The 2nd Light
When I had my second major realization in boxing I had been sparring for a while.
I'd progressed from sparring at my gym to visiting a local Mexican gym and getting sparring in there with the young boys a couple of times a week.
Sparring there was HARD
Their motto was
"there's always a fight here any day of the week"
Not Sparring - Fighting
At this point in my training I was constantly hearing advice such as "keep your chin down",
"stare at their chest not their face ",
"don't look up"
"dont stand up"
I thought my chin was down , I thought I was staying down pretty damn low , I was also starting to feel pretty confident with myself.
I'd get in the ring trade blows and then spend time looking at what I'd done.
The problem was I didn't realize that what I was doing was wrong .
I was looking to see if I had hit , I needed to know if I'd made a good conection..
I was curious as to the look on their face after I hit them , what would their emotions show?
Are they bleeding ?
Black eye?
Did it hurt?
Am I strong?
I had completely the wrong mind set.
So one day I was sparring over there like usual and they brought me in a new sparring partner.
He was bigger , faster and stronger.
Pretty early into the second round he caught me right on the chin , his punch landed cleanly on the sweet spot.
I had been flashed out before and being rocked wasn't new to me. When you are flashed out you get this white light, a bright spark flashes across your vision as your brain temporarily stops working.
I had also been on the recieving end of multiple black eyes and fat lips , but until then I hadn't been hit so hard sparring that I was left on the very thin edge of consciousness.
The light I saw was a deep dark swarming purple.
It scared me.
I don't remember the rest of that round but I do know the sparring ended early that day.
I went home shaken up.
I didn't talk about it.
I kept it inside. However the truth was that day was the first day I ever wanted to quit boxing.
I sat at home and I sulked and I wallowed
I avoided the gym for a whole week, which for a gym rat like me was a big deal .
Then I had my 2nd lightbulb moment.
I talked to myself
" that sucked right?"
" well yeah"
" ok so you can walk away from it , you can quit or...."
"or what?"
" or you can do what your coach has been telling you since day one. Keep your chin down and stay down low. If your chin was protected you wouldnt have been hit like that"
So instead of quitting I made a vow.
I Vowed to never be hurt like that again.
I vowed to keep my chin down.
It was that easy .
So simple.
Because of that vow I've never been hit like that since.
I got to keep doing a sport I love and I make sure to protect myself at all times.
The second light taught me not to get hung up on others reactions to my actions.
I don't look or check to see how they are reacting.
I place my shots and I concentrate on protecting myself.