We start every live with a prayer. Here is what came out of the Hard Punching stream on October 28 from St. Cloud, MN, where I showed up without my tripod and had to make it work.
1. Forgot your gear? Improvise.
I left my tripod in my gym bag and was not going to go get it, so my phone leaned up against whatever I could find. That is a metaphor for boxing. You will not always have what you planned on. You figure it out and you keep working.
2. Nothing in boxing is true all the time.
Go forward all the time? Not true. Go backward all the time? Not true. Keep your hands up all the time? Not true either. If the guy is ten feet away and your hands are up, that is wasted energy. Everything is situational. Better safe than sorry is easy to say, but you also telegraph your punches when you tense up.
3. Give yourself 20 minutes to warm up.
My punches usually are not good for the first 15 to 20 minutes. It takes me about 20 to 30 minutes to feel loose, and the more in shape you are, the longer it takes. That is why I warm up the way I do. Do not judge your whole session by the first few rounds.
4. Train with your mouth guard.
Wearing a mouth guard correctly takes training. You have to keep your mouth clenched, and if your mouth is open you are gasping for air and your jaw moves around. Watch any pro fight where the guard gets knocked out. That guy is probably huffing and puffing because he never trained with it.
5. Start with prayer, finish with gratitude.
Before we got going I thanked God for the people He has put in my life and for His provision and guidance, even when I trip and fall. Later in the stream a friend dropped a verse: if God stands with you, who can stand against you? Stay consistent and stay grounded.
Your turn: what is one thing you thought was always true in your training that turned out to be situational? Tell me in the comments.
We stream live Monday through Saturday at 5:00 PM Central on YouTube at @JonathonGuyerBoxing. Join the list below and I will send you what the gym teaches: technique, discipline and faith, with no selling. God bless, Jonathon
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