Holding the Bar

By Glenn Stewart

I wanted to share an

experience that I had just lately that I felt extremely privileged to be a part of. You’ve heard the saying “Holding the Bar” or “Hold the Bar High.” It is having a standard or a level that you, other people, or things can reach for.

Me and my buddy Jonathan

You can hold your own bar or someone else can hold the imaginary bar that we are trying to reach for. If the bar is held high it is tougher to reach but when you get there you will have really accomplished something. Often many are trying to pull the bar down to their level to something that’s easier or seems more fun or it’s what we want, but often it is not what we need.

I was visiting a good friend of mine who has been training/boxing with a professional boxing coach. He asked if I’d like to go for a lesson and that he would ask a favour to get me in. All the people in the gym are trained or training to be professional boxers with careers in the ring. I said that I would love to. It would give me a chance to burn off the weekend’s events and clean out the carburetor. I was warned that there’s no goofing around and they are serious about what they do.

I got 5 minutes of instruction in the front room from my buddy so I’d have an idea what to expect when we got there and I’m getting more excited by the second. I had sparred in my younger days with a golden gloves champion half my size and he would pummel me at will, but I’d land the odd one and always leave exhausted. So I can’t wait to get to the gym, get the gloves on and start swinging. We arrive at the gym. It’s downstairs in an old building. It totally looks like a boxing gym that Rocky trained in. There were posters all over the walls of boxing matches from 25 years ago. Even my old sparring buddy had a poster on the wall of a match he was in, in the U.S. So I was really getting pumped; couldn’t wait to start dodging punches, ducking and lunging throwing haymakers. I was just beside myself with excitement.

First thing that happened was the trainer hands me a skipping

rope and says ok skip. When the bell rings you can rest, when the bell goes again start skipping again. You have 3 rounds of skipping. Wow, ok that sounds good I guess, a little warm-up before all the punching. So, I make it through the 3 rounds of skipping, but, it was not pretty, and I was glad nobody was watching but the three of us. So, the trainer says ok time to wrap your hands, YES !!! Now we are talking. We were finally getting serious. My hands got wrapped and he said “get in the ring.” The adrenaline is starting to flow. Then he says “We are going to work on your footwork and balance.” Geez, well this can’t take long I‘ve been walking all my life. Turns out, if I want to box I was going to have to learn to walk all over again and find my balance because I really didn’t have any. Back and forth I went across the ring trying to stay straight, keep my feet the right

distance apart, don’t walk heel toe, slide my feet, and keep them flatter. I was struggling to do this even remotely right. “Now,” he said “get more sideways, you are too big a target and keep your hands by your jaw.” Every minute, or less, he was back saying I was standing too square and my hands were too low. He’d say, “I just knocked you out and I could easily push you over,” which he would prove minus the knockout part. So, I was supposed to try to jab, step, jab, step. I know I looked and felt like a robot that hasn’t been oiled in… well, never. Then he said, “Slow down, you’re trying to go too fast.” I thought I was moving like a snail already. I was shocked at this point at how much I could practice these things and how ridiculous I must look. The whole time though I’m still secretly wanting to get to the punching and getting punched part. I practiced these techniques for a few rounds listening for the bells to end each round. I was starting to get a clock in my head as to when the round would end without looking at a clock. Learning things I didn’t know I was learning. Sure would be handy for the real thing.

He said, “Ok, good start, let’s get the gloves on,” and asks my friend to get in the ring. Finally, here we go. He said he wanted me to wear a body protector vest thing, you know like you see in the movies. I figured so my buddy can’t beat me up too bad, he’s been training for 3 years. So, the next thing the coach said was to cover my jaw, move around the ring like he showed me, then stop often, lift my arms in the air and my buddy will hit me 3 times. Then move a bit, stop, lift your arms and he will hit you 3 more times. Well, this is not at all the plan I had in my head when I said yes to this fun boxing gig.

It turns out I don’t move correctly, my balance is off, I punch wrong, my hands are too low, my elbow goes out, I was hitting through the bag instead of snapping it just at the end of my reach,

and I don’t breathe right. Long story short, I have a lot to learn if I was to ever be remotely good. Doing what I wanted to do would just ingrain more terrible habits and make myself worse rather than better.

I went there thinking it would be fun to do certain things. The coach didn’t care what I wanted to do; he just knew what I needed and what would benefit me much more in the future. He was a professional. He also knew I would never be in a professional fight, ever, and that he would have never let me be hit in the head in his gym as long as he owned it. No matter how much I thought it would be fun. But, he was training me like I could become a professional knowing I never would be one. His boxers that will have a career don’t get to spar until they have been there at least a year and a half.

I was absolutely thrilled to have met him and the fact that he held the bar and did not drop it down or lower it down for me. It was refreshing to be around someone that wasn’t about to drop the bar just to make sure I’d come back or that I got what I wanted. He helped me with what I needed and I got more out of it personally by not being allowed to fly around out of control than I ever would have gotten doing what I wanted. The hour and a half was a lesson in self-control, going against my instincts, and working on developing skills that will help way beyond the ring. I never hit anybody that lesson but I learned more about boxing than any other time in a gym. I could go to other gyms and spar the day I got there, do exactly what I wanted. Thank goodness I didn’t accidently go to one of those. I will be back to the professional coach whenever I’m in the area - as long as they will let me through the doors. 'Rocky'

We all have the ability to hold the bar for ourselves and for others. Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, business owners, employees, coaches, etc. It’s not always easy to hold the bar, it gets heavy at times but I know there are many people that are happy out there that someone is holding the bar. I salute to all of you for Holding the Bar.

What’s this got to do with horsemanship? Everything.

Glenn Stewart

Glenn offers year round educational horsemanship programs at his facility near Fort St. John BC and is available to travel and conduct clinics. For more information visit our website www.thehorseranch.com.

(See his listing in our Business Services section under TRAINERS)