The Finnie family in Blighty, December 2021
Dean and Paula pastor The Gathering together
The Gathering
Baptisms at The Gathering
Preparing to serve at The Gathering's Soup Kitchen
Soup Kitchen Welcome To 2022 lunch
Serving hands - the heart of The Gatheirng
Thankful Thursdays
HOPE Home Based Care Team
Gathering Ground
Staying fit as a family
The Helderberg - The prettiest of the mountains we face
It has been said that boxing is the art of hitting without being hit. I can't find any attribution for this, but there is an element of truth about it.
It's easy to think of boxing as pure pugilism in which two opponents merely slug it out, hitting each other as hard as they can until one is knocked out. However, boxing is about the defense just as much as it is about the offense.
The first record (or physical depiction) of boxing comes from around 3000BC in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq). Since then there have been other notable ancient depictions of boxing and in 1650BC we have the first depiction of Boxing in front of spectators, dating back to Thebes in ancient Egypt.
The first illustration of boxers with gloves was seen on a fresco from the Minoan civilization dating back to the Bronze Age in Crete c1650BC.
The modern day sport of boxing as we would recognise it has some seriously dodgy roots and was pretty much outlawed within what we would know as *civilized society* through most of the 19th Century. In America, boxing's roots are directly traceable to the illicit world of gambling and casinos.
As I said in my Theme Reveal post, I'll be looking at my A To Z of Boxing.
This isn't a definitive A to Z of boxing, rather it's an A to Z of my journey in boxing and my love of the sport, which was instilled by my Dad, himself a keen amateur boxer in his day, but more of him later in the month...
It also helps that the scenery is stunning and each ride is different. One never knows what one might see, be it the feral horses roaming freely or the cattle wandering aimlessly around the village grazing on some of the best kept gardens in the Western Cape.
It's certainly never dull here!
However, not all things are equal.
Dean seems to be getting away with the lightest symptoms, Paula's definitely the worst and then some, whilst Joel is just really fed up with not being able to go to work.
Either way I know we're both feeling a bit rubbish, so it was nice to have a delicious Dirty Mac & Cheese with steamed broccoli for dinner, even if Paula couldn't taste it.
There are a number of factors that have limited my time on my unicycles lately (laziness, the wind and a few other excuses...), so I decided it was time to stop making those excuses and just get back on with riding again.
So for the last couple of weeks I've been trying to crack off a couple of 10k rides on my Kris Holm 26er and generally I have managed it.
The joy of riding regularly is that I can feel my core getting a good workout which means that my back is less likely to cause me any grief, added to that the health benefits of regular exercise (as if Boxing 4 times a week wasn't enough!) and it's a win win.
In my first Challenge (and last year's) I couldn't think of a theme so decided to keep things random, but this year, as in 2013 I have a theme. Hooray!
It was great to be able to spar at Boxing again this morning. It's been a long time since we've been able to do this, so it was good to be at it again.
It might seem like an odd thing to be doing and enjoying (especially at my age), but there is something very satisfying, I guess almost cathartic, in stepping in to the ring to hit (and be hit) by someone else, but it really is a lot of fun, especially knowing that you both chose to be there and are keeping things under control.
"Is your unicycle on Gumtree yet?"
This seems to be a common question amongst those that I've seen since breaking my arm just over a week ago, and the answer is very simple: "No they are not!" (yes I have seven unicycles) and nor will they be until such time as I'm physically unable to ride, and even then I'd be reluctant to get rid of them.
Someone even gave me a small lecture on extreme sports and how they're not of a very healthy mindset, and how at my age I don't need to prove anything anyway.
The thing is, the question and the mini lecture both miss something crucial, which is why I unicycle and why in the last 18 months I've become a lot more intentional in my unicycling, often taking my 36er out for 2+hour rides.
I'm feeling a lot happier since speaking with the Surgeon over the phone about my cast and removing it.
The cast (if you could call it that) was a bit Heath Robinson in its construction and felt very loose on my arm leaving me feeling quite vulnerable, so after chatting with the Surgeon about the wrist support I still have from when I shattered my wrist 10 years ago, he agreed I could remove the cast and use the wrist support instead, especially as it has a metal insert the full length of it for protection. This is far more comfortable and feels a whole lot more secure.
Firstly, thank you for all your prayers and kind wishes, they're much appreciated!
So there's good news and there's bad news...
The first bit of good news is that the Muni ride (Mountain Unicycling) on Saturday was a lot of fun with a great crowd of people who were also a massive help in sorting me out once I'd broken my arm.
I've wanted to try Uni-Hockey for a long time so it was cool to finally get a game yesterday with some fellow unicyclists in the Cape Town area.
It was fast, hectic, just a little chaotic and I was rubbish at the hockey part of it, but it was great fun and I really want to do it again!
Massive thanks to Donna at Oddwheel for organizing these monthly unicycling events.
This is a little mentioned part of The Gathering's ministry to the neediest women & girls in our community.
For a few years now we have regularly been collecting sanitary pads and other sanitary products to give to the neediest and most vulnerable women in the community.
Initially this was aimed at the older girls attending our Homework Club because so many teenage girls simply miss school when they're menstruating because they have little or no access to the necessary products to help.
I'm really enjoying my unicycling and loving going for longer rides over 10ks, especially since I've had to stop running due to my back.
Yesterday morning's ride was just over 16ks and I got to enjoy seeing the sunrise reflecting on Table Mountain which is always a treat. It's nice to be riding so early too because it means there are few people out and about so I don't have to dodge so many pedestrians.
Ever since the beginning of lockdown well over a year ago, and then particularly when I herniated a disc in my spine, I've been battling to get back down to my pre-lockdown weight.
During the lockdown I hit a high of 95kgs (15 stone), but I know this was a result of depression connected directly to my back and the fact that I couldn't run or box. It was a deeply frustrating time and one I have no wish to repeat.
In early January 2019 I made a life changing decision to get fit and healthy and had no idea just how timely and beneficial that decision would turn out to be. In fact, without meaning to be melodramatic, I'd go so far as to say that decision saved my life.
I had stopped all forms of exercise several years earlier, I used to cycle a lot and do a few other bits, but for a number of lame excuses gave it all up and became a couch potato piling on the weight. Because I'm quite tall I appeared to carry the weight well and no one ever said anything about my expanding beer gut.
Knowledge is power goes the adage, and the whole point of having an MRI was to gain the knowledge needed to make informed choices for treatment and prayer.
Today we know definitively what is wrong with my back, and now we can make informed decisions about where to go from here.
Firstly though, the good news is that I have no cancers or other unwanted tumors etc lurking in my abdomen, my spine is in good condition with good bone density and good alignment all around. All my internal organs appear sound with nothing untoward going on with any of them, so I'm very happy with that news!
