| I was about 10 years old when I decided to learn | | | | I am sure that my parents suspected that this was |
| boxing. To say that my parents were surprised would | | | | part of my motivation for learning boxing, but |
| be the understatement of the year! They had both | | | | nonetheless they supported me. They even bought |
| been trying to encourage me to get more exercise for | | | | me a boxing punching bag and gave me Junior boxing |
| the last couple years, but I had had no interest in it. I | | | | lessons. Truth be told, the desire to learn Boxing was |
| was a bookish kid, and I preferred to stay indoors and | | | | not just about defending myself and my honor. I |
| read rather than going outside and playing with my | | | | wanted to learn boxing because I wanted to be in |
| friends. I had friends, but they were like me. We were | | | | shape. I wanted to look tough. I wanted people to look |
| all intellectual, shy, and not physically active. My parents | | | | at me and understand that I was an unbeatable force. |
| could not for the life of them figure out why I wanted | | | | Most of all, I wanted to learn something that no one |
| to learn to box. | | | | else did. A lot of people in my school decided to learn |
| Part of it was just my natural impulsivity. In some | | | | martial arts - it was one of the most popular activities. |
| ways, it was as simple as one night deciding that I | | | | Nonetheless, few of them ever tried to learn boxing. It |
| wanted to learn how to box. Of course, there were | | | | had fallen out of favor. It was too brutal, too inelegant, |
| more complex motives lying beneath my desire to | | | | and it required much more training. You could learn |
| learn boxing. One of them was the fact that I was a | | | | martial arts by training an hour or two every week, but |
| little bit sick of being picked on at school. One kid in | | | | if you wanted to learn boxing, you had to be in the |
| particular would always challenge me to fight. He was | | | | gym at least three or four times each week. To me, |
| smaller than me, but much more vicious. I knew that if I | | | | boxing seemed like a great American sport. It turned |
| could learn boxing, I could take him in a match. That | | | | out to be a lot of fun too! |
| way, I would have more respect at school. | | | | |