Today I took a good old fashioned beating while we were sparring. The worst of which was given to me by one person. See, I'm a bit taller then he was so I kept on jabbing him in the face.
Only thing is, I don't think he appreciated it much because mere seconds later he planted his foot squarely and firmly in my stomach, thus rendering me 'out of action'.
I had the trainer at my side going "Breath Wardy, just breath!" Believe me when I tell you that breathing was Exactly what I was trying to do. I mean I wanted so hard to take a breath, but no, my body had other ideas, so I just crouched there, mouth open, trying to coordinate my lungs into taking in some air so I could get on with it.
When the breath finally came it felt good for all the time it took to take another breath, and then we were at it again.
It was such a good session today. There were five of us sparring together and by the end of it we were sat around in a circle, examining each others bruises, laughing heartily at the mug shots we took and going over what we had learnt that day.
Sure, each and every one of us had blood on our teeth by the time we'd done.
But we only know that because each and every one of us was grinning from ear to ear!