JUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMP!
Friday, February 24th, 2006
WEEK 4
FROM COACH: Don’t be a minute late OR miss a day or you’re jumping in the filthy, freezing cold San Francisco Bay.
Archive for February, 2006
Mefisto Day
Friday, February 24th, 2006DR.FAUST: Today, Friday, February 24th, 2006, will be officially declared ‘Mefisto Day.’ Mefisto had to fight coach Paul (I’ll let Mefisto explain the circumstances that led up to this memorable moment). Not only did Mefisto have the guts to fight a golden glove winning boxing champ after a mere 4 weeks of boxing training, he also managed to stand up for himself quite well. Of course he knew that only a miracle could save him from getting knocked out by Paul, but the fact that he tried to put up a good fight anyways just shows us what kind of material our Mefisto is made of. All the power to you man. The tension in the group during the fight was undescribable. It was just like everyone in the room was identifying with Mefisto telling him-, or herself: “oh my god, what did Mefisto do to get himself into this precarious situation, and what can I do to never get into that situation.” Ultimately, it was a great training experience for Mefisto - what else does he have to fear now? It can’t get any worse than that. It was also great bonding experience for the group. Thanks Mefisto for shedding your blood for us.
A shadow cast over Austria over the entire Olympic team and their achievements
Thursday, February 23rd, 2006DR.FAUST: So the country of my alpine origins is fearing an olympic suspension [BBC story]. This hits me like an uppercut to the chin. So, the disgraced Austrian coach Walter Mayer, who was kicked off the Austrian coaching team in 2002 following a blood doping scandal at the Salt Lake City games, was the root of recent raids by Italian police after he was discovered to still be in liason with some Austrian athletes. Apparently, the Austrian Olympic Committee secretary-general Heinz Jungwirth reacted quickly and stressed that Mayer is in no way a member of the Austrian Olympic team. To my utter amusement he also added: “I also remind you that under Austrian law, Walter Mayer is not guilty of anything.” This statement just asked for being commented by the press in the following way: “Oh… so in Austria it is perfectly legit to tamper with athletes’ blood, flee Italian police, drive into an Austrian road block (injuring one officer) and refuse breath tests?”[Eurosport story]. Oh well, what can I say. These days it is certainly not easy to be an American, but it also not easy to be an Austrian. Not that it has ever been easy to be from a country whose national psyche has never quite recovered from no longer being a superpower, but now that a shadow has been cast on the one area in which Austria actually still is a superpower (i.e., wintersports), what can I refer to in order to underscore my being a proud Austrian? Arnie? Mozart? Freud? Wiener Schnitzel? OK, before this is going too far, I will go back to working on my own athletic ability. Afterall, the final fight is coming up soon (March 11), and I guess I will use my last saved money to buy a ticket for Mr. Mayer, just to join me here in SF and to “coach” me a little for the fight night. Also, I am sure the 3rd Street Gym bootcamp environment may help him forget any kind of suicidal thoughts he has reportedly developed in the last few days. Yes, Mr. Mayer, there is worse pain than public self-humiliation. How I would love to test some of my newly acquired boxing skills on you [although, of course you should be considered innocent until proven guilty].
MOUTH PIECE COOKING 101
Tuesday, February 21st, 2006
WEEK 4
OK, I guess my How to Cook a Mouthpiece instructions of last week were a bit imcomplete. When you start this process, be sure to check first whether your former roommate or ex-significant other has ”accidently” robbed your kitchen of basic tools, such as a dipper, for otherwise you may wind up steaming your hands as you are trying to retrieve the melting mouthpiece.
TIME TO GET SERIOUS
Tuesday, February 21st, 2006
WEEK 4
WARNING: THIS IS A LONGER VIDEO - ABOUT 4 MINUTES.
FROM COACH: We tried to surprise Mefisto. I think Dr.Faust ended up surprising himself more. Jen did a great job!
POW! WHAM!
Tuesday, February 21st, 2006MEFISTO: Like Dr. Faust, I today experienced my first all-out sparring session. The coaches put me up against a dude I’d pegged as a scary fighter since the first week. I probably outweigh him by ten pounds or more, but he’s clearly got a lot of boxing experience, and he’s got a pierced eyebrow, and he’s a faster runner than I am, and he’s Irish, and he just plain looks like a tough dude. In one two-minute round, I experienced several times what I’d only seen before in comic books and corny TV shows like Batman with Adam West: the POW! WHAM! visuals — or negation of visuals — that accompany a right-cross to the side of the head. It was more like sticking my thumb in an electric socket than anything else I can compare it to.
Oh, and one of my contact lenses was knocked off my eyeball and onto the mat about thirty seconds into the thing.
Hmm, bootcamp is suddenly very different.
Lesson learned: Don’t be distracted by left jabs to the body — they are often just a magician’s misdirection to set up the POW and the WHAM.
Sparring
Tuesday, February 21st, 2006Week 4
DR.FAUST: *&%$#@*&&^%%^T*&*(&(((???????????????????@@@@@%$%$^%^&^& UUUUUUuuuuuuGGGGGHHHHHGHHHH??????111100000001111{{}}}ooooUGH!
NARRATOR (a/k/a J.W. GOETHE): So what Dr. Faust is trying to tell us is that today he experienced his first round of full contact sparring. About 25 seconds into the encounter he realized that a round of 2 minutes can seem like an eternity. The slightly shorter but swift opponent landed some hard punches on Dr. Faust. Dr. Faust, himself not slow-footed, managed to land a straight right punch on the opponent’s forehead causing him to look a bit confused for a moment. Then, however, Dr. Faust was getting too confident and turned his head to the site in a close and intense exchange of punches with fists flying everywhere. The next thing he remembers is that he felt like someone hit him over the head with an iron rod - although more likely it was the opponent’s right fist. Now, while having some difficulty putting his quite abstract thoughts into words, Dr. Faust is in good spirits and can’t wait for the next round.
PHOTOS FOR FINAL FIGHT POSTER
Monday, February 20th, 2006
download link
WEEK 4
FROM COACH: Everyone fighting in the final fight had their pictures taken for the poster.
PLANK HOLD
Monday, February 20th, 2006
WEEK 4
