Hello everyone! Time flies, and it's been another 5 months and I'm still sticking with boxing! I thought I'd write up a report for all the other guys who are thinking about starting, or who started already, and maybe we can learn something from each other experiences.

To start, I thought I'd go through my previous 6 points, and what happened, and then I'll come up with some new things I'm working on.

1. Out of breath.

Still get out of breath, but it's getting better and better. The _first_ magic bullet here was to relax, and the second was not to jump around too much. After those two adjustments I still get out of breath, but I last a lot longer than 5 months ago.

2. Becoming overwhelmed when sparring (very lightly) with taller and heavier guys.

I still sometimes do, and the strategy of saying "no, let's calm down a bit" still works. However! That is clearly not going to work in a more intense sparring session of competition, so this I am working on.

So what have I noticed? Sometimes, if I'm having a good day, I feel in control, and I can back pedal/move around all night if they keep charging, and that let me "pick my shots".

This has made me a lousy in-fighter so I am consciously trying to put myself in in-fighting position to learn. I have to get over my fears of a hard hit in the stomach and keep the opponent busy while inside, but I do tend to tense up and "panic" when on the inside with someone bigger and stronger.

Far away from the bigger and taller fighting, I'm improving, since I'm fast, but there is still the "bull rush" that I'm struggling with. The reason is one of me being too nice, while at the same time trying to respect the level of force we're using while sparring.

Let me explain. When someone rushes, I can jump out of the way, and if he is fast enough he will eventually catch me. What I've discovered works, is to throw a hard left or right in his face when he rushes and here is the dilemma:

The hard punch inflicts some pain, and creates some respect, so he won't try it again. But I've had complaints that I'm punching too hard and that we "were only supposed to go easy". On the other hand, if we are supposed to go easy, someone can afford to bull rush all evening, and in a real fight, that would obviously be less intelligent. So if I don't get to inflict some pain in a bull rush, I don't know what to do except jumping out of the way... What do you think?

3. Actually hitting smaller guys in the body with finesse, instead of overpowering them with lots of punches.

This has improved a lot! Smaller guys who do not punch as hard allow me to experiment, since I don't need to worry about the bone crushing blows of someone who is 20 kg heavier than me. So I'm having lot's of fun, and in my opinion I'm good at controlling my force, so I haven't heard any complaints from the lighter guys.

4. The speed of hooks.

Working on it. Noticed improve power and speed, and I've actually found a good use for my right hook. When sparring with a 15 cm taller guy, he constantly keeps his gloves in front of his face. He doesn't see, but I cannot get at him either. I finally solved this "problem" when I started to throw right hooks that either swept away his hands, when they landed short, which enabled me to get at his face, OR, when throwing wide hooks, I punch him in the head behind hos guard. Yes, I know that I am vulnerable myself in that position, so it takes a bit of care not to let the hook go, when he is advancing, but when he is out of breath, or when he is drawing back his straight, I'ev had good success with it.

5. Uppercuts.

Working on it. Seems some great improvements here! I actually managed to get some work done with my left upper cut the other day, and it was hilarious. Since it is my weakest punch, everyone has gotten used to me not throging them, but once the punch "clicked" people where surprised and I got a few upper cuts + right hooks or straight which worked beautifully!

The right upper cut has not seen a lot of use though, and I guess that is because of my reluctance for in-fighting.

6. Aggression.

See point 2.

Reflections on the past 5 months and what I'm working on right now.

So what happened? I've seen big improvements, feel, stronger and faster, but I feel like I'm falling into a "distance fighting" pattern. Right now I'm working on:

1. Getting more comfortable inside.

This is tough and hard work, but I guess the only way to get better is to actually do it. I'll try some added protection to feel more "secure" and maybe then it is easier to let go, while inside.

2. Not falling into a distance fighting pattern.

Trying to mix up the range a bit and playing with my new found left uppercut, to vary my angles. Until now, I've been a lot of jabs and straight rights, but now I'm trying some feints and combinations of hooks and straight, or left upper cut and straight/hooks.

3. Finding sportsmanlike ways of dealing with bulls.

Do I hit them hard a few times to establish respect, or do I try to cater to their complaints and jump around them? Any other good suggestions?

4. Head aches paranoia.

Head aches have become more and more rare, but it does happen from time to time. I've identified one cause that is situps. I tense my neck when I get tired, and it might give me head aches. On the subject of getting hit in the head, I'm paranoid because it is not good for me and I work primarily with my head (office job). However!! Boxing is a lot of fun, so I'm not ready to let my head shot paranoia get the better of me... yet! It's also a great motivator for learning how to not get hit in the head!

5. Improving reach and not over reaching.

I've improved my reach a lot by learning to stretch out my punches, but I'm trying to find the balance because when I punch hard with hooks, I feel unbalanced some times. Also with straights, when I over reached, my balance is bad, BUT, I do have a very high hit ratio, because people do not expect me to be able to reach that far.

One final anecdote... I also experienced one knock down. It was not a knock out, because the punch was slow and I walked into it, or rather, it connected when I was on one leg, and the puncher was about 50 kg heavier and push me onto the floor. So for me it didn't feel that bad, but everyone around thought something really bad happened. You could hear a pin fall to the ground, but fortunately for everyone, I was up and jumping again in a second. But I do appreciate the difference between getting punched for real (that "whip lash" effect that is extremely unpleasant) and getting pushed (might look scary, but actually doesn't feel too bad in the head). As for body punches, paradoxically it is my favourite spot to get hit, because you're out for a while, in pain, but you don't have to worry about your head receiving any damage!

That's all for now. Hope you enjoyed the read!

Best regards,
Dan