After taking a few boxing classes for fun at NYSC from an instructor named Santana. One day I looked him in the eye and said, “I’m going to become a professional boxer now, goodbye.” He stood there dumbfounded.

Courtesy of Creative Commons

I remember the day I walked into Gleason’s Boxing gym for the first time. It was in 1998 and at the time, the majority of boxers were male.

They all gawked at me as I strode in wearing my leopard print tights which matched my wild and untamed hair. I was quite a sight.

I walked holding my head high and ready to conquer the boxing world.

Back then Gleason’s was different than it is today. The air was musky and hung with sweat, the windows were foggy, everything seemed old and worn.

It was an environment I was neither familiar with or exposed to in my life.

So there I was, Ms. Middle Class amongst those who were rough and lived in underprivileged neighborhoods.

However, nothing was going to stop me. I was determined to prove myself as a female boxer.

I remember the day my trainer decided to have me spar with some dude. There were no female boxers around.

I got in the ring, started moving around and practicing my jab. My trainer yelling for me to bob and weave. So I started bobbing and weaving. Then I tried doing an uppercut. I loved those upper cuts, but I wasn’t able to get in close enough to do it.

I began feeling winded. Thankfully, the bell rang because I was dying of thirst. I opened my mouth, for my trainer to give me water. He squirts a little water and tells me to spit it out. I looked at him as if he was out of his mind. There was no way I was going to spit it out. I swallowed it.

The bell rang again. I hesitated. I was exhausted and wanted to stop. The next thing I know, I was keeling over.

I didn’t have my guard up and the guy landed a punch to my liver. There are no words to describe the level of pain.

I learned a valuable lesson that day. One I will never forget. Defense is everything. In the ring and in life. When my guard was down, there was an opening for him to hit me.

I was out of breath, thirsty and my movements were sluggish. My opponent took complete advantage of the situation.

While reflecting back on this incident, I realized the enemy of our souls does the same. He waits for an opening to lodge his onslaughts and attacks on us. If we’re are open, tired or unguarded, he will catch us by surprise which will leave us reeling.

In 1 Peter 5:8 it says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour,” and Luke 21:34 says, “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.”

We can’t let him catch us off guard. We have to keep our defenses up by reading the Word and praying. We need to practice bobbing and weaving daily.

Thankfully, we have the best trainer, the Holy Spirit and the best corner man, Jesus Christ.

We are guaranteed to win and promised the victory!

Have you been bobbing and weaving lately?