Taylor Flynn – All of the Lights 2

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I signed up mostly because I was craving a new goal…I wanted a new challenge and something to work towards. I moved to London about 2 years ago, and one of the trainers at another gym recommended I get in touch with Scott. Gave him a call and he couldn’t have been nicer. I had been “exercising via boxing” for a bit, but wanted to turn it up a bit.

I also really liked the fact that I got to pick my charity to raise money for. I got to pick a cause that was near and dear to my heart. 

Super nervous (who wouldn’t be), super excited, anxious, pumped…all the above. But when I got there, Scott, Mide, and Tomo made us as all feel right at home.

The whole 10 weeks are very organized, but it is certainly what you make of it. Scott gives you every opportunity to get better, learn, and really kill it…up to you to go get it.

I work in finance, so usually a pretty intense work-life. Definitely let out a bit of steam Tuesday’s and Thursday’s! 

There’s so much to say about my fight. First, have to give an absolute shout out to my opponent, Bella Baldwin. Bella is in the British Army, but also honestly one of the nicest girls. We hadn’t really worked out much leading into the fight, but I knew she was taller than me, so had to make sure I was ready for that. 

I decided to fight for Parkinson’s UK charity. My dad is my favorite person in the whole world, but unfortunately was diagnosed about 6 years ago. He was amazingly able to fly from back home (New York) to watch the fight. 

The fight night itself was absolutely unreal. I was still relatively new to London when I decided to do it, so I just messaged everyone I knew here. Fortunately, everyone was pretty keen on the event, so most people said yes! I had friends from work, friends I had made since moving to London all come out and support. The most amazing part though was that my family, my best friend from growing up, and my 3 best guy-friends all fly from New York to watch. That was unreal. I had no idea some of them were coming.

The night itself was incredible. They do such an amazing job making into something you won’t forget. All the lights, music, formality – really makes you feel like a professional. 

Like I said before, Bella was a known name in our house leading up to the fight!

I knew that my “inside and up close” game needed to be strong. She was taller than me and had the wingspan, so I needed to make sure that I could get past her reach. During training, my corner-woman (my sparring partner, and also happens to be one of my best friends) at one point just told me to go against the ropes and she just started hitting me…she said I needed to know what it felt like to be backed into the corner and come out of it.

Bella threw some epic hits. Her jab was on point. At one point during the first round, she even knocked my contact out of my eye! 

My main strategy though (again, my corner-woman coming up big) – we worked on the “block and counter” moves. Thought that if I played the secondary game, it would hopefully throw her off. That’s essentially what my fight was – the pari-slip/jab-cross.

Each round was honestly so different. First round, I think we both felt nerves and the energy of what what going on because we both came out strong. 

Second round – I wanted to play a bit more defense to hopefully see that my “secondary game” would work. Third round, I genuinely remember just “getting after it”. I don’t typically get that rush of “ahhh” (tends to be more of a “structured hit of adrenaline”). But that’s certainly what happened. My corner-woman just told me “this is it, go get it” and I got a burst of energy…was honestly one of the craziest 2 minutes of my life.

Once the final bell went off, I knew that we had both put it all out there. The fight next to us happened to end early, so for 2nd and 3rd round, the whole arena was watching us. We certainly gave them a show.

Overall, I’m honestly so glad I did it. Like I said, Scott, Mide, and Tomo are wonderful. The create an environment that is family-oriented, and give you every chance to learn.

My corner-woman and I are still best friends, which is great after beating the crap out of each other for 3 months. 

I’m so thankful for everyone who came out. I genuinely can still hear them in my head. 

And finally, very grateful that I was able to fight on behalf of Parkinson’s UK. They’re a great organization that focuses on the treatment and family support for people with Parkinson’s.  Overall – thank you WCB London for the experience of a lifetime!

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