IronbearJones's blog

I don't think I'm a particularly huge guy. Comparatively I suppose I am, but I've ever relied on my size to intimidate people. That's why it's so weird and frustrating to see people react solely to that. I think it happened tonight during my boxing class; pairing off, I could tell all the other guys–all at least 50 lbs.. lighter, were intimidated by the prospect of me throwing punches at them.

I mean... it was focus mitts. What can I REALLY do to you?

Besides, I'm focused on my own technique, and I'm not going at full speed on focus mitts. Mostly because I can't without throwing technique out the window, with defeats the purpose. The guy who regularly holds mitts for me wasn't there today, and I felt like that just added to the frustration.

If anything, it made the class less beneficial than I'd hoped tonight. Holding the mitts for someone else was probably the most productive part of my might; I didn't get to do much but I helped someone else improve their basics.

I don't tend to use full or even half strength often. I KNOW I can hurt people. That's not what I'm in this for at all. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't considering using this irrational and baseless fear to my advantage come sparring time.

Don't always have to throw a punch to win a fight.

For now, I'll just focus on what I can do outside of class. Improving my balance and footwork is my main concern, so the next two weeks are going to be devoted to that. At this point, going to the gym five times a week somehow seems easy...