A Sinister Tale of the Fisticuffs.

[Sinister]

First and FOREMOST:

I will absolutely not address my former log here, or what happened over a year ago. Part of moving on is achieving closure, and peace of mind. What's done is done, and there will be no re-hashing of old things.

Now, onto the actual story here. For the past year just about, I've had to establish myself here in Vegas. Getting settled into my job, moving to a better place to live, etc. Because I am who I am I never lost the desire to train, therefore not only did I maintain what conditioning I had, but I actually got in better shape than I was in before once I was better-adjusted. As of right now I live with another Fighter, and we're both dues-paying members of Top Rank Inc.'s private gym here in Vegas. Here's what it looks like:

http://www.toprank.com/gym.htm

To be a member of this gym you have to at LEAST be a sparring partner for a Pro. They don't let people walk in off the streets and start hitting the bags. We got in at the request of a Professional Boxer who has become a good friend, this guy:

Kofi Jantuah

As of right now we're training under this guy:

Richie Sandoval - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

He's a good trainer, very very old school and very tough to please. But a nice guy who really cares about his Fighters. We're part of a stable with another kid who was a pretty decently decorated Amateur, who hopes to go to the Olympics or win the Nationals in his weight division, but this guy fights like a Pro, and wants KO's on his record.

The first day at the gym we spent being berated by Richie. Telling us (me specifically, the other Fighter friend is 21 years old) that we're too old, don't have enough experience, that the most we're going to be is bodies, punching bags, etc. And he was telling everyone who'd listen "Hey, you guys need some bodies let me know." But the thing about Richie is that his last fight really took something away from him. He's very hot and cold, Jekyl and Hyde despite being a good natured person. So he'll berate you, and forget he berated you within an hour of doing so. We almost parted ways four days in, when he told us he felt he wasn't getting anything out of training us. But then Tuesday of this week we spoke and he said he understood he couldn't treat us like we're him, and that he HAS had Fighters like us go on to do good things. Since then it's been all good.

My first sparring session in this gym was pretty funny. I got put in against that decorated Amateur. We both did. Diego backed him up (Diego's Mexican, backing people up is what he DOES) and got a "He's strong" out of the guy. Meanwhile I stood toe-to-toe. I didn't win any rounds but I wanted to show them I ain't no punching bag. Punching bags don't hit you back. Quickly Edgar (the Amateur), Diego, and myself had a bond of respect for being willing to get in there and work. Richie still had a lot of complaints about things like mobility and defensive liabilities, but that wasn't the point of that session to me. It was all about showing I wouldn't be backed-down, and would take a beating for the opportunity to train there.

After that day I noticed the other Fighters who train there being more friendly. I routinely get to talk to guys like this:

Mike McCallum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mike seems to like me well, always asks me if I'm feeling good, and like to talk the fights with me. If he wasn't so damn expensive I'd like to train with him sometime. Another guy who seems to like me because I ask about his Fighters a lot is Terry Carter:

http://www.boxrec.com/list_humans.php?human_id=399583&cat=manager

If you click on his Fighter Rodel Mayol (who is a friendly guy, but fierce in sparring), he's preparing for a World Title fight coming in August. Check youtube for Mayol's fight with Eagle Kyowa for the Minimumweight Title. VERY good fight which I felt Mayol won, but in Japan you have to knock a guy like Eagle out to win.

So needless to say everyone's friendly as everyone at Top Rank is basically part of the same stable. I'm not signed yet. Currently my Official Title would be sparring partner and nothing more. However I hope to get at least a paid gig as a sparring partner by the end of summer.

And I can't say enough about the atmosphere of this Gym. Because it's Private, and exclusively for Pro's, there's no scrubs, no bullshit. You go in and do your work. It's a small place so you're always rubbing elbows, and if you're going to chat no one is going to get up your ass about it, but basically what happens is everyone is on the outskirts of the two Rings, you got your bags to work, some basic gym equipment (complete with a resident Conditioning Coach), one round timer that everyone is abiding by, and eventually two guys agree to spar and you either do your work or watch the show. No one faults you for watching either, because when guys like Mayol and Mercito spar, you can learn a lot. There's a lot of shit-talk, especially from the Veterans like Richie, Mike, Boza-Edwards, the Mayweathers, all the grizzled guys who train people now, but you just go with the flow, or fire back and they like you more. lol

From now on in this log I'll be posting with my alternate account, which has a more appropriate Title.

 

[Liu Jin]

Every Saturday we go up to Red Rock Park and train. We run until we get to the part of our favorite trail that starts to go up, hike up to elevation (about 3 miles), and at the top in nose-bleed area we hit the mitts, and maybe lightly spar a bit working with one of us on just defense and the other on just offense.

Here's some photographs, beginning with the road out:

The terrain:

Me:

Diego:

I have footage of us working, too, just a matter of eventually getting it into the Computer.

Now like I said the first week was rough. One thing about Richie is he teaches HIS style of fighting, which he used a lot of footwork, mobility, and good defense. Needless to say he didn't like much the come-forward swarming of Diego, or me standing toe-to-toe when I didn't have to, taking punches I didn't need to take. But his style is tough to learn as he likes to chase punches (slap-block and counter), not big on head-movement. So it's been a big adjustment to get used to his style, but there's a lot to be learned so I'm open to it, afterall the guy only lost ONE fight in his entire career, and that was to a MONSTER in Canizales, when he wouldn't make the weight anymore.

But, that being said onto the log:

 

[Liu Jin]

Today was the first day I actually felt like an ATHLETE in the gym. An all-around good day. We always begin the same way:

6:30am - 4 mile run.

This number varies, sometimes 3.5, sometimes 5. Depends on the heat as we dress like the pictures above. Heavy despite the heat of the desert.

10:30am - Gym time.

Richie showed up late as he does sometimes. So today we stretched, got warmed up with 3 Rounds of Shadowboxing each (I do this in full dress because I need to cut some more weight, I'm about 160 even right now and want to get down to 154, which I can do), then it was onto sparring. We do round-robin type sparring between the 3 of us. Richie who is normally full of negativity was a totally different trainer today. After our talk, he's now Coaching more. Offering advice, and giving praise when we do things right. I think Diego causes him emotional strife though. lol Diego's young enough to learn, and physically strong, plus Mexican so fighting is in his DNA, but he's not polished and I think that irks Richie. He told Diego recently that he could be a National Champ, a week before he was a punching bag.

Myself, I've graduated from Punching bag to Club Fighter.

Today I didn't just fight. I boxed more, Richie said it was like Night and Day, and gave a lot of compliments. His only complaint was that I needed to punch from my shoulders more, and move my feet more. One of my liabilities is that I tend to brawl, when I get hit I see red, and HAVE to hit back. So I can be lulled into standing in front and slugging it out. Bad habit when I usually have height and range on people in my weight class (I'm shooting for Welterweight ultimately, 147, POSSIBLY 140 if I can do it without dying). The first time I sparred Edgar (shorter guy who can get low, hits hard, is a cardio machine, but gives me 10lbs advantage), he hit me with a bazillion bodyshots because I was standing tall and my guard was wide. Hey Brandon, remember that? You called it, I was wide-open for the straight-right to the body.

So, I tightened my guard, got low myself, and started blocking the bejezus out of his bodyshots. He caught me with a good left-hook though once he saw I was hip to the straight-right to the body. Also today (unlike last time) I got to use my Shell defense, and when I did he couldn't land squat aside from that left-hook, so I gotta do something about that for next time. I'm thinking I'm gonna step into it and short right-hook him, or upper-cut. I think I can knock him down, because I notice he's off-balance when he feints.

Richie likes that I pick up on what I'm doing wrong before he has to tell me. And I think he realized today that I'm not a scrub, I can scrap, and even Box a bit. He said "You guys are coming along good, it's a process." We're learning the hard way though, just getting in there with guys who have the background and experience.

After sparring we had to go to work.

PM workout:

After work we do conditioning. Diego was sick Monday and Tuesday with a stomach bug so he didn't do tonight's conditing. I flew solo with:

2 rounds skipping rope.
100 push-ups, 50 with the bars horizontal, 50 with them vertical.
20 pull-ups.
30 dips.
30 T-ups.
30 power-overs.
4 rounds double-end bag (our heavybag is dead, we broke it)
2 rounds Shadowboxing to cool down.

 

[Cap'n]

Awesome awesome awesome.

I will be regularly checking this log out of shear coolness.

EDIT:

Unless I'm blind and missed you mentioning it....what weight class do you/would you fight in?

EDIT PART DEUX:

I take it back. I looked closer and saw it.

 

[mschatz]

About time...

Looking forward to following your log

 

[graedy]

Nice.
How is your strength these days? From your bodyweightexercising it seems like it has improved as well. I know strength is probably the least important aspect for you but still Im interested.

 

[DEVILsSON]

great to see your log up here man.

are you going to be doing any weight oriented lifting or are you primarily focusing on technique and conditioning for time being?

it's funny for some reason I always pictured u bigger than the 160lb. my imagination sucks...always thought remy was asian and then i find out he's white ...now this...lmao...

have you alwyas been a boxer or have you wrestled/done something else before?

 

[Standard]

About time you got a log up and running. You sure have alot of training in a day, how many hours do you work a week?

 

[Lusst]

Glad to see you back KK.

 

[Sinister]

How is your strength these days? From your bodyweightexercising it seems like it has improved as well. I know strength is probably the least important aspect for you but still Im interested.

Strength has definitely improved because I was still doing 2-a-days even before getting in at Top Rank. I couldn't guage it, but there's no complaints about it from my trainer. When he first saw me he said "well you're in good shape, really good shape", which is a nice compliment. And yesterday he gave me the best compliment a Fighter can get, "You look like you're losing weight"...lol It's affirmation that they see you're doing the work.

are you going to be doing any weight oriented lifting or are you primarily focusing on technique and conditioning for time being?

it's funny for some reason I always pictured u bigger than the 160lb. my imagination sucks...always thought remy was asian and then i find out he's white ...now this...lmao...

have you alwyas been a boxer or have you wrestled/done something else before?

I'll only do weights when Standard gets his big ass down here. We have a little deal about that. I've always loved Boxing first and foremost. But I've submission Wrestled, done Muay Thai, and other Arts in my younger days. MMA isn't out of the question, but if I can make it in Boxing somehow, it's better money. Plus, Boxing really is poetry, I've only seen a couple MMA fights that compare (Newton/Sakuraba).

Yesterday when Edgar and I were sparring we hit a moment, a lull in the action where both of us had too good of defense. So for about 10 seconds all we did was stand right in front of each other and feint. THAT'S Boxing at it's best. When two guys are matched well enough that they have no idea what to do, and have to just try shit until they make an opening.

About time you got a log up and running. You sure have alot of training in a day, how many hours do you work a week?

Around 32. I was at 35, but I take an extra hour some days to be at the Gym. As you can see the Gym hours suck, my store is open 10am-7pm, so the Gym hours are a pain in the ass until I can get someone to pay my bills so I can be like Kofi and do my conditioning in the AM, sleep, then go to the Gym around Noonish.

 

[Standard]

I'll only do weights when Standard gets his big ass down here. We have a little deal about that.

I'm still not a big fan of that deal, for some reason... which reminds me i've got to get back running, my weight has slowly been rising :redface:

Not a bad amount of time in the gym at all considering 35 hours a week, working fulltime now with an hour commute each way means i'm happy to get 2 hours a day to train.

 

[bacon]

Woohoo!

 

[Brando]

Hey Brandon, remember that? You called it, I was wide-open for the straight-right to the body.

BRANDOOOOWWWWNED!!!

Seriously, sweet log I will be watching like a hawk. How do they feel about dragging a video camera into the gym? Probably not so comfortable with it with a stable of active fighters prepping for fights I guess, but still, it'd be sweet to see some sparring

 

[Sinister]

You guessed it, cameras and video cameras are strictly prohibited. They allow pictures from time to time, but remember Top Rank is a Company who even pulls a lot of their fights from youtube. The Bob Father is very tight about those things.

 

[erco]

wtfuck, how did I miss this one for a day?

Awesome log KK.

 

[dexter c]

Good to see you logging again KK.

 

[jk3004]

Awsome KK, this is going to be a great read!

 

[Liu Jin]

Thanks for the support guys. I was off today so nothing to report.

 

[mschatz]

Thanks for the support guys. I was off today so nothing to report.

Booooo!

 

[XTrainer]

Sweet thread.



Now if he would only post his mysterious top-secret supplement regimen...