Boxing Journey

Discussion in 'Training Logs' started by Ero-Sennin, Jan 7, 2013.

  1. Ero-Sennin

    Ero-Sennin Well-Known Member Supporter

    I'm going to start a recap of the fight on how I view it personally and what my coach and I went over by addressing this post from Holyheadache ( ;) ).

    You're right. While I believe my skill level is better than what is seen in that match, I'm not used to using my full ability in that environment. Totally different pace and intensity. Seeing a punch coming during sparring at the gym in a friendly environment is entirely different than competition. Not only that, but I was lacking in experience with fighting people larger than me and as seiken steve commented I hadn't done sparring that simulated a competitive environment. The only thing I can take from it that I think is commendable is that I kept on being aggressive (and too much at times) and kept going at it. The punches at the end weren't the only ones that rocked me and made me think twice about getting inside, but you wouldn't tell that from watching the match.

    I'm not really upset about the fight. I am, but not in a soul crushing kind of way, just in a "put one foot in front of the other and keep moving" kind of way. There are a number of things to comment on that I could have done better but I and other people looking at the tape in the gym honestly don't feel like I did horrible in the first round. It's the second round where I stopped moving my head almost entirely and didn't keep my hands up. There was a little bit of 'smart boxing' in the first round by me, almost none in the second. Head movement after punches, moving in and attacking than moving out, and keeping my hands up are the things that needed to be done more all around since the game plan was to stay close the majority of the time. I didn't have much of a choice since he had so much reach on me. I failed to do those three things very well.

    There's a whopping (almost) 4 minutes of viewing. Nothing to really take away from it on skill work other than the obvious and the good was so minimal it's not really worth going over.

    All in all, I just need to keep working. I need to get harder sparring in to simulate a competitive environment (meaning I need to visit other gyms as well), need to start really thinking about keeping my hands up at all times and moving with punches even when I'm just doing something like shadow boxing, and I need to keep doing what I've been doing which is hitting the gym up every day and increasing my workout intensities. I know what it's like, have experienced the worst that can be offered (aside from a severe injury, but then boxing would probably be done at that point for me), and I can't do anything but move forward and up (not weight!) unless I let myself become a complete bag of crap. We'll see what time brings.
     
  2. Sandninjer

    Sandninjer Valued Member

    Major props for uploading the video, despite the outcome! Regardless, I thought you did well and I'm sure your coach had some great takeaways for you afterward. I strongly believe that one loss can build a man more than 10 wins. I think you performed very well especially given the huge difference in size. Almost seemed unfair if you ask me, but I guess that's heavyweight for you, huh?

    Keep us posted on any future fights. You've made one fan here.
     
  3. seiken steve

    seiken steve golden member

    There's only so uch you can do about that much power man, I enjoyed watching you box I like your style and you have a ,it of heart to keep moving foward after a lot of those shots!

    How hard would you find it to drop under 200lb?
     
  4. holyheadjch

    holyheadjch Valued Member

    Don't underestimate how important your aggression is. You can continue to drop the weight and to work on your fitness and ring craft, but you can't teach the kind of bottle you need to keep coming forward when the guy is popping you with jabs from halfway across the ring.

    This fight gives you a load of specific things to work on, so that in your next fight you know not to repeat them.
     
  5. Ero-Sennin

    Ero-Sennin Well-Known Member Supporter

    Not hard at all really, just some discipline in maintaining a high level of physical activity throughout the day and running more. I know I can get down into the low 170's but last time I was at that weight I didn't have much strength. Great at body-weight exercises and running, but when I was at that weight I didn't have access to weights so I'm wondering if it may be worth it to try and get down to that weight again and seeing how I am while incorporating strength training. 178 lbs - 201 lbs is light heavy weight so to drop under 178 lbs is going to take until at least the end of the year with some serious discipline in nutrition, physical activity and exercise. Shooting for another 15 lbs (which I definitely have to lose currently) to reach 200 lbs won't be a problem and I'll probably get that before the summer is over, getting below is going to include a physique change involving reduction in muscle size and a very low body fat percentage : P.

    Questions to be answered in time/experience.
     
  6. seiken steve

    seiken steve golden member

    Why not have a run at LHW? All the cool kids fit at 210 I heard :p

    You'll have the strength you have at 215 at 210 really, it's not a major difference IMO.
     
  7. Ero-Sennin

    Ero-Sennin Well-Known Member Supporter

    I've been randomly checking Youtube to see if somebody put the fights up. This is a highlight film, I'm in the start of it. Much better view then what I had posted earlier but it's not the whole thing. Small clip starts at :40

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydRWbgp4Sqo"]Amateur Boxing Invitational in Laurel, MD - YouTube[/ame]
     
    Last edited: Jun 3, 2013
  8. Ero-Sennin

    Ero-Sennin Well-Known Member Supporter

    Regardless of this last fight, I would like to seriously contend in amateur boxing in tournaments and hopefully get towards the national level with them and eventually get into professional fighting. It's going to benefit me tremendously if I get down in weight and can maintain my power and increase my speed and skill. I was talking with my coach at the gym and we agree that the 178-200 lbs weight class is where my next few fights need to be at. I'm probably going to attempt to get under 178 at some point I believe to see how I feel there, but there will probably be a period of not taking any fights for a bit to really get a feel there and it's going to take a lot of work and discipline I'm not capable of doing physically or mentally right now. Have to work up to that :p
     
  9. Ero-Sennin

    Ero-Sennin Well-Known Member Supporter

    First Amateur Experience

    First Amateur Experience

    So to keep with the spirit of the thread and to not keep the focus on getting my butt knocked out, I'm going to describe my first amateur boxing match experience from arrival to the facility until the end. There was a lot I didn't know, and a few surprises and it will probably be helpful to anyone who is interested in competing in boxing at the amateur level too who stumbles across this thread.

    First, I arrived way too early. Weigh in was at 4:00 PM and I got there at 2 PM. I was anxious and tired of sitting around the house so I just got up and went. I wouldn't advise doing that unless you know the area and have some things you can do to keep your mind off of things.

    Although the weigh in started at 4 PM, it didn't get going until 5 PM. I had to stand in a line with no particular order and I was pretty much scoping people out that looked my size to take a guess at who I was fighting. I ended up being right in my guess, because the only person my size was the NFL Linebacker I ended up fighting! Before the weigh-in a referee official walked down the line of fighters inspecting their faces for a clean shave. I, along with about five other fighters didn't realize you had to be clean shaven for an amateur boxing match (it's in the rule book) and was provided a cheap, two bladed razor from a dollar store for the price of 1$ with no shaving cream to shave my face. It was absolutely brutal because I had a 72 hour shadow. One of the worst shaves I ever had. Because of this I ended up at the end of the line for weighing in and had to wait until about 6 PM to actually be weighed, which is time on your feet standing (which isn't good).

    Once in the weigh in room, the officials are trying to rush you through so they took my passbook (make sure you have your name on it, because they don't give it back until after you fight) and demanded I strip my clothing off quickly and hop on the scale. I came in at 215.0. I was then ordered to put my clothes back on and get the hell out.

    At this point they had no clue who was going to be matched with who as far as fighting goes. They had a general idea and some people were already scheduled, but matchmaking still had to be done. About 45 min. later we ran by the weigh-in room and they told me who I was fighting. From that point on there was about a 30 min period to wait to be checked out by the doctor to make sure you were fit to fight.

    To make the process go quicker, they called you into the doctor's designated room with your opponent to be checked out. It wasn't just my opponent and I waiting though, they call in about six different matches at a time and you're all waiting at the same time. Once I got to my turn this is what the doctor did to check me out:

    1.) Blood Pressure
    2.) Touch doctors finger, touch nose (repeat with other arm)
    3.) Vision check with light
    4.) Throw a few punches
    5.) Extend arms backwards
    6.) Raise arms above head
    7.) Make a fist and doctor squeezes each one
    8.) Deep knee bend and stand up
    9.) Deep knee bend and remain squatted
    10.) Duck walk 3 steps forward, 3 steps back
    11.) Heal to toe walk - 3 steps forward, 3 steps back.

    After that your'e dismissed and you can get dressed, get your hands wrapped, and begin to warm up.

    Once my fight was coming up, I was instructed to come to the staging area (a table outside of the ring) to put my gloves on and prepare to get in the ring. I was instructed to do this 2 fights away from me actually fighting. Once it's your turn you are called and you climb the steps and get into the ring and well, you fight and in my case get knocked the heck out :p

    Now the events that took place afterward weren't known to me until today after talking about things with my coach because I wasn't all there due to being knocked out. I was impressed by the amount of respect that is at these events by both the fighters and the coaches which was something I didn't expect or know about. If you look at the video posted two posts up, you'll see the guy I fought come up and shake hands with my coach. I made sure I was able to give the guy respect too even though I was messed up, but he wasn't going to bother me beyond the shoulder tap due to the state I was in. You can see a nice little wobble step of mine after we hug. This was a constant in every single fight of the night and was done before anyone even knew who won their match. I thought that was pretty cool. The coaches of the guy I fought also gave respect to my coach when we were exiting the ring which I wasn't aware of.

    After my fight and recuperating a bit in the locker room I was allowed to go and watch the rest of the fights and I went up to sit with the supporters of my gym. Overall it was a nice experience, very friendly and there wasn't really any hooliganism or disorderly conduct. I was quite impressed by the event overall.

    I can't say if every amateur event is the same, but I'll find out in the future. Other then match-making and staying on time with things, it was run pretty professionally and I assume the majority of events are the same.

    With that I digress, I seriously doubt anybody is going to read all that unless they have a specific interest :p
     
  10. Rebel Wado

    Rebel Wado Valued Member

    Thanks for the details Ero-Sennin.

    Did the sanctioning body provide the gloves and head gear for the fighters?
     
  11. Ero-Sennin

    Ero-Sennin Well-Known Member Supporter

    Just the gloves. We had to bring our own head gear but it had to be 10 oz. and USA Boxing Certified. From what I heard from other people that's not always a normal thing. Should have mentioned that!
     
  12. matveimediaarts

    matveimediaarts Underappreciated genius

    Thanks for sharing, Ero. :) I find your adventures interesting. (I also hope to get up to your weight someday. /me jealous)
     
  13. Rebel Wado

    Rebel Wado Valued Member

    I think in your fight you were adjusting your head gear a few times. If there is anything you can do to help prevent having to adjust your gear, that will be one less thing to worry about during the fight.
     
  14. Ero-Sennin

    Ero-Sennin Well-Known Member Supporter

    Ha! I've been wanting to post something like this for a while now. Little did I know it would be about me :p
     

    Attached Files:

  15. Pretty In Pink

    Pretty In Pink Moved on MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Dude was King Kong. Props man, get right back at it! :)
     
  16. Ero-Sennin

    Ero-Sennin Well-Known Member Supporter

    Well, here comes this dreadful post. If you're reading this and have no clue why I'm saying all the stuff I'm about to say it's all involved with what's in the last couple pages of the thread, not going to recap much on it.

    It's been nearly four months now that I've been disabled from normal, every day life due to the mTBI I received from my wonderful amateur fight debut. It has left me with plenty of time to sit around and mull about my life and I've come to the conclusion that boxing needs to pushed aside for a good while.

    Some things I didn't realize about myself that I found out in many visits with a neurologist and a TBI clinic with the VA office in DC is that I was probably suffering from a mTBI for a good while before I even had my first ammy boxing match. Back in the later half of 2011 I was in Afghanistan and had the unfortunate experience with the team I was in of getting hit with an IED on a foot patrol. I was a good 15-20 meters away from the blast and found myself wondering why I was on the ground after the blast, and thought my team mates were combatants as they were yelling to find out what was going on (they were on the down side of a hill we were crossing over). It took a few moments for me to realize they weren't speaking another language, it was English, and then to assess what had happened.

    So what does that have to do with boxing? What I didn't realize is that what I experienced were hallmarks of a TBI. Although I was screened afterwards I never developed severe symptoms so I was never diagnosed with anything. You don't always get bad symptoms, but the TBI itself still takes quite a bit of time to heal up. Knowing what I know now I had been experiencing extremely mild symptoms of a TBI all the way up to when I started boxing and during my training. Feelings of a wave hitting the side of my head followed by loud ringing in my ears, disorientation that would last a few moments then go away, or random but intense feelings of anxiety. The previous information I shared is relevant because I probably never gave myself a chance to fully heal with sparring constantly and getting dinged. There are a few hard sparring sessions I can remember where I didn't quite feel right for a couple days and had some pretty bad anxiety/nausea and prolonged headaches. I don't think I really furthered my prior, unknown injury but I certainly was preventing it from healing.

    So back to my current condition I believe my symptoms were as bad as they were because of the big unknown fact to me that if you receive another head injury while you still have a head injury, you will most certainly feel the most severe of symptoms. This is most likely what I did, and I spent three weeks bed ridden, urinating in bottles on the side of my bed because I couldn't get up because of this. I had to cancel going to school because I cannot deal with the anxiety/panic, disorientation, dizziness, nausea, buzzing in certain areas of my head, and overall feelings of crappiness. In my fourth month of dealing with this (and probably 40 lbs gained later) I'm just starting to do physical activity again with confidence, which is limited to pacing around my apartment counting steps with a pedometer with random body weight exercises until my head starts feeling funny, along with the occasional stroll outside that lasts about 300 meters on a good day with all the stimulus of the outside world for my brain to process.

    Along with all this I'm unfortunate enough to be a grown up and have had to put my life and professional goals on hold, as well as set myself for financial loss. Freaking stupid responsibilities. All in all it hasn't been a great time.

    The biggest thing for me to overcome in all this was that this was the first time in my life I have truly failed in something (that's how I view the loss in my boxing match). I've done some pretty stressful and demanding things for somebody my age and I've always excelled. Even at my worst I've always done better than average. So for me to eat a loss like this and realize I can't just jump back on the horse and start riding towards redemption has caused quite a bit of depression and even some extremely rare bouts of sorrow and tears for me. It eats at things inside of me that financial woes and many adult responsibilities don't touch, things deep inside that make you a certain kind of person. It's been extremely hard to realize that if I just try to jump back into things my health may fall into a state I can't come back from, and that's not how I want to live my life. That's not the marriage my wife wants either.

    So all in all boxing is certainly going to be on the side for quite some time, probably years. As my health and mental fortitude recover I'll slowly start getting back to restoring my physical abilities. I plan on working to shed the weight I've gained in this whole ordeal through BW exercise and walking, then really putting a heavy focus on getting back in a decent weight room and work on surpassing my prior weight lifting exploits in the past when it was my focus, maybe even try to do some lifting competitions. Hopefully in time I can find the ability to begin training again in some form of MA, most likely grappling or BJJ to avoid dinging my noggin.

    So if you made it through all that, thank you for reading and I hope I didn't sound like a whiney little brat. This is the last thing I'll be posting here related to training in boxing . . . . . . for now.
     
  17. Simon

    Simon Administrator Admin Supporter MAP 2017 Koyo Award

    Ero, you're a good and brave man and guys like you deserve much better for what you've given and for the freedom you allow the rest of us.

    Good luck on your recovery.

    Baby steps, Sir, baby steps.
     
  18. Bozza Bostik

    Bozza Bostik Antichrist on Button Moon

    I didn't know the TBI was that severe. Excuse my ignorance...most people do.

    Good luck man!
     
    Last edited: Oct 9, 2013
  19. seiken steve

    seiken steve golden member

    That took a lot of bravery to put in writing, well done.

    I certainly don't see it as a failure on your part, hopefully as you recover neither will you, good luck and when you get in that weight room be the best damn you possible, you have the heart for it.
     
  20. Mushroom

    Mushroom De-powered to come back better than before.

    ^^ Agree with the above.

    I urge you not to see this as a loss but an unfortunate circumstance. Also you're a "bigger" man than most, risking your life in military, jumping in the ring and posting a heartfelt message.

    Props to you Sir
     

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