If there ever was such a thing as magic then putting on our sparring gloves on to the small itty bitty hands of two of my youngest Hulkies, two elementary students, was it.
It was one of those Kodak moments -- simply amazing.
I had asked two of my mini Hulkies if they wanted to spar today. Usually Fridays are our club's Free Train day which means our Hulkies train at the own pace and do their own thing. For our mini Hulkies however Free Train Friday has become Fun Game Play Friday. Today's mini Hulkie Fun Game Play day involved swinging on the robes, playing frisbee, playing hide and sick, an obstacle course, and piggy back races. I thought I'd lightly ask them if they wanted to spar, to add a twist to our Friday together, and they eagerly agreed. I was definitely more thrilled than anything to hear that they actually would step into the ring to spar. So, with a ton of excitement and eager anticipation, I put them in head gear and sparring gloves.
It was boy vrs girl. The little guy surely had speed and endurance on his side and the little lady had strength, confidence and a longer reach on hers. It was anyone's fight.
When they got into the ring, I had them go to their separate corners. I briefly explained some basic rules, set a safety word for them to say if ever they wanted to stop, and then I had them come into the middle to greet their opponent via bumping gloves. When they returned to their corners, I restarted the round bell, signalling to them round one was starting.
Three rounds, that's how long I had them spar for. For the most part they just bounced around the ring, punching each other in the gloves and using only their 1-2 with an occasional hook. At the end of the three rounds I stepped into the ring and asked them to stand in the middle of the ring with me. I gave a little announcement and then held both their hands to signify that the sparring had resulted in a draw -- both of them had won.
Taking off their head gear and gloves to see just how sweaty their little heads and tiny hands had gotten only proved to show just how hard they had tried. It was their first ever sparring session. Sure, their hooks were rather wild and the need to aim for their opponent's head and not gloves, but they did awesome. I have a whole club full of hobby boxers and aspiring amateur boxers that may never mustard up enough courage to step into the ring like these two elementary students did. I was so proud of them and with their hair pasted to their heads because of the sweat and their clothes equally wet, I hugged them both and give them high fives.
I felt like the proudest coach ever, seriously!!!
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