Boxing & Boards

I started boxing about two years ago, a few years late for professional rank. I was introduced to a former heavyweight, Seamus McDonagh. Seamus started boxing at an early age, winning All-Ireland amateur titles, before emigrating to New York in 1983, where he won the U.S. Golden Gloves tournament. After turning professional, he won 19 fights with 14 k.o.'s and reached a World ranking of 10. He later fought Evander Holyfield in Atlantic City for a shot at the world title. After losing that match, he retired from boxing. He ended up running a small business in San Francisco. He hadn’t touched the gloves in a dozen years and was intrigued at the idea of talking about the sport again.

Seamus is a charismatic man. A local paper did a profile on him that captures his preserving spirit.

SF Weekly Article On Seamus McDonagh

I thought it would be cool to try boxing. While I tried Karate briefly as a teenager, I have always dreamed of being able to really fight. After one session, I found boxing the toughest workout I’d ever tried. This was after successfully completing three San Francisco Marathons, hiking the John Muir trail and climbing three 14,000+ peaks in the few years prior.

I was quickly hooked. The toughest part wasn’t throwing punches while dancing around for an hour or two. The challenge was to keep punching in the ring while somebody was punching back. The fear of getting hit still causes me to tense up, which is much more tiring. I forgot to breathe. I forgot to move. Then I got hit.

I initially put a heavy bag in a spare room. The nice part of the sport is that it’s cheap. The world’s best, leather Everlast bag at 150 pounds is only $500. After that, there’s not much to buy other than tape and gloves.

Last year, after a decade without a dedicated boxing club, the 3^rd Street Gym opened up in San Francisco’s Dog Patch. Two young professionals want to revive the sport in San Francisco.

Third Street Gym - San Francisco

I spent most of my first year of training learning to thow a left jab.  A good punch comes from your legs and whips through your body.  Speed creates the force.  I quickly found out that my back wasn't ready to dance with the punches and started seeing a sports chiropractor. I moved to yoga and pilates to build flexibility and core strength.  Bulky muscles don't work, so I stopped lifting weights after a routine of many years.  After many sessions, I started to feel I was getting my balance right for boxing. 

My first sparring match was with Miguel. Seamus picked him out in the gym. Why, I’m not sure. I went 3, 3 minute rounds. I didn’t fall down. I didn’t stop punching. I didn’t throw up. I did end up with a bruised rib and a very slick looking black eye. It turns out Miguel used to fight smokers in the Marines. While he was out of shape, he still weighed 200+ pounds compared to my 165 pounds. The adrenaline was amazing. I wanted another fight. My wife and colleagues were convinced I was crazy, which was hard to argue.

Unfortunately, my first few black eyes coincided with the process of getting my son into private school in San Francisco. It was difficult to explain to the headmaster in one school, who eventually declined to accept my son. I promised my wife I’d stop sparring until after school started. Fortunately, my son is happy in Kindergarten and I’m back at it.

I have a lot to learn from Seamus.  My plan is to have Seamus teach my son and daughter the art of boxing. Seamus has already had a few sessions with my son, but we’re waiting to make sure he can understand it is for self-defense. My hope is that they can build confidence through boxing that helps them avoid the need to fight. I didn’t find that physical confidence until I was an adult.

What does this have to do with venture boards? Probably not much, but I like boxing. I do note that one of the toughest things that board members face is fear. Frequently, it’s fear of confronting a CEO who may not be working at peak efficiency. Many times the founding CEO has done an amazing job taking round after round of punches from perspective customers until he knocked down the first one. That some maniacal stubbornness may not work as well when the company and the board expand to require formalities of process. Most board members fear the disruption of change. I’ve learned that the key is to keep moving, whether in the ring or on the board.

Comments

[seamus mcdonagh]

In case I didn't fully communicate to you, how highly impressed I was and am by your blog, please take this occasion to relay same, and similarily, if not more impressed, by your determination, dedication and eagerness to perfect the noble art (western martial art), of self defense. Now at the risk of spoiling this whole correspondence, which I'm apt to do at the most inopportune time, dare I say, fear is like a memory, a thought, notion, a mental impression, real or imagined, and all the preparation I did, over 20 years of boxing, none of it had any substantial effect on the fear problem. Actually, it was specifically fear that lost me the heavyweight championship of the world, and thank God, or I would not have ever been shown how to deal with fear, which has me so contented and happy today. Seamus

[PC]

You look like the average dude on the street and I bet people have no idea that you could kick their butts. That must be a great feeling. Keep it up.