"The Brick's" Unofficial Guide To Pugilistic Places

IT IS THAT TIME AGAIN...TIME FOR MORE BOXING GYM REVIEWS

This time it is Stockyards Boxing and Fitness verses Bloor Street Fitness. 

Since these are the only two "Pugilistic Places" I have attended over the last year, these are the only two I can review at this time.

As you will see from this report, one of these fitness centres is doing very well, and the other is going downhill, quite quickly.

Let us first look at Bloor Fitness, which I have to say I have been very disappointed with over the past few months.

The fact that this facility is open 24/7 for its members is the only thing keeping this gym's rating from being much lower.

General disrespect for customers, unprofessional staff and faulty equipment are keys to the decline in the enjoyment of this once fine and well-known Toronto fitness facility.

Although there are giant boxing gloves outside the gym, and a boxing studio, this facility does not offer any boxing classes. Only boxing-for-fitness, and something called "Tonebana", a pseudo-boxing class. It is supposed to be a combination of boxing and dancing, but is in reality nothing special.
Therefore, this fitness centre is useless for anyone who wants to be a serious boxer. However, it is great if you just want to go in and train on your own.

At one class, an instructor is known to threaten the students. I was one of them, and it was no joke. 
Management obviously did absolutely nothing about it, because he is still there, and still "teaching".  This is at the very least unprofessional, but is actually much more serious. It is a criminal offence.

Do you really want someone like "teaching" your fitness class?

Another potential problem is that the music played during some of the classes may be offensive. Containing the 'F' and 'N' words. Although this is a gym, it is still a place of business, and should have respect for its clients. 

There is also an ongoing issue with malfunctioning equipment. Treadmills are often not working, or not working properly for three weeks or more. 

This location is good only for those who want to train on their own during 'off' hours. 
However, I don't recommend the classes, except for Muay Thai, which can be helpful even for boxers. 
Don't bother with the boxing-for-fitness, as I don't see any benefit for serious boxers.  

This gym is equipped with all boxing equipment along with cardio and resistance equipment.

This fitness facility does not post their fees. Please contact the gym for more information.
Most memberships require a minimum commitment, and first/last.

This gym accepts direct payment, debit, Visa, Mastercard.

Bottled water is for sale, and refill stations are available.

The next gym I will review will be Stockyards. This one just keeps getting better. 
For a new gym, they are doing quite well.

After just over a year, this boxing gym has become very popular, and with good reason.

The management of Stockyards is very professional, but friendly. 
There are two very good certified coaches, both care very much for their athletes. 

At one point, the head coach told me, "My members come first".
I believe that. 
At Stockyards, you can learn at your own level. If you show an interest in learning, the coaches will help you. Once you reach a comfortable level, and have expressed interest, you will be provided with instructions on how to register with Boxing Ontario.
Once registered, you may be able to participate in full-contact sparring, and eventually exhibition matches, and competitions. 

This facility is almost perfect, except it can never score a "10" because of its lack of showers.

This gym also has limited hours. Only open mornings and evenings during the week, and mornings only on weekends. They are also closed on statutory holidays. 

Except for these couple of negatives, I find this gym to be one of the best in Toronto.
Highly recommended. 
Stop by or call for more information.

This gym is equipped with all boxing equipment along with cardio and resistance equipment.

Current posted dues, for all adult members including competitive boxers: 

• Monthly $70 
• 3 months prepaid $200
• 6 months prepaid $300
• 12 months prepaid $550
• No contract required, but monthly memberships require first/last.

*Fees are current as posted at time of publication. Contact the facility for current rates.

This gym accepts cash or debit card.

Boxing gear at reasonable prices and bottled water are for sale.

OTHER FITNESS FACILITIES WITH BOXING (not reviewed):

Atlas Boxing Club

Cabbagetown Boxing Club

Grant Brothers

Sully's Boxing Gym

What Happens When Your Mind Is Not On Boxing ?

Hi all.  Welcome to another "Blue Corner".

It has been a busy summer so-far. Lots of events happening, plus the Canadian Open Golf, and I did a special assignment for the TTC this past weekend. Andy Byford, the CEO of the TTC, personally thanked me for doing a great job. That is good. It means that I have a very good chance of being called back.
However, I am off this week, and I am going to get as much "Stockyards Time" as I can squeeze in.

I sparred at Stockyards on Monday, but did not do well. My performance was terrible. 
I had a reason. Let me tell you a bit about this.

See, bad luck follows me wherever I go.
Let's go back to last summer. My dad asked me to look after his house while he went on vacation.
He lived in a very decent area, near Bathurst and Lawrence. He had never had any problems in the nine years he was there. Of course, I'm looking after his place for a week, and something happens. On the Saturday evening, I decided I wanted to go out.
I had a great time, but when I returned to my dad's house, it had been broken-in. Cash, jewelery, and booze was stolen.

This week, I was looking after a friend's cat. She dropped her off, and I started looking after her over the weekend.
That cat did not really take a full liking to me.  She mostly ignored me, except when it was feeding time. However, on Sunday night, she did something "odd". She climbed into the bed, and curled up right next to me, touching me. I thought it was odd for a cat who didn't really like me.
Anyway, on Monday morning, she was still there...dead.
I had to spend the day trying to figure out what to do, and to try to contact my friend.

I gently put the cat into a box, and called around to find out the next step.

The vet she normally goes to wanted to charge me $140 to take care of the dead pet. Then I found out that Toronto Animal Services would do it for $30. The only thing is, I would have to take it to them. They are located at Exhibition Place, next to the Direct Energy Centre.
Oh. Okay. So here I am on a crowded 29 Dufferin bus, with a dead cat in a box.

It turned out that it was not my fault. She was old, and it was her time to check-out...but she had to do it on my watch?

I'm telling you, bad luck follows me. I am not being paranoid. It is true.
I have tried house-sitting...not good. I have tried pet-sitting...not good. So, I guess baby-sitting is completely and totally out of the question.

Despite the rough day, I still had to get in some sparring. I headed to Stockyards for the 6 o'clock sparring sessions.

Richard put me in with George. 
George is my age, but he is a pretty big guy. Normally, it would not be a problem. However, with the stressful day I had, my mind was not on boxing. 
I was performing very poorly. Everything that I could have done wrong, I did wrong. It was as if I was a beginner. 
I was blinking a lot, which I never do. I was also backing up a lot. Coach cited me on that so many times. 

George was giving me a serious shit-kicking all around the ring. All I could think about was, "When is this round going to end?"
Near the end of the second round, he had me against the ropes. He nailed me with a left hook to the head, BOOM!, I saw a bright flash...then a right hook to the head, BOOM!, I saw another flash...then BOOM!, an uppercut to the jaw. At that point something weird happened to me. My body said, "Stop...Enough!". My legs became numb, and I buckled back into the ropes.
Right at that time, the "End of round" buzzer went. I love that buzzer. I want to marry that buzzer.

The coach noticed that I was in distress and he said, "Okay, that's all for today". Oh, thank Goodness. The coach does have a heart. 

I woke up the following day with the world's largest headache. Likely due to a combination of stress, fatigue and fists.

If anyone can take anything away from this story: Don't spar unless your mind is 100% into it.

Oh, and Richard said to me, "I am rescheduling our Master's Show to September". 
Oh, Okay. Is that a hint?  

Cheers. 

Almost A Heavyweight

Hello everyone.

Now that the unpleasantness of what was known as Bloor Fitness has gone, I can now concentrate on what is important, my training.

As I get closer to competition, I am doing weigh-ins every three days, before it was once per week.
I am having a problem, in that I am hovering around 200 pounds, which is the threshold for Super-Heavyweight. 
Coach Richard has suggested that I do not stay at the low-end of Super-Heavyweight, as there is no upper cap. I could be facing opponents who are twice my size, and thus be pounded into submission.
I agreed with him, and I am trying to drop to Heavyweight.

I did! ...For one weigh-in.

For boxers like myself, or anyone who wants to track their weight, I have created an Excel template, I call 'WeightTracker Plus'.

Here is mine:

The idea of this template is to track differences in weight, and to display the current weight class.

I am making this template available for anyone who wants to use it.
This is a "Beta" version. Available for weight entry in pounds only, and will display weight classes from Welterweight and higher. Entering a weight below 140, will result in a display "Out of Range".  *Weight classes based on Boxing Canada amateur boxing divisions.  
Even if you are not a boxer, you can use this to track your weight as well. Just ignore the "Class" row.
This template will allow tracking of up to 10 people.

I am currently working on one that will cover all weight classes, and will allow entry of weights in kilograms.

For now, please try this one, and let me know what you think.

DOWNLOAD:
WeightTracker BETA
Select "Regular Download". The "Gold" will cost you money. Regular is free.


Cheers.

Should I Really Be Surprised ???

Hi all. It has been a while since my last entry, as I have been very busy balancing my security work along with boxing training.

As  a matter-of-fact, Richard told me I was "Way behind" on sparring. I really should have been sparring at Stockyards two or three times per week since I received my registration, and that was almost two months ago. I have only sparred three-times total.

I will need to focus more on Stockyards and less on Bloor. Well, even less now.

There was a very serious issue last week at Bloor Fitness.
I decided to try class one more time, because I felt a bit bad about not going, and I did not want the instructor to think it was his fault.
Oh, by the way, he does not want me to mention his name any more. I don't know why, and it is not as if my regular readers already don't know. As a responsible journalist though, I agreed to refer to him is "instructor" instead of by name.

Anyway, Alec was there, and he did not really talk to me the whole time, until he decided to walk over to me, in order to "work" with me.
He actually said to me, "If you ever write anything like that again, I will knock you out." He was very serious. He also said, "You  need to apologize". I don't really even know what he is referring to. Obviously something about this column.

First of all, I will continue to write this column as usual. Secondly, Why should I apologize?
I am not going to apologize for an opinion, and I am also not going to apologize for writing what is true. As I have said before, and I am really getting tired of repeating it, 'I report what I see, and nothing else'.

Somebody committed a criminal offence! Am I the only one who sees a problem with that? 
That is a place of business. This just goes back to what I have been saying all along: Nobody takes things seriously in that class. 
They are getting upset with me, and saying that I am writing "bad things". Well, don't let "bad things" happen, and I will not be writing about them.....Hello? As if this incident is going to help. Ding--ding--ding. Anyone home up there? Obviously one too many punches to the head, I think.

One can not threaten someone, because he does not like something that was written. That is aa indictable offence, punishable by up to two years. Especially since I am a security guard.
I was supposed to arrest him, and take him to police. Just because I am not in uniform, I do not stop being a guard. Where does that leave me now? 

In my opinion, Alec is not a real boxer. A real boxer would not say that to someone. He is a disgrace to the sport. 
Also, I really don't think he can do diddly-squat anyway. 
Still, he committed an offence, and should be punished. I really think his membership should be revoked, but that is not up to me.

Yet, another reason why Stockyards Boxing is the best. 
Nothing like this ever happens there, and the manager is very respectable to his members.
I was very impressed when Richard told me, "My members come first". Wow. Now, that is a customer service attitude you do not see often any more.
That is why Stockyards has the most members and the highest number of competition boxers than any other Toronto boxing gym.  It is true. People can't figure out how a gym that is just barely over a year old can be so popular. I have said before, and always will, Richard works very hard. He is a great teacher, and cares about his athletes and everyone else who uses his gym.


Why do I need classes anywhere else? I have two perfectly good coaches at Stockyards. Besides, my Boxing Ontario registration says, "Stockyards". That is my main gym.

I am tired of the drama at Bloor. It is like a damn daytime drama series in there. Let me put it this way, I don't care about anything except my training. I am there is use the gym equipment only. I am a customer. That is all. If you do not like what I write, don't read it. I don't want to hear what you think, and I don't want to hear about any other problems you may have. Not my problem. 
I am finished with the classes at Bloor, and I don't care who gets upset. Learn to take control of your damn classes.