S Is For Sparring

Sparring has to be one of the most fun things I've ever done.

It took quite a while from first stepping in to the boxing gym to stepping in to the boxing ring, but the minute I did I was hooked.

The very first time I stepped in to the ring was with Coach Cris who was very gentle and patient with me and helped me to control my temper, it's natural to get angry when you've been hit!

What Is That Noise?

Well that was a funny old morning.

Paula went out and as she did so I was about to get in the shower when I heard a strange hissing noise. Initially I thought it was coming from her car, so I quickly threw my clothes back on and went out to check all was OK, but Paula had long gone, but what was that noise?!?

R Is For Respect

Respect is earnt goes the old adage, and whilst there's an element of truth in this, it also suggests that there's a time for disrespect, and I'm not so sure about that.

One of my proudest achievements as a Dad is to have raised two sons who understand the power and significance of respecting others, and I love that throughout their entire school careers we had endless comments from teachers about how respectful they both were. I've drilled my sons on respect and they know that respect is given, whether it is earnt or demanded is irrelevant.

Q Is For Queensbury Rules

The rules of boxing in the ring are generally governed The Marquess of Queensbury Rules. The Queensbury Rules (or Queensbury as they are generally known) is a set of generally accepted rules in the sport of boxing. 

They were first published in London in 1867, and were named after John Douglas the 9th Marquess of Queensbury as he publicly endorsed the code. However, a little known fact is that they were actually written by a Welsh sportsman named John Graham Chambers.

Prior to the adoption of the Queensbury Rules, boxing was covered by the London Prize Ring Rules and many of the rules first laid down within these are still in effect today. So rules forbidding the use of head-butting, gouging, scratching, kicking, biting or hitting a man whilst he's down were first listed in the London Prize Ring Rules. However these rules were superseded by the Queensbury Rules.

P Is For Protective Gear

It's important to use the correct protective gear when boxing, be it on bag work, sparring or fighting in the ring.

The most obvious piece of protective equipment is the boxer's gloves. These come in various sizes which are dictated by weight. Personally I like to use 16oz gloves, but for white collar boxing match (that will be my W post) gloves are normally 12oz.

O Is For Open Mat

Open Mat is a term probably more closely associated with MMA than boxing but it is used to some extent in the world of boxing gyms.

At Knockout Centre (owned and run by Corné Blom a former MMA fighter) it's used to denote an open session on Saturday mornings, in which boxers can come and do their own workouts as well as spar with other willing members.

For me it's a new idea and one I really like and enjoy, especially the sparring aspect of it (that'll be my S post). 

Happy Easter!

I love the local church and I especially love the expression of church that we get to call home.

The Gathering was on fire this morning as we celebrated Christ's resurrection from the grave, a cold & hard historical fact.

The worship was awesome and it was a joy to share a word laid on my heart a few weeks ago about the three times Jesus spoke to his Father from the cross, as well as giving a clear gospel presentation for those that don't know Jesus yet. 

N Is For Neutral Corner

A boxing ring has four corners, two are owned by the fighters, these are normally the blue & red corners. The other two corners are the Neutral Corners and are normally white.

The purpose of the neutral corners is to provide a space that a boxer can be sent to by the referee, for example whilst counting down a felled opponent.

Highlight Of The Week

The Gathering's weekly Soup Kitchen remains the highlight of my week.

Whilst it's always a calm and laid back affair in which the church is able to be incredibly generous to those that come for food, it's different every week and you can never fully be sure of what you might see or hear during the course of it.

Each week we get a never ending stream of tales and stories about why we should give someone more of this and someone else more of that...

M Is For Mike Tyson

I'll get this out of the way up top... I know for some this will be a controversial topic given Tyson's well publicised troubles outside (and even inside) of the ring, however for the purposes of this post I'm only looking at Tyson the boxer.

For me, Mike Tyson aka Iron Mike is the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. 

Sometimes our view on stuff is clouded/tinted by the generation in which we grew up, and I was a teenager in 1980 so the early/mid 80s were deeply influential in my life. By the time of Tyson's first televised fight in Feb 1986 I was 18 and very impressed by what I saw, and the rest of my early adult life was dominated by Tyson's burgeoning career in the ring as opponent after opponent got obliterated by him.

L Is For Lumbering Dinosaur

In my previous white collar fights I've been known as Pastor Punch as I dispense the five-fold ministry to my opponent.

I always found this quite an amusing play on Ephesians 4:11 "So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers" and the idea of 'give me 5', or rather giving my opponent five.

However, in view of my age and health issues, not least of which is a collapsed disc in my spine, if I do ever fight again I will be renaming myself as Dino The Lumbering Dinosaur.