Will Harvey works in the city in the financial services, wears a suit and sits in an office every day.  He is also training to become a fighter.  White collar boxing is a burgeoning past time amongst the suited and booted of London, with more men and women in the capital swapping their power suits for boxing gloves than ever before.  Will has never boxed before, yet in June he will be pulling on the silk shorts and facing a real opponent in the ring.  Throughout his journey towards the ‘Fight For CALM’ we will be following his progress as he transforms from city slicker to city slugger, and here’s his first blog entry.  Round one.  Ding ding!

“After a weekend that involved meeting the CALM guys, explaining my ludicrous idea to the family, and getting very excited at the prospect of training, getting fit and fighting, yesterday I started the long trek to becoming an international boxing legend!!! (Ok, another of many white collar boxers in London, but the former sounds more exciting!)

My cousin has told me a few things, since he has been there and done that. He went to Thailand and took part in a professional Thai boxing match. And won. I can learn a thing or two from him. Stay positive, keep moving, prepare, and feel fitter, faster, stronger and quicker than your opponent… That is a lot of hard work!!

I knew it would be tough, but it has now dawned on me, the commitment that this is going to take, and the work I am going to have to put in every day.  It is also a lot of dedication and will involve doing things I hate, like not drinking, and learning to love running… the latter will be the most difficult, I assure you. I am a goalkeeper by tradition, so am more used to shouting at others to run for me. Regardless, I am going to hit this head on.

Last night, I officially started the training for “The Fight for CALM”. And I can tell you, the sweat was dripping, the arms were aching and you know that feeling where you burp a little bit of sick in your mouth? Well that was right up there! I was paired up with someone who has been boxing for 2 years… and a female at that. This was good though, she knew what she was talking about and pointed out my various technical faults, whilst I continued to successfully work the pads and confused myself and her, as her punches rained onto mine.

Then we sparred. Only body sparring but still, we were throwing punches at each other. I got over the fact that I would be hitting a woman, when she tried to hit me. “We are both in here for the same reason” I told myself, and so I punched her back. It still didn’t make me feel any less guilty for punching her in the tit! But the positive was that she said I should think about head sparring because I was “actually quite good”. That is nice to hear, although it could just be an excuse to try to exact some revenge for that misguided, (or well guided, I’m not sure), jab to the boob.

When I got home, I started up a diary. I will be tracking how many slow press ups and slow sit ups I can do, how much cardio I have done and how many technical sessions I do. All things Sam (my cousin) has advised me to do. It should help me keep motivated, and to track improvements and to keep positive!

There is a lot here that’s quite close to the problems I have had within my own head. Keeping positive, pushing through whatever is thrown at you, not backing down and working hard to get to the end goal. Welcoming the battle in front of you, and relishing the fight that each step brings with it. The mental strength required is a great metaphor for the positivity required in life.

Day 1 over. 144 days until June.”