London 2012 Olympics

The American girl is a damn good boxer.

What an Irish crowd!

I really don't like boxing. I can't watch it. I know, I know, it's good for self-discipline, fitness, keeping kids out of trouble etc. but it is still beating the crap out of someone.

Team GB get first women's boxing Gold medal ever. First time they have been able to box...

Gold!

She is such an awesome woman. She once fell down the stairs, broke her back, proceeded to win a fight, and only then go to hospital.
Just saw the highlights. What a fight, and what an atmosphere! The entire Excel centre shouting your name must be wonderful

Snapshot of Britain today.

Gold for posh girl and her dancing horse.
Gold for punchy drunk bacardi breezer girl.

Up steps Jade Jones in the taekwondo final. All of 19 years old, already beaten one of the best in the game to get here.

Gold - get in there girl.

I really don't like boxing. I can't watch it. I know, I know, it's good for self-discipline, fitness, keeping kids out of trouble etc. but it is still beating the crap out of someone.

Not necessarily. It can entail having the whatsit beaten out of you which is another thing entirely and completely different on a moral scale.

Leeds women are harder than Leeds men. FACT.

lol wut

She is such an awesome woman. She once fell down the stairs, broke her back, proceeded to win a fight, and only then go to hospital.
Just saw the highlights. What a fight, and what an atmosphere! The entire Excel centre shouting your name must be wonderful

Wow, I missed that part. A lot of boxers are mentally, and physically very tough. A cut on their lip or eye lid usually is nothing to them, but having my lip busted up once, it bloody hurts! A lot of athletes go through so much pain which is also what makes the difference from winning and losing.

I really don't like boxing. I can't watch it. I know, I know, it's good for self-discipline, fitness, keeping kids out of trouble etc. but it is still beating the crap out of someone.

I am a huge boxing fan. The fitness required to box is immense, but there is an art to it. There are fights that people just beat the hell out of each other, but until you do something, it's really hard to see what someone is doing. A simple punch, duck, guard, and step out of range for example may take months to years to master.
It sounds easy, but it's not. If anyone has ever had a fight, I bet afterwards, you don't really remember how things went because it was so fast. These boxers are a lot faster than us, and have the ability to read body language and try to avoid shots, or use feints and disguise what they will do.

London Olympics 2012: Australia loses gold dignity to Britain - YouTube

MinhDinh when you first learn to box everything happens so fast that its overwhelming, however after much much training, it all starts to slow down. The only way to learn this is to actually fight which is why boxers spa. In boxing you are going to get hit and have to accept that fact but I look at bicycle racing and think those guys & gals are mad

I went to the Olympic Park yesterday. It was really realistic! I even found myself remarking on how well rendered the grass was and how it was cool that all the people in the stadium moved independently from one another. Obviously there were many characters who repeated themselves, like the 'Gamesmaker' avatars and the Euro teens in pastel shorts, but the attention to detail was amazing. I loved the way the light changed so subtly as the sun went down. I had lots of little missions to complete, like buying a pin badge for my wife from one of the many concessions and (the hardest and longest mission of all) getting a pile of grub from the world's biggest MacDonalds.

It's so beautifully done. I could have just set myself up on a hill in the middle and watched it all go on around me. There's no threat, so you're not concerned about getting shot or eaten, you can just chill out. My credits ran out quite quickly because there's no conceivable way of covering the expense of sustaining yourself or buying GB flags and stick on tattoos, but that's ok because everyone is super friendly. I didn't see any poor people or ill people, but I imagine that if I had actually collapsed from chicken nugget and hot chocolate induced nausea, someone would have been on hand immediately to scoop me up and remove me to a suitable place... Homerton Hospital I imagine - which sits in the less graphically enhanced area visible across the dividing waterways which stop the avatars from wandering into 'non activity zones'. This is funded in a similar manner, but lacks much of the enthusiastic presentation and corporate support from which 'Gamesland' seems to benefit.

I think i need to practice my skills though because the GB Hockey team I was playing with lost massively to the Dutch. I think i must have gone up a skill level without realising. Can anyone advise how to open the Velodrome level? I deciphered the map and got up there ok, but the level seems to be locked, which was sad at the time. Apparently my health levels were at an all time low by the time I walked home, but I operated a cheat and a nice guy appeared on a sort of golf buggy and gave me a lift through Victoria Park.

Imagine if real life could be like this!

The only way to learn this is to actually fight which is why boxers spa.

This is also why they look so relaxed and have such nice skin.

I went to the Olympic Park yesterday. It was really realistic! I even found myself remarking on how well rendered the grass was and how it was cool that all the people in the stadium moved independently from one another. Obviously there were many characters who repeated themselves, like the 'Gamesmaker' avatars and the Euro teens in pastel shorts, but the attention to detail was amazing. I loved the way the light changed so subtly as the sun went down. I had lots of little missions to complete, like buying a pin badge for my wife from one of the many concessions and (the hardest and longest mission of all) getting a pile of grub from the world's biggest MacDonalds.

It's so beautifully done. I could have just set myself up on a hill in the middle and watched it all go on around me. There's no threat, so you're not concerned about getting shot or eaten, you can just chill out. My credits ran out quite quickly because there's no conceivable way of covering the expense of sustaining yourself or buying GB flags and stick on tattoos, but that's ok because everyone is super friendly. I didn't see any poor people or ill people, but I imagine that if I had actually collapsed from chicken nugget and hot chocolate induced nausea, someone would have been on hand immediately to scoop me up and remove me to a suitable place... Homerton Hospital I imagine - which sits in the less graphically enhanced area visible across the dividing waterways which stop the avatars from wandering into 'non activity zones'. This is funded in a similar manner, but lacks much of the enthusiastic presentation and corporate support from which 'Gamesland' seems to benefit.

I think i need to practice my skills though because the GB Hockey team I was playing with lost massively to the Dutch. I think i must have gone up a skill level without realising. Can anyone advise how to open the Velodrome level, I deciphered the map and got up there ok, but the level seems to be locked, which was sad at the time. Apparently my health levels were at an all time low by the time I walked home, but I operated a cheat and a nice guy appeared on a sort of golf buggy and gave me a lift through Victoria Park.

Imagine if real life could be like this!

(Or "Oy, Cavendish, you'd better not touch my wing mirror." )

Great piece in the independent

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/mark-steel/mark-steel-cyclists-women-refugees--vindicated-at-last-8022577.html

I am a huge boxing fan. The fitness required to box is immense, but there is an art to it. There are fights that people just beat the hell out of each other, but until you do something, it's really hard to see what someone is doing. A simple punch, duck, guard, and step out of range for example may take months to years to master.
It sounds easy, but it's not. If anyone has ever had a fight, I bet afterwards, you don't really remember how things went because it was so fast. These boxers are a lot faster than us, and have the ability to read body language and try to avoid shots, or use feints and disguise what they will do.

Yes it is difficult, requires great skill, training, fitness etc, etc,.but it still seems odd to have a sport where the intention is to hit someone in the head to the point that they are knocked out (more the professional game than olympic, but still)

screw at the olympics
LEAKED: Olympic Village Orientation - YouTube

Ogogo got battered. Just lost his semi.

MinhDinh when you first learn to box everything happens so fast that its overwhelming, however after much much training, it all starts to slow down. The only way to learn this is to actually fight which is why boxers spa. In boxing you are going to get hit and have to accept that fact but I look at bicycle racing and think those guys & gals are mad

I have done martial arts and sparred in boxing already :p

Yes it is difficult, requires great skill, training, fitness etc, etc,.but it still seems odd to have a sport where the intention is to hit someone in the head to the point that they are knocked out (more the professional game than olympic, but still)

Well, I think boxing has existed for a very long time. Back then, boxing was most likely tame compared to the sword fights etc...

I don't find it brutal or odd at all. I have grown up doing Kung Fu at age 15 and I love combat sports along with my footy, cycling and table tennis. I appreciate the fact that you need to impose your will and put your power and strength into it to knock a person out. The explosiveness and endurance is something to marvel at for me.

I would love to spa with a kung fu boxer

Esqiva Falcano is probably my favourite boxer of the entire tournament so far.

Well, a pro boxer would always beat a Kung Fu guy IMO. Too athletic and powerful. People under estimate the power boxers generate. However if legs are allowed, it does throw off many boxers who simply get kicked back and thrown off their rhythm.. My friend who does Wing Chun to a high level easily kicked me away when I was trying to box him, then he would rush with fast Wing Chun combo's. They don't hurt as much, but the speed and getting tagged is unsettling. Over all I feel Muay Thai is a great base to be a good fighter. Their kicks hurt a lot. I'd love to train in that one day, but at 10 quid a lesson or 60+ a month, I'll leave it for now. :p

Yes very powerful and fast. He is the fave for Gold in Middle. His bro is good too. I felt Ogogo go a lucky decision last time, and he looked a lot weaker to this Brazilian.

I enjoyed the Japanese guy's style, not impressive but he imposes himself in the third. Almost Margarito in approach LOL.