Yesterday was my first one-on-one day with Syd. I was a little nervous at first, I felt like I was auditioning. Obviously nothing was going to be determined after yesterday but I felt like I had to impress Syd with my boxing skill and maybe be better than he expected me to be. None of that really happened, but it was a great session and I learned a lot for the first day. Syd exposed some things that I do fudamentally wrong, so we started working on those things right away.
I always thought I had a good jab. In the last 2 years I would say that it definitely is my best punch. But I guess that doesn't neccessarily mean it is good! Syd made some minor(or major) adjustments, having me keeping my elbow in tighter to my body and rotating my fist much later in the punch, pressing down more firmly on my front foot and not leaning too forward. He also had me rotating my shoulder more to protect my chin better and get a little more 'pop' at the end of my punch. All theses tweeks were very small but definitely made a difference in the power of my punch and the fluidity in my movement.
The next thing to fix is my breathing. It is too obvious when I inhale and try to take in air. A boxer should be discreet when trying to do this, not allowing his opponent to observe when this is happening. That means poker face. Nothing in your face or body language should give away that you are trying to take in air. That's when you get hit. I don't do this well, and this will take a lot of practice, it is something I struggle with. Of course I will practice until I'm able to do it properly, but it will be more difficult than the adjustments made to my jab.
Overall, Syd said he liked two major things. First, was my willingness to learn, and second was how quickly I respond to his instructions and execute what he was asking me to do. I find that funny because usually, I don't! There is a stigma about me that people assume I am smart. I think it is a combination of things that lead to this assumption. First because I'm Asian, people assume I'm smart and good at math, nothing could be farther from the truth. Also I am fairly well spoken and people associate that with intelligence. Once again, not true in my case. Don't get me wrong, I don't think I'm stupid, but one thing I've learned about myself over the years is this, I do not process things quickly. I am slow. It is not uncommon for someone to have to go over things repeatedly for me to understand or pick up the idea. I'm not talking down about myself, it's just a fact! Anyone who has had the priviledge(or pain) of knowing me knows this, in order for me to 'get' something, you have to explain the same shit to me over and over and OVER again! So, when Syd said that I am a fast learner and pickup on his instuctions well, I was very happy. Shocked actually. Either I've improved, or I just got fuckin' lucky. Either way, I don't care, I'll take it!
Friday Syd has me doing some sparring so I'm extremely excited about that. I haven't sparred since November, when I received my concussion. I'm excited to see how my neck and head will respond to getting hit again, and if the treatments I received were enough for me to resume battle. I gotta believe they were.
