Page 138 - Doug Werner Boxer's Start-Up

Chapter Twelve

important observation today: thinking defense with my punches.
That is, getting back to guard quickly and properly after each
punch. This instills confidence to throw more as I get better and
better at recovery (knowing I should be able to throw and recover
before a counterpunch). Working on this double concept actually
improves my form today. In particular, I feel my forearms are
arranging themselves better throughout my work with combina-
tions.

The old man is in our room today. He bangs away at the overhead
for a while and watches Al and me work. He makes his comments
here and there and it’s OK.When we spar he has a lot more to say...
keep the hands up ... watch out for the left hook ... hey, Alan’s
reach is longer than yours ... use the right hand ... that sort of
thing. His heart’s exactly in the right place and he wants to see
improvement.

My performance is 100% better says Al. I think it’s better than last
Tuesday’s, for sure. I slipped some punches very cleanly and threw
more punches, too. I reached less and stopped doing that pawing
and leaning back business. I got caught with my hands too far in
front once or twice and left myself open for the left hook. I did my
best work when I kept the basic stance intact and made the side-to-
side moves. Al says I need to think offensively along with the slips,
though.Execute the defense and retaliate at once.Don’t think about
it.

Of course, I’m hitting a punch mitt and Al’s punching at my face so
the intimidation factor rears its ugly head now and then. I mean,
what’s he got to be afraid of? But I work through it and by the third
round of sparring my biggest problem is energy.

We talk a little about getting hit.It’s definitely a new dimension after
dancing with the bag for so long. I say the head shots so far don’t
bother me much, but the body shot I took last week sure did.

I’m happy.The rib’s getting better and my sparring improved.I’m at
the point where I can pretty much see my errors and know what I
need to work on in my training. I can see (or at least imagine) the
beauty of really getting it right, and I’m looking forward to seeing
some of these bits of offensive and defensive skills come together.

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