Started off boxing yesterday with shadowbox sparring, which many of us interpret as light contact sparring. First partner was a big guy who was out of shape and new to boxing, so we went no contact. Second partner was an older dude who immediately starts hitting hard enough to piss me off before I realized this level is what I actually want. It's also not bad for me to get a little pissed off as I need to practice aggression. He's slow but has a habit of hitting and then continuing to walk forward and push the punch in for a long time rather than retract so it's easy to uppercut him under his extended arm. Third partner is always a fun dude to dance with because he's skilled and quick so we both move around a lot.

When we partnered up for drills with the shield, I asked the big guy if he wants go because he was closest to my size. I actually found out he was 18, which kind of blew me away for no logical reason. I gave him some pointers on holding the shield, but when we were throwing hooks there was still no firmness to it and it was like punching hard at a piece of paper, which is far more tiring but also something I take as an endurance exercise when paired with beginners. Ended with heavy bag rounds and then some quick partner exercises of throwing a medicine ball at each other and then getting push-up position and rolling the ball toward one another.