One Sparring Match and One Shiner... Friday, May 20

Yesterday Coach had told me that it'd be my last day [Thursday] not sparring and he was right.  He had told me that if he couldn't arrange for me to spar against new sparring opponents outside of our club then he'd spar with me himself.

Tonight I sparred with a new opponent.

Tonight I sparred outside of our club.

Jumped in the car with Coach Perez and off we headed to a neighbouring Mauy Thai boxing club.  We walked in, were created by the front desk assistant and then continued towards the back of the club where their ring was.  A class was in session so there were about 20 Mauy Thai fighters paired up with each other, practicing kicks on the pads and working on specific combos.  At the back of the club, where the ring was, I was introduced to the head coach and a female fighter from Japan.  She told me she had wanted to spar with me but that she was suffering from an injury and so she couldn't.  OK, so she obviously wasn't my sparring partner for tonight, then who was?

I scanned the edges of the ring and low and behold there was another female fighter.  She stood a bit talker than me and looked heavier than me too.  With her blonde hair poking out of her head gear and her hands all wrapped and geared up, she looked serious.  I was then til that she was my sparring opponent for tonight so I approached her to introduce myself and find out some things about her.  As it turns out, she does both boxing and Mauy Thai and has been fighting for ten years. 

I sparred four rounds with this particular female fighter and it was good.  Coach Perez noted that he was proud of my efforts and noted that I did much better than what he had expected.  I didn't know whether to take that as a compliment or insult but I took it as a compliment.  I want to improve my game, I want to learn, and I want him to know I'm trying my best.  I may not be the best skilled in our crew at training but I definitely try to be the hardest working, making sure I train hard at boxing and later on in the day at my second training session.  

Funny moment I'd like to mention here.  During one of the rounds Coach Perez went to wipe my face with a clothe and he blurted out, "why are you wearing makeup?! Don't wear makeup!"  I noted to him that I wasn't and then he followed through with a "oh, ohhhh".  I didn't know what that meant or what he was talking about until after my sparring.  I scored a nice little shiner in the top corner of my right eye.  It's already a deep shade of purple.