Rocky 101: Part 1

Another installment on my desire to go to hell and come back again...and I really hope I come back from this one.

Again, for everything I write, I am always late. On this occasion, however, I have actually been too busy to write. Most of this was jotted down with my Samsung sitting in the hairdressers.

And the reason for my pen to paper or fingers to keyboard I hear you ask - 8 weeks of training focusing on technique, fitness and footwork all of which comes to an almighty climax on Saturday 12^th April at the Wellington Park Hotel. White Collar Boxing for Carla and I.

It’s now 3 weeks into training and the hard work has most certainly begun. So far I've attempted about 4 or 5, maybe 6 sparring classes. Keep your hands up, don’t forget your stance, keep your hands up...why aren't you breathing? Good god, this is hard.

Footwork, timing, technique, all of which Carla and I completely lack (sorry Carla). At least it seems that when we even come close to slightly getting the hang of one, the other two just fall out our backsides.  Jab, jab, cross! Yet it's not jab jab cross, it's attempt jab, hook to my own coupin, dive for cover. Why are we doing this to ourselves?  

Whatever the remainder of training throws at us, we can rest easy at night knowing that the money raised through this event will go to a great cause. The chosen charity is Community Rescue Service.

For those of you who haven’t heard of them, they are essentially a group of volunteers, all of whom have their own jobs and yet commit to helping others in their time of need. Community Rescue Service is made up of a number of rescue units, each of which responds by pager alert 24/7. Sometimes this means one team goes out, sometimes several or all teams pull together.

These volunteers are trained in crisis intervention, rural and urban search, rescue and recovery, river and flood incidents and swift water rescue. They are also supported by regional assets including search dogs, rescue swimmers and dive response. So we can only imagine how difficult their jobs are and how dedicated they must be.

So keeping this in mind, there is no bowing out. And needless to say, for good measure, there will be future photographs and videos of Carla and I beating the absolute tripe out of each other. Or at least trying, moving targets are surprisingly harder to hit than static pads. Am I the only one who didn't see that coming?

And yet despite the nerves, self doubt and even initial slight embarrassment, there's something really wonderful about opening yourself up and facing your fear of failure head on (with a head guard of course). Similarly, it’s so satisfying to set and achieve your main objective; to simply learn, enjoy and develop.

I'm also really enjoying learning the art of curbing my ego. Delving into a sport that, even at beginner level, leaves you wide open to failure in the form of black eyes and bust lips means that the only place you can leave your ego is at the door. When you start to test your skills, nobody cares about what you say you can do or what you believe you can do. Action is the only thing that will earn respect. The obvious desire to learn, to test and improve your skills - no matter how amateurish you may feel - is the only way to move forward and progress. Such is life. Stay still and there dies progression and, on this occasion, a swift one-two to one's bake. 

Come Saturday 12^th April, whether we embarrass ourselves or take glory, it's all for a fantastic cause...and I hear there's nothing like taking a right hook to the head for a good cause.

To sponsor Carla or I, please throw a quid or two our way by clicking here, we need to raise a minimum of £250 each to make this all worthwhile.