"Today may have proved to be a landmark in sports history. After unraveling years of red tape, Primrose6789 will now throw her head into the ring - the prize ring, that is."
- "Has Primrose ever boxed against a real professional?"
- "From having been trained in his backyard by great boxing coach Harrier88 (who took a boxing course at university for one semester - good enough for us), we hope she's qualified to do so. There is no one who can match her strength, her endurance or her aggressiveness."
"Well, can this adorable puppy who has already been nicknamed "The Sunflower Express" wreak havoc among the Troll heavyweight ranks? Whoever she fights first, it will be one hot ticket."
Live Challenge No. 10 - Boxing!
I have been looking forward to this. 
As one final outdoor challenge to wrap up this summer season, I gave Primrose a little crash course of sorts in the sport of boxing. As I referenced in that Rocky IV introductory text, I briefly took up a boxing course during my university days, and also later took a Krav Maga class for some street fighting techniques, though that's not what today was about. Primrose, by the way, also got some kickboxing training from her father in her youth, so she knew some stuff too.
My boxing days, if you're even going to call them that, are now almost a decade in the past, of course, and for Prim's kickboxing training, it has been even longer, so obviously neither of us is an expert - but we thought it would be fun to try and do our best. I had a brief look at some instruction videos last evening, but I've been mostly going from memory and instinct when it comes to drills and techniques.
Oh, and unlike most of our Live Challenges, this one was purely for Primrose. I wanted to see how she does, and would then decide whether she passed or not. Now, without further ado...
Fighting Stance and Basic Technique
Before we started with any drills, we both put on our boxing gloves and I told Prim to just attack me as she sees fit while I was weaving around a bit and trying to deflect her punches - following the rules of boxing, that is. 
Prim's kickboxing instincts kicked in (literally!) more than a few times today, and she needed constant reminders that we were doing "Olympic" boxing, where you only use your hands (or front paws). She couldn't help it: Once she gets into her fighting mode, her mind seems to conjure up some images that make her go berserk, so she can get a little carried away.
It may have been a "brave" decision on my part to do all of this without putting in a mouth guard, but don't worry, I took my calcium. As for Primrose, apart from her little kickboxing escapades, she did impressively well already, needing very little corrections. I gave her a few pointers about her fighting stance and emphasized the importance of immediately returning to your stance after throwing any punches to avoid giving your opponent an opening for a counter-attack, but on the whole, Prim demonstrated that this wasn't her first rodeo. 
We went on to practice some punching techniques. The grindette kept on her gloves as I got out some pads to give her something to aim for.
Jabs and Crosses
Jabs are arguably the most important punches in boxing, and the most common. You simply throw a straight punch at your opponent with your non-dominant hand, to both keep them at your distance and to pin them down for a more devastating attack. Since this is partially a defensive move too, it is essential to execute it quickly and immediately get back into your fighting stance afterwards. A cross is a straight punch with your dominant hand, and is best executed after setting it up through a couple of jabs.
We practiced that, and I later started swiping towards Prim with my pads to make her duck and dodge to the side, followed by her throwing some more jabs to get back into a good defensive position, like in a real fight. Again, Primrose showed a lot of heart and got carried away a few more times, but her punches were pretty solid. So far, so good.
Hooks and Uppercuts
While the previous punches were meant for when you got your opponent at about an arm's length away from you, these are meant for when you get right into their face. For a hook, you would attack your opponent with either your right or left hand in a sweeping motion from the side, turning in your hips a little for some extra power. For an uppercut, you would simply throw an upwards punch with your dominant hand right into your opponent's chin. Properly executed against a poorly defended opponent, each of these punches could be a knockout blow. It is important, however, not to overextend yourself during these motions and to keep your guard up, quickly resetting into your fighting stance after the punch, as a counter-attack at such a close range could be devastating.
Due to her tough tennis season, Primrose noticed some pain in her right arm trying to land those uppercuts, so we decided to just do them in slow motion for the purposes of this drill. Prim's hooks were good once again. It's not easy to get the technique right, especially avoiding to neglect your defense during these motions, but I think the grindette caught on fairly quickly.
We then ended up putting it all together, letting the grindette throw a series of jabs followed by a cross, then duck to the side and get into my face for some hooks, and finally throw jabs again to get back into a good defensive position. We threw in a couple of belly busters too. Also, we swapped roles for a bit and let Primrose hold those pads, so she could see how I execute those punches.
I decided that Prim was ready for the next step where she would keep attacking me freely for a period of time, much like we did in the beginning, except that she knew what to look out for now. Whenever I noticed that she left herself open, I would throw a slow punch towards Primrose without making contact, just to suggest that she is unprotected in that part, but that was hardly ever necessary and she always quickly corrected herself. Impressive stuff so far.
Blocking
Dishing out punches will only get you so far, so it was time for one final important technique, namely blocking. Just putting your hand in front of you will only cause you to hit yourself when your opponent deals a good blow against it, so you would either need to actively knock your opponent's punches away or simply press your gloves directly against your head (without leaving your upper body vulnerable, of course). We practiced both, and while I naturally didn't use full power against the lovable grindette, I eventually started trying to actually hit her, and also started throwing progressively harder punches. She did great until the end, qualifying her for one final challenge...
Finale: A Round with Harrier
Primrose proved that she could hold her own, so let's bring it on: Both of us got our gloves on yet again, and both of us now properly attacked each other. Again, no full force against the grindette who would be several weight classes below me, but I did try to hit her. Still, I mostly focused on defense - which is good, because Prim's aggressiveness is well-known around these parts. 
While she got her kickboxing instincts mostly under control, she of course ended up resorting to biting my shoulder again when I tried to clinch her (that grappling move where the referee would eventually shout "Break!"). That's just a puppy thing, it wasn't the first time for her either.
We actually really enjoyed ourselves, but after a few "rounds", we decided that Primrose better leaves some energy for her final tennis matches on Sunday. This ended our last Troll Challenge of the summer season, and I'm proud to report that the grindette passed with flying colors!
Very well done, Prim! You proved that you are as tough as you are adorable.
Primrose already mentioned that the kickboxing she did in her youth was mostly taught to her for defensive purposes in real-life settings, and after practicing with her again today, I can honestly say that anyone who would like to pick a fight with her would be well-advised to look for an easier target.
This concludes our crazy and intense Troll summer. We are already looking forward to our Live Challenges in fall and winter, with some plain old gaming, drinking and indoor fun - though not exclusively. And until then, it would be great to meet up at the tables again too.
What I also noticed is that I do not have the endurance I had 30+ years ago anymore 
The hard tennis training is taking its toll. 
Primrose fought hard until the end, and got another clear and decisive win in the singles. Her doubles match ended in a very, very close tie break loss that also could have gone either way. And all of that despite really harsh circumstances this summer, and even some challenging and physically exhausting boxing drills on Friday. What an outstanding job! 
But don´t worry, it´s off-season and there will be more technique lessons than intense cardio-training. 
