Bill Taft’s head is down; his hands are up.
He’s practicing his punches against a boxing bag in a gym in downtown Morgantown.
Everyone here knows him.
He’s a regular at Jim’s Gym, where he practices his boxing two nights a week.
But Taft isn’t a typical boxer - he’s 63 years old and he’s already had two heart attacks.
“When I had my heart attack, there was a night I was in the hospital, I lay back on the pillow and I thought 'what if these are the last moments of my life, how am I going to deal with that,'” Taft said.
“I thought I will just savor these moments like I have every other moment of my life.”
For 10 years, Taft worked as a teacher at Morgantown High School and also taught at West Virginia University.
He now teaches part-time at WVU.
But after his first heart attack, Taft decided to turn back to an old interest: the sport of boxing.
“It was the way I had to deal with the inevitability of my own mortality. I’m probably the happiest I’ve ever been in my life,” he said.
“My wife had a little trouble dealing with it. Some of my friends thought I was crazy, but it made sense to me,” he said. “It’s a way of laying claim to something that most people think is very alien - the end of your life.”
Taft has only boxed in one official match, but he won.
Pete McGinley is Taft’s trainer at Jim’s Gym.
“When he told me that he actually wanted to have a fight, I told him initially, no. But he convinced me with hard work and dedication,” McGinley said.
And he wasn’t the only one who took notice of Taft's motivation.
Eric Watkins is an aspiring boxer and works with Taft at Jim’s Gym.
He wants to be a professional boxer and says Bill Taft proves the sport knows no age.
“The first time I sparred with him, I slept on him,” Watkins said.
“Anyone can do anything. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
Valerie Walker spends two nights a week at Jim’s Gym working on her boxing techniques.
She also has a doctorate in cancer cell biology and is a veterinarian.
“Twelve- and 13-year-olds are coming in here and can’t keep up with him. He’s working constantly; he’s wanting to learn,” she said.
“He’s just an inspiration to all of us.”
Taft says he knows all about the concerns boxing can bring to someone his age, like a head injury.
But he refuses to let that stop him, and he says he’s heard good comments from others about his work.
“I have had people stop and tell me that they were older, and it made them feel good to know that someone like themselves was doing something like this,” Taft said.
“It changes people’s perception about what it means to be older. Certainly something like this says older people can do things and be respected in ways that young people understand.”
Taft says he’s ready and looking forward to his second official boxing match, but nothing has yet been scheduled.