Tuesday 25 March 2008

The Warsaw express

WELL, I gave myself a month, and it took a week.

Foolish enough to be hanging around the area where those that spar gear up, I was coerced into the ring by Robbo, and got a really good idea of just how far I've fallen. In for four rounds against two of the Poles, I just about held on for three of them before being almost completely overwhelmed in the fourth. Fortunately for me, my opponent (we were introduced afterwards, but my inferior English hearing lost the name) took pity on me and stood off. If it had been one of my old sparring partners, I think I would have been pummelled.

I should also admit that the fighting wasn't that tough. Both the guys are new to boxing, having only been going three months, and there was a lot of bobbing and weaving and not much jabbing. Had I had a few months under me, it would have been very uneven - I think. Both of the guys showed promise, and put in far more spirited performances against one another than against me. I think I benefited from a bit of fear of the unknown.

There were some plusses to take from my sparring, some nice touches, some old flashes. Same as last week - I just have to be patient. Particularly humiliating was a smash to the gut. It wasn't the punch, it was the wobble afterwards (from my fat belly, not all of me). I can't imagine that the fight was much of a spectacle.

However, as I said last week, this time around it's a spur, not discouragement. I went into this with my eyes open and knew that 18 months of being in a state of mental flux, with plenty of vices as crutches, was going to take its toll. Every time that I hit a challenge, I'm not daunted by it - I find it a comfort. There is the advantage that I know what's coming this time around, and it's hugely, hugely enjoyable. I love it. It's home.

Of course, I'll ache for a couple of days, and I'm running the risk of a cold because I pushed myself to the point where I was wheezing and coughing - well, retching. But wtf?

And I'm well impressed with the Poles. One of the great things about working for myself is that I can now say what the Hell I want. Those boys have just confirmed my view that Eastern European economic migrants who come to this country put most of us to shame, with their work ethic and their willingness to take on anything.

I had a Polish mate at my last boxing club called Mario. He spent the day jet washing cars. No matter what your level of education, it's hard to believe anyone would derive a great deal of satisfaction from such a job. We all know that a lot of British people would turn their noses up at such work, despite not being qualified for much else. I'd rather have a million Poles (or Romanians, Bulgarians or Hungarians) in the UK, working their way and paying their taxes, than pay for just one drongo's drugs bill. These are the very same people that will blame everybody but themselves and then vote BNP.

Every hard working person in this country should be grateful for Polish immigration. If you aren't, go make friends with a couple of them.

3 comments:

Steven Imparl said...

Hey Duncan,

Welcome back! It's great to see you blogging again. It sounds like you've been busy--I know the feeling--but I am happy to see that you are resuming training. Keep up the good work and keep posting.

Dunks said...

Cheers, Steve. Nice to hear from you. I was going to drop you a line, but now you've beaten me to it.

Nice to see from your blog that you've ben doing it all this time. Good effort.

Steven Imparl said...

Hi Duncan,

How are you? I've been checking back at your blog for updates, but sadly, haven't found any for a few weeks. :-(

I hope things are going well.

Allow me to offer my friendly encouragement for both the training and the blogging about it.

I'll look forward to reading of your progress as you go along. If it's a bit slow, maybe I'll just have to challenge you after all to give us both some motivation! :-)

Have a good one.