Sparred yesterday!

And now, I have a bit of a headache.  Whenever there is a smaller sized class, we spar.  I first just had a light sparring session with Camillo.  He is about 6-4 and 200 lbs, lightning quick.  We just had one person punch and the other counter, both sides just using the left.  Jab to face and hook to face were OK too.  I like sparring with him because he is a shade taller than me and he is a lot quicker than me, so I have to be a bit more cerebral about what I do.  I can't just wail away and attack, I have to bait him a bit and counter and immediately get out of the way, because he has a pretty accurate straight jab.  Actually, most of his punches are pretty accurate.  I'm fortunate that I didn't catch the liver shot that  his next opponent caught.  It was a pretty funny moment.  You hear the guy dry heave and laugh simultaneously.  He then remarked "Standing seven count?  Fuck that, I'm sitting down!"

Then I went against this guy Chris.  He is a bit taller than me too. He weighs a little less than me and is pretty muscular.  His punches aren't as fast as Camillo's but they pack a lot of power, because of his overall strength.  Chris doesn't come as often as he'd like to (he's a maintenance painter with crazy hours).  Because of that, I hadn't had the opportunity to spar with him before.  We were both pretty winded when we started sparring each other so we just kind slugged it out.  I'm pretty sure we each landed about a dozen body shots and maybe 6-7 head shots.  Lambros told us not to throw rights to the head, and we heeded his advice.  Which is a good thing, because we are better at offense than defense and if rights to the head were involved I supposed my headache would be a bit more severe. 

Then I went up against Bosko.  At this time we both went about 1/2 speed.  I've taken what I know to be a full speed punch to my head from Bosko and there is no comparison to what we were throwing last night.  We were just basically tapping each other and focusing on foot work.  This is a good thing, because when he punches hard you feel it.  I've been told that I have a formidable right hand too. 

Then I rounded things out by going against a newish guy, Bill.  I was only allowed to work on defense and throw an occasional jab to the body to keep him away.  I worked on my footwork and felt like Keanu in the matrix.