Trying Out For the Brampton Cup

Hi all.

I know, I know...I don't write anything for a month, and now there have been three in a week.
I'm sorry. I just have a lot to say right now.

There was a very interesting sparring session on Wednesday. I did two rounds with Justin. 
As usual, it was him with his damn hooks.
I actually told him that his hooks were pissing me off. 
He really likes his hooks. I, as you all know, hate them.

You all know I like to joke around with my boxing team colleagues. I like to put a bit of fun into the sport.
Yes, you need to take your training seriously, but to be too serious all the time will just end up stressing you.

In the last post I called Justin's hooks "girly". 

He nailed me with one really good hook, and I heard Junmar say something about, "That must be one of your girly hooks."

I made that comment for a couple of reasons. 
One was to have fun, but there was a method to it as well.

I don't want my team members going too easy on me during sparring. I realize it is very difficult to hit a friend really hard. However, this is a contact sport. 
In my opinion, it does not really help 'love-tapping' each other during sparring sessions. The idea of sparring is to learn and prepare. When you are up against an opponent in a real competition, the man in front of you has a one and only goal: To do what it takes to get you out of there. "Love-tapping" is not going to do it.

I hit really hard during sparring, for the same reason. 
Nobody likes getting nailed by a good punch, so learn to defend yourself. That is the whole idea of combat sports.

This is the time to learn how to take a punch and to defend properly. I'd rather get hurt while sparring, than while in competition. If I get hurt, it is my fault. I am not going to blame the other boxer for hitting me. I should be practicing defense, and sparring is the way to do it.

Waiting until you are in a competition is too late. You should already know what you are doing by then.

With Junmar making that comment about the "girly" hooks, it is obvious that he is reading this column. That means that if I drop a few hints about the Brampton Cup, I will not have to ask him about it in person.

Amazing, isn't it? I can go up against a guy twice my size in the ring, but I can't ask Junmar about the Brampton Cup. 

In case he missed the title, I want to be in the Brampton Cup. 
This is one of the few tournaments for Novice Class. 

Justin wants to be in it too, and he gave me a few training tips. 
It looks like I am going to be hitting the gym a lot more for a lot longer.

Stockyards apparently wants to send about ten guys to the Brampton Cup. 
Oh, did I mention I want to be in it, too?

In other boxing news, there is apparently some boxing happening in Scarborough on December 15. Rogers TV is covering it, and they asked me to be on the crew. 
Yes, I would love to be on the crew, but I am working Sunday night. 
Unless, I can get someone to fill in the shift for me. Since I have been doing shift fill-ins coming out the Yin-Yang since I started at the Mississauga location. Would it be a huge problem for me to ask the same of someone else? 
Probably.

Speaking of work, we had a blackout in Mississauga on Thursday morning, just after midnight. It lasted about 45 minutes. Although the building has backup generators, we still had to do manual checks to make sure everything was working properly. Understandable, since most of the products in there need refrigeration.  
I did nothing but run around  the whole time. 
Just when I though it was going to be a slow shift...

One last thing, not really boxing related, but still interesting.

I was in a restaurant the other day, and I had a wonderful Cup of coffee, and it was in Brampton.

Cheers.