Hope this finds you well, sir

In lieu of writing you a long letter, I am trying to send you several short accounts of current events.

My sister has been boxing for several months now at a different gym and doing well beating up women MMA fighters and teenagers.

She is roughly the same height as I with more aggression and a wider head.

I find it interesting how our interests parallel later in life despite a lack of interaction or familial affection.

We both like to combat sports, Frank Frazzetta and the band Motorhead.

Our father was his Battalion boxing champion at 21 in the 101st Airborne but he always discouraged our boxing except for conditioning on a homemade bag which he constructed for us out of heavy carpet rolled tightly together.

We also did a lot stick fighting which he also didn't approve of, though hardly being a pacifist.

He was very much like Sean in his younger years, in physique more than mentality, because he eschewed all physical exercise aside from his work, which was considerably demanding.

I noticed that the men older than him who stayed healthy and active into their 70s and 80s, not only did heavy labor but always had an aggressive physical hobby of some kind on the side.

In any case, it is interesting that we both have continued to pursue an interest in boxing into our thirties.

My sister's aggression is greater than mine, but obviously it's always been encouraged.

I'm happy she's doing well in sparring.

If I showed Any aggression at all in sparring, by this time I would have been drafted as an assistant trainer at my gym. That's not an aspiration of mine, but I do work hard to be more aggressive and relaxed in the ring.

I can't account for this shortcoming.

It's taken me longer than it should have to overcome and I'm not all the way there yet, but find much food for thought in the experience.

-Best, PB

…

Paul, as the cracker jack psychologist to Blue Corner men, I feel—a feeling, not an analysis—that I have failed you here. You are still nice with the gloves on. The only time I see killer instinct in you is recently with knives. That is either the Mohawk or Cherokee welling up from your soul spring. In boxing, you are getting crafty and still reacting. I see you as stuck in the counter puncher role, which is fine, as those types last a long time and have less head case problems. I will save boxing advice for the next section. The question is, since boxing was developed to help the spiritual development of weapon fighters, can we use weapon fighting to develop boxing spirit?

We need to make you a hunter in the ring. Charles has observed that I did not do a good job with coaching you in stick. I wanted you to expand from smash and jab to slash so as to develop your saber fighting ability for the Civil War re-inactments. To heck with that.

You naturally jab and smash with the blunt stick. That is an effective use of the weapon. We will try and add fanning to that to keep you from getting stuck in the clinch. We [you] need to get light rattan sticks and beat the dog shit out of each other. Three minute rounds of ripping into each other, to develop your aggression along predacious lines. Light sticks will hurt like hell and keep our bones from cracking. Let’s assign a referee so I will be free to be a dick about it. The sessions will start with and end with light tapping. But we should try to do 10 hard rounds, actual fights to a stoppage or a draw, no point scoring, so as to deepen your grit.

Paul, you are highly intelligent, contemplative, and pondering, with a tender curiosity that has always been beyond your years. It is hard to train such a thinking man. We should do it like we did with Charles, turning him from nerd into one of the best stick fighters in the nation. Get four half inch rattan sticks, make that five. When I show up in Kansas, forget drilling and coaching. We just need to go at it on video. Then, send those videos to Charles. In May he can coach you out of whatever box I’ve shut you into. In the meantime I think I can beat that tender child out of your mind and get your mind right, as some old CSA man must have once opined.

…

[James will answer in brackets.]

Monday: worked with old sparring partner, we'll call him evil Dennis, since he's built like Sean's friend, but a coke head street fighter type who has reputation for sucker punching and hitting too hard in drills and technical sparring. He's ballooned from 165 to 218. I know you said no heavy weights and I wasn't thrilled about even drilling with him. He immediately went full bore in a simple back and forth partner drill, so I hooked him to the ribs several times and apparently did some damage because he hadn't been back.

[Every time this guy hits you hard—injure him. He lacks control and honor. Be polite, but break him. Retiring him from the gym will be a net GOOD to that community.]

Tuesday: body sparring with heavy handed half injun bantam. Followed Sean's dictum and tapped him lightly the harder he hit me, but gave him few targets until he resorted to groin punching, earning him a warning from the coach. I didn't appreciate the groin shots but they weren't too bad.

[When he goes for the groin open your body up by raising your elbows. Let him have our body, then drop your elbows down with the intent of snapping his wrists and thumbs. Be polite. Call him, “Sir.” Break his arm.]

Wednesday: rest day, worked extra hard. One hour shadow boxing and slip bag.

[That’s what I like to hear. I bet that slip bag is not lining you up for a groin shot like that savage pug.]

Thursday: heavy sparring

Broke mini Sean's nose with sneaky right (I think). He told me it has been already broken earlier in the week sparring. He is continuing to shrink to middle weight from 250, but has lost none of the heaviness of hand.

I used Bernard Hopkins foot feints to lure him into a sneaky jab. Noticed a trickle of blood coming from the nose so put pressure on it and there was quite a bit of gristle, more than when mine was broken. Doesn't seem to bother him though.

[This kid sounds workable. Try and form a broked nose men’s club with him and see if you two might buddy up against injury.]

Sparred with full sized Sean type MMA fighter, but only technical sparring. Coach said I should have closed range on him, but he was hand fighting me a lot, effectively making it hard for me to get close.

He very much wanted to keep me at range and has good lateral movement but I should have tried harder to get in on him. Coach said jab close and make it ugly and use my awkwardness to my advantage.

[Good advice. I would add to this that you should let him hit you with a hook or straight right in order to get in. practice taking contact with the slip bag and rolling, sliding in with a counter.]

Both these guys are wrestlers so holding usually doesn't work, mini Sean and I were grappling in the corner of the small ring on October and actually broke the turnbuckle, narrowly escaping both falling out.

Both MMA fighter and he did a round where they employed the Philly shell against each other.

I had previously cracked Gustavos shell and put him back in the high guard which the coach told him to maintain.

Favorite Duran clinic on fighting the shell

In an old article, you talk about the tactic of measuring and how Holmes used it against Mercer. I used it successfully against Gustavo in October but being an astute student of the game and shadow boxing aficionado, with slight reach advantage, he has started using it against me. Is there a preferred counter to this that you recommend?

Best

PB

Anyway…

Paul, against the measure, you can bait it, collar tie his wrist cuff, with your hand and slide in while pulling with your hand, with a sneaky punch with the other hand, or weave in. Set of an eye-level post, set lateral, the end facing you. Tape an old glove to it. Press your forehead to it and practice slipping off the glove and in, to both sides. You can use the maze ball for this, balancing it on your nose and slipping around it. Speed bags, heavy bags, all work for this. Make it a neck conditioning drill.

Good luck,

james