your tree that lets you take-in things you might not ordinarily see. Say walking along and only observing the second floors of buildings. There are some wonderous things to see! Oddly carved gargoyles, balconies to no where, hand painted signs, and an assortment of drapes and window dressings that ranges from austere Modernism to Rococo to the merely ordinary.
So too with exercising. You can have solid morning calisthenics, classes you take, routes for your daily run, sacrosanct Yoga DVD’s, and for boxers the set-list of rounds for each type of boxing training plus the time you spend with your trainer. What’s nice is to spin yourself around by trying something a little bit different. This sort of drift time let’s your body find its way to where you want to be. That can mean an entirely new route for your run, yoga poses you never thought you could achieve, or in the boxing gym, a rhythm to your heavy bag or speed-bag work you didn’t know you had.
I guess the point is that we all need to step out of the ordinary so that we can find new ways of doing things. Whether its writing a story backwards, taking a stab at creating an oddly shaped pot on the potter’s wheel or spinning a globe with your kids and inventing stories about what life would be like if you all lived in those places. Believe me, nothing earth shattering will happen if you let things unfold without having structured it. What you might find is a feeling of relaxation and calm that otherwise alludes you as your go about your overly busy day — at least that’s what I’ve found when I remember to give myself the time.
Remembering the Prize Fighter.
The Sweet Science.com is carrying a story about the Bob Arum’s move from HBO to Showtime-CBS — and the potential of putting “terrestrial television” aka plain-vanilla broadcast TV back into the mix. The main thrust of Bob Arum and Top Rank’s deal is giving him “ad spots and live coverage during CBS programming [that] will run either the first or last episode of a four-part promotional countdown to the fight show on CBS in prime time (the others will run on SHOWTIME). In addition, Top Rank will be allowed to sell ad spots that help cover the production costs of that show.” [Link to the full article here.]
This is pretty heady stuff and puts in my such glory days of boxing as the kind of main event fights that played on broadcast television from the 1950’s on through the great warrior battles of Muhammad Ali well into the 1970’s.
Howard Cosell and Mohammed Ali
The net effect of Arum’s move to Showtime-CBS will certainly bring more viewers for his upcoming Cotto-Mayorga fight, but more importantly will give him time to promote Manny Pacquiao’s May 7th fight: a cross back into the realm of broadcast television thereby burnishing the place of the prize fighter in American lore.
Imagine this — the deal includes live promotion on CBS Morning Show and will also feature Christy Martin on CBS Talk Shows. As well, in the run up to the Pacquiao fight, a feature spot will run on 60 Minutes one week prior to the fight.
As I’ve stated in an earlier column on the popularity of The Fighter and the splash that the new series Lights On is having on FX, boxing has found new life as people begin to view boxing as a way of battling through their own issues large and small. For the fighter, it may still be a way out of “Palookaville,” but for the rest of us it’s a way out of powerlessness in a world that is moving way to fast for its own good. I don’t know enough about the promoting game to be a fan one way or another of Bob Arum, but what I can say, is that his move to the wider audience of broadcast television shows that he is in touch with the subtle changes in the place of boxing on the American consciousness. From the perspective of boostering women’s boxing, Bob Arum is also placing his money on the future place of women’s boxing in the prize fighting game, and given where we are vis-a-vis the run-up to the 2012 Olympics, that is a great thing.
You might also like “Lights On”
Snow Day!
Snow Day in New York City, 1947
NYC Public Schools are closed today for a snow day! While not exactly as rare as a Yeti sighting in the Florida Everglades, it’s pretty cool for the City’s kids if a pain in the you-know for parents who still have to scramble to get to work.
Meanwhile, it means an extra day for catching up on chores and fun stuff such as an expedition through the snow bound streets of Brooklyn to Gleason’s Gym — ’cause knowing Bruce Silverglade, Gleason’s will be open!
If you can’t get to the gym … here’s a fun how to.
Twenty six days and counting
When one embarks on any sort of daily regimen of exercise, diet, writing or otherwise — or what I call the daily something, some days feel great and others are to put it charitably, “tougher” than others.
At best, one feels something a kin to a “glow” of self-satisfaction for having put in the work and effort while basking in what feels like tangible results. At worst, however, is that feeling of being in the mud having worked and worked without getting anywhere — and maybe even losing some ground.
Like any annoying Pollyanna, my response is to say focus on the bright-side, but when one has schlepped oneself day after day to some activity, or to the discipline of say, no chocolate except on Saturdays and the scale looks back with numbers on the wrong side of the goal, that is small solace.
To put it more plainly, when one is my age, a later rather than sooner 50-something, a scale that tips the wrong way feels like a miserable defeat! Inevitably (with a pardon to the youngsters out there) it becomes one of those “shut-up” moments when the whole hot flashing, weight fluctuating, mood altering, welcome to crone-hood stuff comes crashing down in a giant, “G-d damn-it” because in my world it means I can’t find my glasses again to even keep the awful number on the scale in focus.
That’s when my other, less grumpy, too cheerful for her own good self makes an appearance and screams out “suck-it up!”
Let’s face it, 26 days of a daily something is an amazing achievement — and what’s meaningful is the “and counting” part of it. So whether it’s shadow boxing before dawn, writing a poem a day or blogging about it, or any of the myriad of great things we all work hard to achieve, congratulations to you for even trying.
Women’s boxing news roundup, 1/25/2011.
Women's boxing news roundup - 1/25/2011
Christy Martin, Credit: Casey Kelbaugh, NYT
For those who didn’t catch this over the weekend, the New York Times did a feature piece on boxer, Christy Martin as she readies herself for her comeback fight on the undercard of the Miguel Cotto v. Ricardo Mayorga bout to be aired on Showtime pay-per-view March 12th. The article, written by Joyce Wadler, looks in-depth at Christy’s career and recent troubles. The “money” quote of the piece is at the end in response to a snarky question if ever I heard one regarding Christy’s motivations for returning to the ring. “You know,” she said, “I was a fighter before, so I’m just going back to work, and through my work maybe I can inspire other women, or give them strength to deal with situations and move forward.” Way to go Christy! The link to the piece is here.
Ana Julaton
Another great Philippine “Pac-Woman,” Ana “The Hurricane” Julaton has announced the “return of The Hurricane,” in her bout to be fought against Francesca “The Chosen One” Alcanter. Of interest is the fact that the fight night will feature a mixture of Professional Boxing, Amateur kickboxing, as well as live music and comedy acts on three stages. The event is set for February 25, 2011 at the Craneway Pavilion in Riverside, CA, and will be broadcast live in the Philippines. For further information, check out the link here and here.
Flyweights, Ava Knight (r) & Gloria Salas
The Sweetscience.com is carrying a piece by David A. Avila, about Golden Boy Promotions’ recent efforts to support women’s boxing. As Avila points out, “Golden Boy kept its word and female prizefighting was showcased on another fight card [this past Friday]. Working with Claudia Ollis, a new powerbroker in women’s boxing, the Los Angeles-based boxing giant Golden Boy has made waves in the boxing world. Now other boxing promotions are jumping on the bandwagon with female fighters included on their respective cards.” This is great news for the sport and couldn’t come at a better time as we enter the countdown to next year’s debut of women’s boxing at the 2012 Olympics in London. The article can be found here.
The new International Amateur Boxing Association’s (AIBA) is seeking to strengthen the position of women’s amateur boxing both before and after the 2012 Olympic games to include adding weight categories at future Olympic games. As well, the association has set an agreement for the 2011 Women’s Youth and Junior World Championships to be held in Ankara, Turkey from April 28 – May 8. For more information click here and here.
Waiting for morning to come
I’ll admit it, Yoga at 5:15 AM this morning felt cold and lonely. Sure it was 9 degrees outside which had a lot to do with it, and yes, the cat had fun torturing my feet as I was in the downward facing dog position, but it was something else too. I felt the sense of being in the middle without seeing the shoreline on either side. Not exactly being adrift, but feeling dislocated.
A million odd years ago I took at windjammer type cruise in the Caribbean. The trip was on an old Maine Schooner (built in the early 1900’s), with about 30 passengers and crew. The attraction to the voyage was that the trip was an actual crossing: starting out in St. Martin’s making our way to such islands as St. Barts, St. Kitts and Saba Island towards the final destination of St. Thomas. At one point on the trip, we were a sea with no land in sight. I would cast my eyes about all 360 degrees and watch the shimmering waters as they met the horizon, catching the phenomenon of differing weather systems interacting: here a sudden squall, there beams of sunlight pushing their way insistently through the gaps in the clouds.
It put me in mind of the months and years that sailors would ply the waters of the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Indian oceans in search of whale or spices or for sheer exploration. Not that a vacation tour or a stint in the dark can in any way equate, but yet we do find ourselves in the momentary panic of being adrift when in fact is we are on course. It’s just that we can’t quite see it yet. Yes the light *will* eventually peak up and over the horizon this morning, as surely as the vessel I traveled on made its way forward till we saw land, still, I needed to feel reassured and finding it have gone on to embrace the day — whenever it wakes up enough to show itself.
Alarm clocks and the bell
I’ve been hit by the iPhone alarm clock bug. Yep, my trusty morning wake-up call pooped-out of me this morning — and so my morning is already 45 minutes late.
As someone who loves boxing, I am otherwise bound by life in three-minute intervals: the boxing clock. The typical timer has three flavors. Green, yellow and red. Green is lit-up for two and a half minutes before it dings and turns yellow for a further thirty-seconds. The next bell is usually a fairly loud racket that signifies the turn to red and a sixty-second rest period.
At the gym yesterday, I used the “yellow” period to quicken up my pace as I trained. My training consisted of nine rounds on the double-ended bag and a further three rounds on the speed bag before starting the abs torture. This is not a typical training session, but that’s the beauty of a Sunday, it gives me a chance to challenge myself on different aspects of boxing.
Yesterday was all about lefts and upper-cuts as three-minute exercises. First lefts, then left-left-right combinations, followed by left-left upper cut combinations and finally, right-left, right-left, right-left uppercuts finishing with the left jab off the left uppercut.
When I train throwing nothing but lefts for some part of the boxing clock or the entire three minutes, I hear trainers in my head talking about how such and such a fighter won a 12-round fight with nothing but lefts. Hyperbole aside (although I swear someone did do that), challenging oneself to the equivalent of nothing but lefts as a timed exercise has a lot of benefits. I used to do it as a writing exercise, setting an egg-timer for five minutes and writing down whatever entered my head without letting the pen off the page.
Yesterday’s workout was a variation on that. Working on speed, agility and most importantly stamina. By my last three speed-bag rounds I was pretty much “done,” however, I did try to use the last thirty seconds of each round to pound away without stopping on my alternating left hand and right hand 8-count, 4-count, 2-count, 1-1-1-1, speed-bag rhythm. I was mostly successful and did feel that I earned the latte treat from Starbucks afterwards.
I’ll never get back the 45 minutes I lost this morning — that’s 15 rounds of boxing or nine timed writing sessions. Oh well. There’s always tomorrow.
Girlboxing 
