Bringing out the boxing gloves and the hand wraps again...

In one corner of my room sits a black mesh bag with a pair of red boxing gloves. Hidden under a pile of shirts which I have to give away is a pair of neatly rolled blue hand wraps.

The last time these two have been brought out was in 2008 when I tried to get into boxing at Elorde. But I was unable to sustain that and both were almost forgotten.

Yesterday afternoon, I found myself digging for the hand wraps and wiping away the dust that has gathered from the mesh bag of the boxing gloves.

Earlier during the week, good Twitter buddy Marl invited me to join him, Ros and Jamie in their muay thai training. Marl and Jamie have been doing muay thai for quite some time now, while Ros is a fellow newbie.

Good thing that I didn't have anything scheduled yesterday afternoon. At 4PM, I was at this building on the corner of Sta. Catalina and Banawe in QC making my way to the third floor.

It's the home of Sarreal Boxing Gym.

When I got there, the guys have already started with their warmup. They were jogging around the gym. Sarreal gym appears to be a good boxing gym. There's enough breathing space for the boxing ring, the drills, the training activities, and for resting. Hehe! The restroom/shower area was small but it was clean and decent.

After putting my stuff in one of the shelves, I joined Marl, Ros and Jamie.

What followed after was four hours of intense workout!!!

The warmup activities already gave me a good stretch. Afterwards, trainer Gomer taught me and Ros the basic moves. This was then followed by sparring inside the ring. I've almost forgotten how grueling it can be, even if it's just three minutes of sparring. Haha!

Jab left, jab straight, kick. Some of the instructions given by Jomer. Good thing I did boxing before so I was a bit familiar with things.

After the first round, I had to sit down and catch my breath. Ros, Jamie, Marl and I took turns sparring with Gomer. The guy is made of steel. He doesn't tire at all. Hahaha! Peaceful and compassionate person that I am (may ganon talaga?! LOL!), I didn't want to kick him with much energy because I was afraid of hurting him.

But after seeing how Jamie kicked with so much power and energy, I started to think that Gomer probably enjoys the feeling of another person's shin landing on his thigh. Masochista lang. Or maybe he thrives on feeling pain. He is a fighter after all. Haha!

In the next two rounds that followed, I tried to punch hard and kick harder. It hurts! Haha! And it requires focus, I had to keep reminding myself to pivot my non-kicking leg and I had to keep the kicking leg straight and pointed.

We started with our training a few minutes past four. By the time we got to my favorite part - the post-workout stretch - it was already close to eight in the evening. Wow, I didn't expect the whole thing to last that long. I certainly didn't expect myself to last that long. When we were doing the drills and the abs routine, I was already dead tired. Hehehe!

For surviving the initiation, I rewarded myself with a good dinner, gelato and a foot massage. Haha! I was able to drag Marl to go with me. Unfortunately, Ros and Jamie had to go ahead. I have a feeling we will do it again very soon.

So that was my baptism into the hall of pain (as Jamie calls it). I loved it. I still have a looong way to go with my form and movement, but I think I had a good start. And I will definitely go back for more pain. Haha!