Standout YouTube boxing coach Jason Van Veldhuysen of Precision Striking just announced that, as of April 1 2014, he will be devoting himself to boxing, as a coach, producer and writer, fulltime. Being an honorable man Jason gave his employer far more notice than the traditional two weeks, and is enthusiastically looking forward to doing as much with boxing as possible. There is a lot of junky stuff going on in the economy. But ambitiously creative people like Jason are still striking out on their own. I would like to welcome Jason to the ranks of the few, the free, and the starving, and wish him all the best.

I have agreed to help Jason edit and proof his upcoming boxing book, which is targeted for beginning amateurs and their coaches. He has informed me that the text is nearly complete, though he has not advanced to photo insertions and video links, which will be a feature of this groundbreaking e-book. When I interviewed Jason at the outset of his writing project last summer he seemed bent on a book that was going to 'go beyond instructional to the inspirational level'. In his latest e-mail he seems to be experiencing that feeling a writer gets when he proofs his own work and is surprised that he pulled it off better than he had expected.

Jason is currently showing a mix of dogged realism and 'enchantment' with the prospect of devoting 'one hundred percent' to the art of boxing. Expect an e-book offering from Jason this summer, and an advance review at jameslafond.com this spring.