I wasn't able to spar yesterday so today I received a bit of payback.
I showed up for boxing today but Coach Bogs had to leave when I arrived. His wife was sick and so he was heading to his hometown to go see her. I was told Coach Jun Jun would be coaching me today.
I did my warm-up (stretching, skipping and shadow boxing), like usual.
I did my padwork, like usual... except for the fact it was with Coach Jun Jun.
I did my heavy bag work, speed bag, double end bag... and then I did my ab work, like usual.
...and then I got called into the ring.
Usually on days when I have sparring I come only for a quick warm-up and then spar. There is no padwork, no heavy bag work, no speed bag work, and no double end bag work. There's only warm-up, sparring and then maybe some light ab work. I save all my energy for sparring but today I hadn't anticipated sparring so I had exhausted myself with my boxing training.
On days when I spar, I also come with different equipment -- sparring gloves (heavier gloves), a mouth guard and head gear.
I got called into the ring today and was told I was going to spar. They didn't know which coach for me to spar with so I sparred with both. Three rounds with one coach and then three rounds with another, all while not wearing any protection or sparring gear.
My first opponent for the first three rounds was Coach Jun Mar. He's one of the bigger coaches with a heavy punch and he loves, loves, LOVES to target the body. He leads with his jab and then gets you with one mean long body shot.
In the third round, right before the bell went, Coach Jun Mar got me with a mean, clean body shot to the liver and instantly I hit the mat. I felt all the wind knocked out of me and down I went.
Then up I got as my next opponent stepped into the ring.
The fight was on for another three rounds, this time with Coach Jun Jun.
Coach Jun Jun is a super energetic boxer with fast feet so he makes you chase him around the ring. Landing a punch on him means first catching him so I tried my hardest to corner him and then work my combos.
Six unexpected rounds of sparring today. It was a lot of fun but it was very challenging.
I think I actually prefer the spontaneous sparring because I get myself so worked up when I know beforehand that I have sparring. The night before I'm extra cautious with what I eat and then the morning of sparring I seriously have to go to the bathroom about 5 times within the hour before heading to the gym. It's not that I'm nervous, it's that I'm both so very excited and anxious at the same time. I don't know about telling me to spar after completing a full couple of hours of boxing though, that was pretty crazy. I was already spent from my workout and then to throw me in the ring for sparring after I had clearly warmed up and pretty much exhausted myself was super rough.
I may not be able to lift my arms tomorrow... seriously.
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