As Ben is currently in Las Vegas, probably handcuffed to an Elvis Presley impersonating Oompah Loompah, he, for reasons known only to himself left Alan to 'take care' of us, which usually means a full on hour of non stop work.
Alan then, as he was overseeing sparring, for reasons known only to himself, left Tony and Gerry to run the sessions tonight.
Now Ben is a taskmaster, without question, none of us really like him during sessions, Alan is the master whom we think, Ben inherited his evil streak from.
But when you put Tony and Gerry in charge for an hour, you need to be in top survival mode, this was brutal.
As soon as we walked through the door, we were getting a verbal battering, shifting us, to get boots, wraps and gloves on.
Straight off we were into 4 x 2 minute rounds, with some pad work thrown in too, this time there were no hiding places, it was full on, with Tom, Gerry and Sam constantly moving around the gym, pushing us to keep moving our feet, our heads and constant punching.
Next up, was 4 x 2minute rounds of shadow boxing, with 8 of us grouped in a small space, moving around each other, without bumping into, or punching anyone, its astonishing how hard shadow boxing is, considering your not hitting or being hit by anyone, there were a few tired guys after this.
With the coaches, kindly giving us 30 nano seconds to grab some water and our gumshields, it was Blocking and Jabbing next.
I paired up with Justin, think he likes hitting me ?, this was 4 x 2 minute rounds, and a really good drill, although we are only allowed to throw jabs, both myself and Justin, were almost throwing crosses as well, but holding them back.
This was good for both of us, as it let you know, that you were starting to see opportunities to throw punches, while it also let you know when your guard was down, without being hit.
By the time we got to the last 30 seconds of the last round, the pace, which had been really consistent and no mad moments, had dramatically slowed down, on both sides.
This session was really starting to kick in, can't be long left, I stupidly thought to myself.
We then moved straight onto 4 x 1 minute fast punches and fast feet bag work, with 30 seconds rest, again with the 3 coaches never far away, pushing our very weary bodies on and on.
I was dead on my feet by this time, last exercise I heard Tony say, Thank ...., I heard myself think.
Last up, we had 4 sets of sprints and bag work, in pairs one person sprints, when they get back, you swap round.
The last thing my legs needed was sprints and the last thing my arms needed was bag work, perfect I thought !!
When we started this I and a few others were sure Tony said 3 sets, which was far too many anyway in my opinion, so at the end of the 3 round, when he shouted to go again, my whole body sunk, but I, and the other guys pushed through it, again everyone giving everything they had.
Session done !
I think this may of been the toughest session we have done, at the time I would've stopped at anytime and been happy not to continue, but as soon as you've recovered a bit, these sessions are always the ones you look back on and appreciate how much effort you used to get through them and how much your fitness and technique has improved over the last 6 1/2 weeks.
Who knows what Sunday Funday will have in store for us, but with Alan, Tony and Gerry running it, its gonna be 'fun' !!
Craig :-)
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