Blog 22: senior Project reflection

(1) Positive Statement

I am most proud of the presentation in it's entirety since everyone seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say. Afterword many students have me positive feedback and how they thought I made boxing graspable by using real world examples and video examples with myself in them.


(2) Questions to Consider

a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your Block Presentation (self-assessment)?

 P +     

b.     What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project (self-assessment)?

AP+

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?   The research really helped me create a solid PowerPoint  which in turn helped me present really well. Also learning first hand helped me gain a stronger understanding of what a boxer and elite athlete has to go through in order to be a champion.

(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would have you done differently to improve your senior project if you could go back in time?
If I could go back, I would train longer and go even further back and continue training from the first time I tried boxing. It would have allowed me to be able to give much more thorough information regarding the training aspect of boxing.  Also doing more research and running through my presentation and activity at least once before hand. Prepared a little earlier than the night before.
(5) Finding Value

The senior project has changed my lifestyle completely. I changed my diet and workout more often now. I will also continue fighting and hope to learn different styles of fighting. The senior project had taught me how to find an endless supply of research for a certain topic and any information that is pertinent to to topic in order to gain a working and thorough knowledge of it. I have also learned the value if self confidence and how to work well on my own. Confidence in and out of the rig are very similar. Fighting a guy who has the potential to beat you up makes presenting before a whole class for an hour and a half seem like a breeze.

Blog 21: Mentorship

Blog 21: Mentorship

      Literal

Log is on blog. 

Antonio Moya (Mentor), since I don't have coaches number, at Fist of Gold boxing Gym in Pomona.  

    Interpretive

     The most important thing I gained from this experience is a brand new lifestyle. I learned how to defend myself and hold my own in a fight in the ring and out of it, God forbid. I learned that with the knowledge of self defense comes confidence, but also responsibility. I learned what it means and how it feels to be athletic and how necessary routine, commitment and dedication are to achieve greatness. 

   Applied

     Every day at the gym, I learned what it is like to fight and what it's like to lose. Every time I sparred I learned what I needed to win and after a loss I trained harder than I did the day before in order to improve. In the gym, I learned how to become faster, how to take punches, and how to win a fight. It's pretty much trial and error, debrief, and improvement. No one starts off winning, it took a lot of training, blood, sweat, and dedication to be able to put up a fight. 

blog 20: Exit Interview

(1) What is your essential question and answers?  What is your best answer and why?

(2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

(3) What problems did you face?  How did you resolve them?

(4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

1) My essential question is: What is most important in winning an amateur boxing match? 

Answer 1: In order to win a boxing match, A fighter must be in his stance and ready to work.

Answer 2: For a boxer to win a boxing match, he must be mentally and physically faster than his opponent

Answer 3:In  order to win a boxing match, a boxer must outlast their opponent despite taking more hits and by appearing less tired.

The most important would have to be answer 2 because anyone can fight if they have the drive and many people can take a hit and show little damage, but it takes hard work and dedication to be able to move without your opponent ever seeing you were there. It takes a lot of work to refine the skills needed to be fast enough to win. 

2) As I continued sparring, I realized a few of the guys were getting more hits in on me and I wasn't able to defend my self quickly enough to avoid getting hit. It was then I realized they were faster than I was, when I tried moving faster I would get caught up in thinking about what else I had to do, from which came the second part to the answer: Faster mentality. 

3) The biggest problem I faced was lack of confidence, which led to over thinking and a busier mind, which led to slower reaction time. I also tried being faster while sacrificing technique or form and it caused my punches to lose power and making me lose form. One of the ways I overcame the physical speed was by performing aerobic weight training. Using weights to perform tasks more quickly every time, like punching or moving. How I overcame mental slowness was by slowing down, taking the time to perfect form at a slower speed and outside of the ring and working up to faster movements and gradually to moving while getting punched. Over thinking was solved by relaxing before entering the ring, by not underestimating or overestimating my opponent and by trusting my abilities to perform within the ring. 

4) The two most significant sources I used were; a website called "Expert Boxing" founded by a Boxing Coach who trained and taught along side many notable trainers including Freddie Roach and fighters like Vince Phillips. My second most important source was my coach, who taught me hands on about the skills I needed to be, not just a good fighter but, a great fighter. He taught me many techniques and training methods that would give me a winning edge over the competition. 

Independent Component 2

LITERAL
(a) I, Alfredo Nunez, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work
(b) The sources that helped me complete the 30 hours of work were coach Bernard Roberts and pro boxer Antonio Moya, at Fist of Gold boxing gym. 

(d) At the gym I partook in all the training necessary to participate and win an amateur boxing match, this includes training on the punching bag, with the coach in various different strategies, weight training, agility training, running, and sparring. 
INTERPRETIVE 
All the training I went through is what all my answers are composed of, many components of training include exercises that help refine skills that are needed to win a boxing match. The skills all make up certain answers to my EQ.   
APPLIED
By teaching my what I need to do to win at the gym and in the ring, I was able to understand what I needed to answer in my EQ. Which was "What is most important in winning an amateur boxing match." Sparring allowed me to see what areas I needed work on and what other fighters had refined that I had not that allowed them to have an advantage over me. After a spar I had a debrief with the coach and he would tell me what I needed to improve and how to do it, by assigning me different workout methods; be it on the weights or on the speed or punching bags. 

Blog 17: Fourth Interview

Fourth Interview Questions:


1. What is the most important technique to a boxer? (ie. defense, offense, footwork, slipping etc.)

2. Who are some famous fighters who work in pure offense?

3. How can I block every shot from my opponent?

4. How is precision more important than speed and power?

5. How can I work on speed, power, and precision?

6. Who are some of the fastest/ strongest/ precise/ punchers in the business?

7. How can reflexes be refined?

8. How can I make reflexes second nature in order to focus on other aspects of the fight?

9. How can I capitalize on footwork in order to improve my movements in the ring?

10. A lot of the fighters here wear ankle weights, what does that help with? Does it help?

11. What are the dangers of simply "brawling" in the ring?

12. How can A fighter improve his ability to take punches?

13. How important is the ability to take punches?

14. What are "heavy hands" and how do I get them?

15. What are muscle groups that increase punching power? How can I improve them?

16. How can combinations be thought up in an instant?

17. How can I get a winning edge over my opponent of we are both equally matched?

18.What categories do judges look for in an amateur fight?

19. What is a stone jaw/ glass jaw and how do i harden mine?

20. How was your day, coach?

21. What is the difference and importance between a hard chin and a hard jaw?

Advisory #2

What is most important in winning an amateur boxing match?

Answer 2: For a boxer to win a boxing match, he must be mentally and physically faster than his opponent.

• A faster mind will allow you to recognize fighting stimuli such as defensive and offensive movements. A boxer with a fast mind has the ability to find openings whenever a boxer makes a mistake. 
• A boxer who is faster can land punches more quickly than his opponent can react to them . A counter punch can be performed quickly in the seconds the opponent drops his guard to punch. 
• A boxer who is faster has a defensive advantage since he can slip and move away from punches faster than his opponent can throw them. Mayweather is known for being one fast boxer, he can slip punches quickly and hardly get hit since dodges them all with quick precision. 

Article 1: Automatic Boxing Skills- Take your game to the next level. 

Article 2: How to slip punches in boxing 

(Both are on ExpertBoxing.com)

 Being faster is key to winning a fight in the ring and in many other environments. There is plenty of research and training I can do to both improve and master speed in the fast paced environment that is boxing. 

Blog 15: Independent Conponent 2.

  What I will be doing for independent component two is continuing to go to mentorship. Bryan and I discussed the idea of learning to dance to improve footwork, but he doesn't seem too fond of it. So I will continue going to the gym. There I will continue my training, that involves the lifestyle outside of the gym such as eating right and getting plenty of exercise especially running long distances to improve endurance.  I will begin to do more workouts that involve speeding up my hands, like shadow boxing with wrist weights or while holding a couple of dumbells. I will continue to spar in order to improve my reaction time to stimuli in the ring.  I will also ask my coach to begin working me with the focus mitts to also improve reaction time.

I didn't take many pictures or video of the first thirty hours, so I'll be taking much more of both. As well as screenshots of my distance runs and timed runs. Hopefully I can get a friend to come to the gym to help me take pictures and video.

Running, weight training, and sparing will all help me to explore other possible answers in my topic.  Running will help build better endurance to outperform your opponent. Th weights will make you faster than your opponent. And sparring helps you become aware of the stimuli that are present in the ring, such as the start of a punch or the prep for a combo or movement.  

Blog 14: Independent Component 1

Literal:

I, Alfredo Nunez, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.

I give credit to my coach, Bernard Roberts (Bernie), for training me daily, and teaching me most everything I know.

The thirty hours of work will be taken from the spreadsheet that contains the hours of mentorship.

During training, I learn the techniques it takes to be a great fighter. With the help of my coach, I do exercises that help strengthen my body, mind, and technique over all. I also often find myself helping the people who are just starting to train with their basics, such as stance, wraps, shadow boxing, etc. I also spar often in order to learn what I need improvement with and how I can become a better fighter.

Interpretive:

 Everyday I go train, the gym opens at Five and closes at Eight, I always try to get there no later than 5:30 and stay from 2-3 hours depending on how demanding the day is. If I spar, i usually try to conserve energy for the spar, as it will be three three-minute rounds (sometimes more sometimes less) of the same stuff i would be doing, only much more rigorously, quickly, and powerfully. I mentioned in an earlier blog post that spars can get out of hand and this is still true, but a spar is meant to train you for the reality of the ring, so trainees often give it most of their all, but slow down when necessary. As mentioned earlier I also help new people with training, I teach them the basic stance of a boxer, and how he or she will move once in the stance and how they must return to said stance to provide balance and a strong base for releasing adequate punches. I have taken videos of training sessions as well as spars, but Blogger doesn't allow me to post them through their site, so I will post them elsewhere and leave a link on this post. I will update that later.

Applied:

With every person I teach, i myself learn and improve my knowledge of the basics of boxing. This is important to understand since a good foundation is necessary to becoming a great fighter ( An idea my coach stresses A LOT.) One example of how the independent component helped me improve my base is: since my coach has slightly more trust in me that most of our "little team" he often sends me to help out new comers. The last was a boy named Brian who had never really trained before and he asked me to train him since he liked how I had taught him at a past time. I taught him how to stand properly and employed techniques mentioned in my research to help him improve his stance. I also showed him the basics of slipping by showing him how to use the rope ( a contraption we have set up in our gym that has a rope that can be moved to different heights) and in doing this I myself caught minor mistakes I was doing in my technique, I promptly corrected them and continued to help him. He now often asks me for help and enjoys learning from me a little more than my own coach.  Training daily helps me get into the groove of the lifestyle that is boxing; one that is very demanding, athletic, and empowering.

Blog 12: Third Interview Questions

1. What is most important in winning an amateur fight?

2. What additional skills give a fighter a winning edge?

3. What makes a person want to fight? or a fighter a fighter?

4. What is the best thing to do to improve as a fighter?

5. What makes an effective punch? (more effective, strength or speed? )

6. What is your favorite thing about boxing?

7. How and why did you start boxing?

8. What kind of exercise or routine should I do to improve my technique?

9. Who is the best person to ask about training?

10. How long does someone usually train before one can fight in an amateur fight?

Blog 11: Mentorship 10 Hours

1. I am currently looking into another gym to train at, but if the new gym doesn't work out, I will continue training at Fist of Gold Boxing Gym.

2. My contact is my relative Antonio Moya, a professional boxer who also trains at fist of gold, or my coach Bernard Roberts, who has coached several teams in the past, as well as fought in many different level events.

3. I have completed 95 Hours of mentorship in the months of July to December.

4. The first ten hours were extremely demanding and rigorous. My shoulders hurt, my legs hurt, everything hurt. My first spar was just as painful, lack of knowledge kept me from succeeding in the ring that first time, but it also gave me an incentive to learn. The ambiance was great though, everyone was aggressive and competitive in a positive manner. They all wanted to train enough to fight, and I wanted it too.

Blog 10: The Holiday

1. This break has been a very bad one for me. Mainly because I got off track with all my training and have lost much conditioning, i let my diet falter and have not run in a couple weeks. The only minimum training i got was a small amount of sparring but it wasn't very constructive it was more for fun than constructive. I did however watch several boxing matches and watched how many fighters of different weight classes and skill levels fight and tried to determine if any techniques were similar to mine or could be incorporated into mine.

2. The most important thing I looked at was the technique and methodology of each fighter and how efficient their techniques were and how they executed such technique. The sources of most were Showtime Boxing and some UFC mma fighting because several of the fighters in the later have much boxing background.

3. There are many people I could talk to, many kids at the gym I train at and many of the coaches have all fought both amateur and professionally and they could all be potential interviewees.

Hand Wraps

Hand wraps are extremely important when beginning Boxing Training, or most Martial arts for that matter. First you have to decide which kind you need. The wraps pictured on the left are the ones used by most fighters, they are neat, soft, they come with velcro, and come in a variety of colors. Some drawbacks to this kind are: When you wrap them, much of the wrap is within the palm, and can be cumbersome to some fighters, They also don't stretch as much as other kind of wraps. The wraps pictured in the center are what most people call "Mexican Style" and are actually just medical wraps. They are quite elastic and offer several different methods of wrapping. Some drawbacks are that sometimes two or more wraps are needed to provide proper padding. Once you've decided which you will use for training, length is the next issue. Pictured on the left are two lengths, the wrap on the left is the adult size 180". The ones on the right are the 108" and are often too short for most people, except kids. The ones in the center are the 108" or 120" medical wraps and are recommended for most basic trainers at Fist of Gold. Once you have your wraps then you have to learn how to put them on. Both wraps offer different yet similar methods to wrapping, regardless, with either you need to assure your wrist, thumb, and every finger is wrapped or interlaced properly. Wrapping offers protection against damage in the wrist, hand, and knuckles- since the hardest thing you'll be hitting is your opponents face. Constant work in the ring or training on the punching bag can be degenerative to the hands and can lead to carpal tunnel syndrome or cause broken wrists. The same treatment can cause the knuckles to get skinned, bruised, or simply hurt- which is why the padding at the knuckles is also very important.

Spar

Every good fighter needs to practice, after all practice makes perfect. in fighting, a practice fight is called a par. Sparring is very important to improving technique and mentality. It allows you to experiment with new techniques and tests the limits of your mind and endurance and allows you to see what you need improvement in. Leading up to fights sparring will become more frequent, but will be kept to a moderate level. As important as it may be, sparring is detrimental. But boxing in general, after all, is detrimental, as not everyone takes constant beatings or subject their body to such rigorous training or high levels of pain.   Above are some of my personal spars.

Blog 9: EQ

1. I reviewed the rule of three for writing an EQ.

2. a) Yes, the EQ is specific, but leaves room for an argument in the sense that the speaker will argue what they think the most important factor is. The eq allows people interested a jump-off point on what to research, providing easy to understand key terms that can be put into a database or search engine.
 
b)No, the eq, in my opinion, is incorrectly stated (Lack of the third rule) because the conviction comes after the investigation during a hearing perhaps.

c) yes, the question provides a stance from the PoV of the stylist with hairstyles as a keyword for research. The question is short and easy to comprehend.

d) Somewhat, the wording of the question gives the audience a small incentive to investigate the specific jobs of an Anesthesiologist, since chronic pain could be constant a constant dosage of anesthesia could lead to adverse effects on the patient. The question takes a side, that of the patients and is easy to understand... so yes.

3 What is most important in winning an amateur boxing match or contest?

Coach

A coach is an extremely vital part of boxing. A coach not only trains you physically, but also psychologically. A sound mind is just as important as a strong body when stepping into the fray. A coach involves himself as much as possible in the life of his trainee, they become a friend, a teacher and often a parent figure. As a parent figure, your coach would never wish to see you hurt in the ring, so that gives him incentive to train you harder and harder so you can hold your own in a bout. But a coach also practices restraint and knows when he is pushing you too hard and when you're pushing yourself too hard, and gives you a slow day to rest up.
Most coaches are former fighters themselves. My coach, Bernard Roberts, never went pro, but he did train and fight alongside many great fighters. Inclusively, when he worked as a correctional officer, he trained a team of inmates for nine years. He taught them the importance of character and many ideals, such as respect and discipline. He is currently teaching me how to be a great fighter, he constantly pushes me for more and suggests many fitness plans so i can stay in good fighting shape.

Blog 8: Research and Working EQ

1. My working EQ is, "What is needed to win an Amateur Fight?"

2.

• A Good Coach; A Good coach who will hepl you train and who kows what you need to focus on to prepare yourself better for a bout or spar. A good seasoned coach with personal experience is a priceless resource. 
•   Commitment to daily training; Training at a boxing gym will help build all the skills needed to be prepared for and to win an amateur fight

3. The title of most important source regarding training is at a tie between "Boxing Fitness: A guide to getting Fighting Fit by Ian Oliver" and The Coaches Manual provided by the AIBA.

4. My mentor is my brother's brother in law, a professional boxer. We train/ mentor at Fist of Gold boxing gym in Pomona. There I train in all aspects of boxing as well as have the occasional spar. Sadly, I have not had the chance to participate in any amateur fights.

Blog 7: Independent Component 1 Approval

1: Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

For the thirty hours, I will be training for a fight (No set date yet) I will continue training with my coach and first interview, Bernard Roberts. I will also be tracking running times, necessary for endurance and stamina in a fight, with increments on distance and reduction in time over the period of time training to show improvement. I will also be tracking weight and body fat  to show improvement as well. I suppose, since boxing is a way of life and not just a sport, i could also keep a meal log to show what i was eating that encouraged muscle mass and fat loss.

2. To show proof of the thirty hours I will continue tracking  on the mentorship log (In the links section on the right) which is a log of everyday that I train. I will also add a log of my timed runs which will contribute to the thirty hours.

3. Training will help me get a feel of what boxers and fighters do on a daily basis. It will show me how demanding the way of life of boxing is and will prepare me to fight in an amateur contest, and hopefully win.

Sparring Day

 Spars are a fact and necessity in all fighting styles, many time sparring is seen as a right of passage into the sport. Often time, unfortunately, spars get out of hand when one or both fighters begin throwing venomous punches- punches with full force, meant to inflict much damage. Sparring is meant to be constructive, not destructive. Many fighters have the urge to throw everything they've got into a spar. There are no winners in sparring and knockouts, bad bruises, and especially cuts are frowned upon in a spar. The true purpose of sparring is so the fighters can determine the skills they need work in such as defense, offense, or conditioning and should always be done in full gear. (as depicted above)

Blog 6: Second Interview Questions

My mentor is Antonio Moya, he's a professional boxer who trains at Fist of Gold boxing gym.

What made you want to do boxing? When did you start?

What do you do to prepare yourself for a fight?

What are your thoughts as you step into the ring?

How demanding is the sport of boxing?

Why do you like boxing? What drives you to continue?

Blog 5: Project Reflection and Working EQ...

(1) Positive Statement: What positive thing happen as a result of what you have completed so far?
    
The result of boxing has given me many benefits, both physically and mentally. to quote a piece of my research, "The training is wholesome and complete, building lean bodies and, most often, minds devoid of aggression and fear." (-Bob Breen) One of the most apparent benefits of training is weight loss. Since I started training I have lost a total of 18 pounds, prior to beginning i lost an additional 9 pounds. Another benefit of boxing is the change of lifestyle, I have had a drastic change in diet and my physical activity has since then also increased. The last benefits are mental. Boxing has given me a more stable confidence and calm mind. As Bob Breen said, training reduces aggression and fear. I am now able to control aggression and channel it into my fighting and leave it all behind. A mind devoid of fear is speaking of something different than the fear of monsters beneath your bed. What Breen means by fear is lack of confidence. Many people lack confidence in public and boxing helps build on that skill. 

(2) Pick a piece of research or your interview.  How has it helped you improve your understanding of your topic?

"Boxing: A Guide to Get Fighting Fit" is a great book. It shows the importance of training and has helped me realize how demanding the sport is on your body and all the training that is required to partake in a bout. The book offers great insight on techniques for working on the bag to the jumprope to running as to prepare your body for what is to come. 

(3) What has worked for you so far in the senior project?

Training is going well. The mentorship is also going very well, I get to train everyday and i constantly get the help I need. That's pretty much what has worked so far. 

(4) What hasn't worked so far?

As for what hasn't worked, the training is going slower than I had expected, in the sense that i thought I could ge tin the ring in only a short period of training. Other than that everything is going smoothly. I've been able to spar, but I want to contend in an amateur fight... Soon. 

(5) Finding Value:  

• What does it take to be a good boxer?
•  I will be training with and shadowing a professional boxer ,named Antonio Moya, in the gym as he trains as well as in the ring when he fights this October.