Tag: Boxing

Solid Sparring Rounds

~ Henry Butterfly ~ Leave a comment

Hi, everybody!

Today is a great Sunday. Coach told me to go whoop that ass this weekend at a “rival” gym and that’s exactly what I did, and that’s exactly what our female boxer did to her sparring partner today. We walked out heads held high. I’m surprised we were invited back next Sunday.

I’m proud of my boxer. She works hard. Harder than me. Crazy thing? She’s in the middle of Ramadan. She doesn’t eat or drink anything if the sun is up. So think about that: She just sparred three 3-minute rounds, one with a pro, and now she goes the rest of the day without water or food.

You lot are probably reading this and saying “COACH, WHY ARE YOU LETTING HER DO THAT?”

She knows her body better than I do. And I trust her to tell me when she’s feeling tired. That’s what a good coach does. We don’t set limitations, but we understand them. It’d be counterproductive for me to set a limitation for her. She knows how hard she can push herself. We trust each other.

Good sparring rounds = one of my favorite ways to start the day. Made a couple guys quit today and for me, that’s huge. Last year at this time I was running a mile in 9 minutes and 17 seconds on average. Now I’m running it in 7 minutes and 6 seconds on average. And it’s only going down from here.

I’m working. I’m working towards something. We all should be working towards something. Find something that excites you. Go for it. Even if it means taking some punches to the gut, liver, and nose.

I wish you well. Try not to beat the shit out of yourself.

Make Time

~ Henry Butterfly ~ Leave a comment

Hi, everybody.

I almost made a crucial mistake today. I almost didn’t write to you lot. But I made time. (Do I always have to make the title make sense? I don’t know. Sometimes it’s cringe-y to do it.

Phew, that was close.

It’s another busy day. My weekends are usually jam-packed, but this weekend is a bit more mild–thankfully. No boxing training tomorrow afternoon. Just sparring at 9 AM mixed with training my Pops at 1 PM-ish. But the boxing isn’t done today. It’s just getting started.

Amateur boxing is back where I’m at! A show starts at 2 PM and my boxers will see amateur boxing for the first time. I bet you one of them decides not to box after the show. I think everyone else will be inspired and motivated by what they see.

Anyway, I NEED TO SHOWER AND LEAVE THE HOUSE! I appreciate you reading my shit. I really do. I hope your weekend is going well. If it isn’t, well, I’m sure you will figure it out. We always do if we try.

I wish you well. Try not to beat the shit out of yourself.

Fighting Your Toxic Thoughts

~ Henry Butterfly ~ Leave a comment

Hi, everyone!

Hope everyone is havin’ a fantastic Friday. It’s a beautiful day here in the Midwest, honestly it is. I love the Spring months here.

OK, “fighting your toxic thoughts”, what do I mean by that? Well, there’s a specific example happening right now with one of my boxers. As you lot know, I am all ears when it comes to mental health and love when my fighters feel they can express their darkest, most inner secrets. Most of the time it’s one thing they’re hiding from the outside world: their mental illness(es).

It’s crazy to me how people, still to this day, are embarrassed by their mental struggles. EVERYONE struggles slightly with the mentals. Do you struggle more? Maybe, but that’s not the point in this blog or in life.

One of my boxers trained with me 1:1 multiple times, I’m talking countless hours, yet the boxer still comes up with excuses like “Ah, my mind just won’t work today.” or “I’ve just felt like crying all day.” And these are VALID things to bring up to your coach, don’t get me wrong. But the way you attack this as a boxer, as an athlete, as a competitor, as a human, is to understand that yeah, my mind might be a little bitch sometimes, but I can do something about it. Can I change everything about it? Oh hell no, not even close, but I may be able to buy myself some time if I really focus those efforts on what I can change.

Even though we’re all here with mental illnesses, we can’t let that be our shield while getting back into the world. If so, you’re never truly back. We can’t let our mental health be an excuse, although sometimes valid, to not be the best we can fucking be.

Let’s beat this shit, people. You, me, all of us, we can do it. Focus on what you can control. Screw the rest. Know you’re the best. Holy shit, I rhymed right there.

I wish you well. Try not to beat the shit out of yourself.

Overslept (For A Reason)

~ Henry Butterfly ~ Leave a comment

Hi, everyone!

Today I slept till 8:30 AM CT. Why? Because I’m fucking exhausted, that’s why. Did I push it a bit with work and my 9 AM meeting? Kind of, but karma was on my side. That meeting was pushed back to 10 AM.

Why did I oversleep? I mentioned it: Exhaustion. But I’ve spoken about this before: It’s a good exhaustion. It comes from hard work through my passion, which if you don’t know by now is boxing. Multi-mile runs, plenty of bag rounds, sparring, and sprinkle in some coaching…. boy, does it tire you out. I have no clue how my head coach has done it for so many years, but one day I hope to be like him.

As always, I don’t have too much to type today. It’s a relatively relaxed day for me. Work till about 4 PM, hit the gym for an hour, and sneak a mile run in sometime during the day. Then it’s date night! (I still need to figure out how to get out of this “relationship” as my buddy calls it. I’ve been clear about it NOT being a relationship with the woman, but I don’t think that message firmly sits in her head. I gotta figure this out.)

OK! What a weird blog.

I wish you well. Try not to beat the shit out of yourself.

Busy Boxing Day = Quick Blog

~ Henry Butterfly ~ Leave a comment

Hi, everybody!

Just got done getting my face and liver hit. Great way to start your day (honestly). Pro tip: Always best to hit your opponent more than he hits you. Today that went in my favor.

I need to hop in the shower. It’s time to go coach the two children classes I teach on Sunday mornings, followed by training my Pops, bringing in my boxers to spar each other, then finish off with some sand volleyball.

It’s a busy, lovely day. Weather is great, too. I don’t really have too much on my mind, honestly. I feel like this week, since I’ve written so much, I’ve been able to flesh out so much for myself.

I’ve told you to try writing, haven’t I? Most of the time I’m writing here, I’m asking myself a question. About halfway through, maybe sometimes a bit longer, I have an answer to that question. That’s what writing does for me. It also slows me down. I write so damn fast that everything around me slows down. My day seems to slow down, too. Writing is medicine for me. I hope you can find something as healing for you along this journey, too. I’m still here with you.

Welp, time to get back to it.

Oh, that’s the 7-day streak, baby. Fuck yeah.

I wish you well. Try not to beat the shit out of yourself.

Concentration Creates Stimulation

~ Henry Butterfly ~ Leave a comment

Hi, everybody!

First off, the title is a direct quote from Brené Brown. I’m not that clever to come up with such a statement. But let’s talk about it. Also, let’s keep the streak alive (6 days, yup yup).

Concentration creates stimulation. It’s true. The other way around? Not so much all the time. But concentration does stimulate us and usually what’s around us. Intensifies everything. Makes things real. So how do you concentrate and stimulate? I don’t really know, that depends on you, but I’ll tell you what works for me.

I stick to my passion. You lot have read me writing about boxing often. Well, that’s because I do it often. When I do it, I concentrate entirely on it. When do I feel like I’m “clicking” the most? When I’m boxing. When I’m coaching boxing.

My coach said he’ll train me for 1 pro fight. Concentration increases when I’m in the gym. Stimulation at an all-time high. It feels great.

So for me it’s about sticking with my passion. Understanding I must prioritize over almost everything. Sounds selfish. Maybe it is. But I think it’s the opposite. The days I start with boxing, the days I have my passion with me, those are the days I am my best self. And you don’t want to be around someone’s worst self, right?

Concentration creates stimulation. People, remember that. Thanks, Brené Brown.

I wish you well. Try not to beat the shit out of yourself.

Teamwork

~ Henry Butterfly ~ Leave a comment

Hi, everybody!

Four days in a row. No big deal.

I’m very happy today. The boxing team is really coming together. More and more of my actual boxers are coming in for multiple trainings a week and I’m loving it. We are now up to… nine boxers! That’s nine people we are getting ready to fight in the Summer months. It’s exciting. Really exciting. Also, they’ve done a tremendous job embracing the team atmosphere in such an individual sport. People think boxing is all about the boxer, but it is really a team sport. You don’t get better without solid teammates and coaches in training.

I’ve also experienced great teamwork in my first week at the new job. My boss commended me for helping the team out with my English degree (editing our email cadences and making them… much, much better). I reached out to the COO and started a conversation with him. He’s happy to have me on his team.

I just really love the idea of team. It’s so very important in life to surround yourself with a team. A team could be your support group. A team could be as simple as your family. As simple as a couple of your friends. But having a team pushes you to be better. Pushes you to check in on yourself. Pushes you to care for others, which in turn helps you care for yourself.

Become part of a team. You won’t regret it.

I wish you well. Try not to beat the shit out of yourself.

Change Will Happen

~ Henry Butterfly ~ Leave a comment

Hi, everybody!

Currently I am listening to Chorus calls. What are Chorus calls? Recorded sales calls at my new company. I’m “shadowing” for two weeks and I’ll be doing this a lot over the next two weeks. I enjoy it–it’s nice to hear other people’s sales tactics and such.

Outside of that, I’m drinking some coffee and thinking about change. We have the obvious one, the new job, but there’s a few other things I’m looking to change this week.

I spoke with my head coach yesterday about the stresses of handling so many boxers. Yesterday I had eight boxers in a very small space and I tried to work with them all. By the end of it, I was just frustrated. I never want to feel beat up, defeated, etc. in coaching. That’s not what this should feel like. So I had to take a look at what I was doing. And I was doing too much, according to my head coach. He’s right. It’s time to cut back and make sure I’m taking care of myself.

Also, my coach said we will try for a professional fight. One more fight for me. Let’s see if he follows through–I’ve been training my ass off and I’m picking it up every single day.

And now we’re back to the new job. A big change. I feel good about it, though. I really like the people. I still really like my life, even with constant inevitable change.

We’ve talked about it before. Change will happen. Stick with it, people.

I wish you well. Try not to beat the shit out of yourself.

Starting Fast, Starting Strong

~ Henry Butterfly ~ Leave a comment

Hi, everybody!

Hope you lot are doing well. Today is a great day, it really is. Let’s go over the agenda.

  • Boxing Technique and Conditioning (Complete)
  • An All Out American Breakfast (In Progress)
  • Hiking
  • Dogs
  • Lady Friend
  • More Food
  • Probably Vidjie Games

It’s really a fantastic day. And it’s going to stay that way all the way through. I can’t state how important the start of your day is, truly. Every single day I start with my passion (boxing) turns out to be an amazing day. I barely boxed today, just mainly coached, but boy starting with that passion really sets you up for a successful day, whatever that means for you.

Think about that. See if you can work in more of what you love doing earlier on in the day. I like to call it starting strong or starting fast. I use the term often in boxing. Think about it: The way you start translates into the rest of what you do throughout the day. If you start with something destructive, do you think you’ll end with something constructive? If you start your day slow, do you really think you’ll be able to pick it up by the end of the day?

But it’s not easy. I fail a lot. But I know what gets me that happiness now. I know that coaching, boxing, conditioning, interacting with people on a teaching level gets me going. Sets me up for success. Try to figure out what that is for you. Everyone has something. Everyone.

I wish you well. Try not to beat the shit out of yourself.

Overextension

~ Henry Butterfly ~ Leave a comment

Hi, everybody!

Hope everyone is doing great today. I am. Had six fantastic sparring rounds with an old boxing mate from years back. He’s a bit heavier but still quick with his hands.

Let’s talk about today’s topic: Overextension. What do I mean by that? Well, if you look at my life, you’ll see it as a glaringly obvious weakness of mine. The amount I double-book myself is unreal. The amount of times “yes” comes out of my mouth is far too many.

My very best friend told me that givers will always give and takers will always take, so if you’re a giver, make sure to learn to say no. I’m working on that now. Hopefully writing it into existence helps that effort.

Learn to say no, even if you think you do have the time. Sometimes you need to recharge. I know I do.

But I have to train the boxers tomorrow and go on a hike. So… maybe start this whole “me time” thing next week?

We’ll see.

I wish you well. Try not to beat the shit out of yourself.