JACKSONVILLE - Shelby Griffis was in her element as an outstanding athlete nearly 10 years ago, a softball player for Clay High's Class of 2014, and she remembers that her athletic skills were somewhat a byproduct of her attention to detail during off-season preparation.
"The Guns and Hoses boxing tournament has been around for quite a few years and just kind of thought I'd be good at it," said Shelby, now 29, and a engineer paramedic for Station 26 in North Jacksonville. "I drive the truck."
The Guns and Hoses boxing challenge, now in its 26th year, features a competition between the police departments of north Florida, including Clay, Duval and St. Johns counties, versus the firefighters from the same area in an arena format on Sept. 20 at the University of North Florida. Money raised will benefit the local Muscular Dystrophy Association and the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Foundation.
Griffis noted that the physical training for boxing is a big part of the attraction as she reacted with a group of about a dozen other athletes to a series of whistles that dictate the lengths of speed jump roping, squats and laps around a steamy gym filled with boxing heavy bags, a boxing ring, dumbbells, ropes for tossing around, plus ropes wrapped around poles for ducking and weaving. The room was reminiscent of a scene from any of the "Rocky" movies due to its primal nature.
"I didn't realize that I was able to do something new like this," said Griffis. "I've already been hit pretty hard, and it hurt; it kind of jiggled my brain a little bit, but you collect yourself and get back into your zone as part of the training."
Griffis' coach recalled seeing her walking into the gym for the first time.
"I knew when she walked into the gym about a month ago that she was an athlete," said legendary boxing coach Isaac "Ike" Davis, who has been training local boxers and the Guns and Hoses athletes for nearly a decade. "She had the swagger of an athlete. (She) looked around, sized up her competition, talked with me, was very coachable and was very attentive to taking what I was saying and applying it. A lot of people come in and think that boxing like this is like boxing on TV. It's a whole different game."
Davis said that Griffis initially was curious, like many before her.
"Some come in to get in shape; some because they want to learn to defend themselves; and some just like to sweat," said Davis. "Getting punched and adapting takes a while. Shelby has adapted very quickly, and you can see her competitiveness come out when she is in the ring and doing things that she may have just been told a day or two ago. She is a very balanced athlete, and she is very tough mentally. That's her strength."
Griffis, a softball and golf athlete in high school, has recently taken up hiking in the mountains and working out on her own to improve.
"It is only about 50% when we spar most times, but it gets heated at times," said Griffis. "I still have my internal competitiveness when I get in the ring. I have to fight now because the other guy is going to hit me. A lot of people don't know what it is like to get hit. It's an eye-opener or closer if you get hit hard."
Griffis has been training for about a month for the Guns and Hoses competition without telling her parents, YET.
"They think I'm just working out, stretching, running or doing yoga," said Griffis, acknowledging that the secret could be revealed soon when her story is published in the Clay Today newspaper. "I think my dad would be cool with it."
Griffis liked the team camaraderie with the boxing team, as well as the training.
"We train hard together, we box against each other, but, in the end, I think most of us get along outside the ring," said Griffis, who is waiting and training to see if her weight class will have an available competitor. "I'm training to be ready when the weigh-ins happen on the Thursday prior to the event, and hope there is another girl in my weight. The training is good too, even if I don't get to box."
Also competing in the women's competition will be Raines High graduate Zharia Brooks, who works with Clay County Fire Department Station 22 on Fleming Island.