Ok, so maybe not quit.  More like suddenly stopped showing up.  Here’s what happened.  Bigg Joe texted me a confusing message (in ALL CAPS, BRO) about the gym ending with many exclamation points.  The trees were budding and my athletic self was continuing to emerge from the two-year cocoon of a desk job.  I hit the gym one or two times a week in May, re-meeting old boxing friends like Starr Roberts, Sergio Garcia, Marshall Martin, Homar Rios, and Lorenzo Cardona.

Golden Eagle Boxing is a raw space, pumping music and language (and smells) that would be offensive in almost any other context, but these elements serve to lend a certain Spartan charm.  One evening, my ten-year old son, Dylan, asked me to take him to the gym.  So I did.  Sure enough, he was invited to hit the bags and several boxers took the time to coach him while I was free to work out on my own.  By the time we left, Dylan and I had paid for our June membership.  We worked out at the gym one to two times a week together, mostly dreading it until we arrived, then loving it once we dug in and did the work.  Bigg Joe took the time to coach my son, requiring him to work as hard as any other boxer training at his gym.  Dylan struggled at times to maintain the intensity, but showed huge gains in confidence and resilience outside the gym.

The last week in June, a coach gave us paperwork asking me to sign a monthly contract at a rate of $45 each, with penalties for ending the agreement.  We haven’t been back.  Part of the reason is financial.  Our YMCA membership comes out of suspension on August 15, and the Y (pool, fitness center, sauna, hot tub, exerzone) is the best fitness bang for our family buck.  Another reason is parental.  Do I want Dylan to internalize the hard culture of the boxing gym?  Do I want him to spar with the toughest kids, learning to absorb punishment and shrug off attacks as though they are nothing personal?  Finally, I feel that my own boxing journey is ending.  I never did fight an amateur fight.  I never did find the right combination to unlock the glory of pugilism.  But now that I think about it, I never did manage to quit all those other times, either.