...As Tumbleweeds Roll Through Stockyards

ENTRY 286

...AS TUMBLEWEEDS ROLL THROUGH THE RING AT STOCKYARDS

It is pretty sad going on two weeks now without sparring.
However, today, some of the younger guys were able to get in a few rounds, but Richard insists that I stick with training with guys closer to my age.
Well, that is going to be impossible right now, and I need to get ready for the tournament.
Does the age of my sparring partners really matter? It is just practise.
I have mentioned before the importance of sparring, especially before a bout.
He suggested that I go somewhere else for sparring.
Okay, great. Where?
...and it is not as if I can just walk into another gym and say, "Hey! I'm here for sparring!"  Richard would have to arrange it first.

I am at a dilemma. I am getting good coaching from Will, but can't get sparring.
What do I do?
I have tomorrow to train, then a few days off to think about it.

NEW DIET AND TRAINING FOR BRAMPTON CUP

Coach Will gave me a list of conditioning exercises to do. He also gave me a diet to follow leading up to the Brampton Cup in February.

The new training schedule took affect on Monday, and the new diet will be in effect starting after New Year's Day.

The new diet includes cutting pasta and rice servings down, cutting out all unhealthy desserts and snacks, and increasing veggie intake.

LAST ENTRY

This is the last post for 2015. 

We will be back in January with more of 'The Brick's' boxing stories including the road to the Brampton Cup, the coaches' progress reports for December, and the winners of the 2015 Dunce Awards.

SEASONS GREETINGS FROM "THE BRICK"

Wishing all of my followers and occasional visitors to this blog, and to my team mates and the coaches at the Stockyards Boxing, all the best this Holiday season, and a happy New Year.

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One final laugh for 2015:

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WITH A LITTLE EFFORT AND A LOT OF DETERMINATION, NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE

======================================================

"The Brick" is an amateur boxer certified by:

www.boxingontario.com

"The Brick" is a member of the Stockyards Boxing Team, and trains 4 times a week at:

215 Ryding Ave. Toronto

stockyardsboxingfitness.com

"The Brick"

                                                                     

A Break For 'The Brick'

ENTRY 285

Sparring Report: What  Is Sparring? I Can Vaguely Remember It

It turned out that I did not get to do any sparring this week.
That is really bad.
I have a lot of practise to do for the Brampton Cup.
I think it is going to be like this until January. It is understandable that people are busy for the holidays.
Let's get back into it in January !

Brampton Cup Training Update: A Small Break For "The Brick"

One more day left to train with Will this year, Sunday. After that, he will be gone until January.
I have also decided that I do not want to burn out too soon, and I also want to enjoy the holidays. Therefore, I will be off completely from December 24 until January 3, inclusive.
That means, no gym and no blog entries. Basically, a week where I can take a little break and not think about boxing.
I deserve it.
However, as of January 4, that's it. That party will be over.

The 30 Pound Bomb

Richard has informed me that he wants me to drop to 160 for the Brampton Cup.

That is a lot.

He makes a good point. He wants me to be more agile. 

I admit, I should not be in Heavyweight division.

As I said, after the holidays, I am going to start a strict diet and train daily.

I will drop some weight, and that will mean that beating the shit out of Andy will be out, unless he drops as well.

That's okay. There will be other opponents to pound the crap out of.

Out of the Red, and Into the....Blue?

Not really boxing related, but still part of my crappy life.

I had finally lost it with Rogers.

Once again, they have made an error with billing. That is three times in a year.

They claim to have not received a payment for their crappy services in over three months, and have now disconnected the services.

On Friday, the wife and I were in St. Catherines to visit someone, and in the process we stopped at the Pen Centre.

We were going to go into the Rogers store to tell them off, but right across the hall was a Bell store. We went in there instead, just to find out what they could offer.

After talking with the salesperson for a while, he was able to offer us the exact same as we were getting from Rogers for half of what we were paying.

It is a really great deal: Two mobile devices with unlimited Canada-wide calling. home phone service with voice mail and call ID, unlimited Internet with 50 MB down / 10 MB up, and fibre TV service with 195 channels plus the sports package including the Fight Network. That was the same as we were getting from the Red Company, but at $150 less.

Plus, we both got a Samsung S6 Edge for free. She got a silver one, and I got a black one, so we could tell them apart.

Yes, after over 10 years as a loyal Blackberry customer, I have decided to not get a Blackberry again. After that piece of shit Q5, never again.

It took me a while to get used to the Android operating system, and a while longer to connect my gmail account. However, it is all working now.

Bell will be coming in on Tuesday to install the TV and Internet services. The mobile phones are already working.

The problem was that Rogers had refused to port the cell numbers, so we both had to get new ones.

That is a violation of CRTC policy. Cell phone providers in Canada are not allowed to refuse porting, so Rogers is in big crap.

I will be sending a complaint to Rogers CEO, and I plan on using that as leverage.

I wasn't born yesterday. 

When are people going to learn? Don't screw with "The Brick".

I was surprised that the wife agreed to drop Rogers. I have been trying to convince her for months. 

Women. Sometimes it takes them a while to clue into reality.

Seriously. 

We are talking about the gender who believes that 'reality' TV is actually real.

...and if you think that is a sexist statement, remember women-only fitness clubs?

Those are --unfortunately-- still around.

...so, bite me.

======================================================

WITH A LITTLE EFFORT AND A LOT OF DETERMINATION, NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE

======================================================

"The Brick" is an amateur boxer certified by:

www.boxingontario.com

REGISTRATION DUE: January 1

"The Brick" is a member of the Stockyards Boxing Team, and trains 4 times a week at:

215 Ryding Ave. Toronto

stockyardsboxingfitness.com

THIS GYM IS CURRENTLY UNDER REVIEW
OTHER GYMS BEING CONSIDERED:
SULLY'S, SIBERIA, CABBAGETOWN

"The Brick"

                                                                        

No More Monday Sparring?

ENTRY 284

Sparring Report: Is Monday Sparring Over?

None on Monday. Nobody showed up for sparring.
There has been no sparring on Monday for the last three weeks.

I remember when Monday was the busiest day for sparring, but now hardly ever.
It is frustrating, because I am trying to prepare for the Brampton Cup, and I need to practise.

Now I will need to spar every day for the rest of the week to catch up.

Brampton Cup Training Update: More Offence In My Future

Still working hard.
Coach Will is still working with me to get me ready for the tournament.
We will be starting to work on some more offensive techniques.
At the same time, I still have to practise defence. That will never stop. Practising defence is ongoing. No boxer should ever assume that his defence is perfect.

Of course, there is also the conditioning.
That is something else that should never stop.
An athlete's body needs to stay in tune. If you don't keep working on conditioning, your body will become out of tune. When the band is out of tune, the show is over. 


Dunce Awards Update

It is almost time to announce the 2015 Dunce Awards winners.
This will be the last post for last year's winner, the City of Mississauga. Let's hope they have learned something from this.
Their banner will be removed next post, and the space reserved for the new winner or winners for the first week of January.
It is a close race, and there will likely be a tie.

Ooooo... the suspense. Who will get this year's dishonour?

======================================================

"The Brick" is an amateur boxer certified by:

www.boxingontario.com

REGISTRATION DUE: January 1

"The Brick" is a member of the Stockyards Boxing Team, and trains 4 times a week at:

215 Ryding Ave. Toronto

stockyardsboxingfitness.com

THIS GYM IS CURRENTLY UNDER REVIEW
OTHER GYMS BEING CONSIDERED:
SULLY'S, SIBERIA, CABBAGETOWN

"The Brick"

                                                                        

Dropping the 'BC' Bomb

ENTRY 283

Sparring Report

Only two rounds on Tuesday with Newton.

I wish I could have done more, and I also can't hit Newton too hard since he is a smaller guy.

I worked on defence with him, and I feel that I did quite well.

Three rounds on Wednesday with Nick. This was his last day of sparring before his bout at the Gideon Boxing Club.

Good luck to the Stockyards' boxers competing at Gideon this weekend.

Brampton Cup Training Update: Dropping the 'BC' Bomb

I finally dropped the bomb onto Richard. I told him I was training with Will for the Brampton Cup.

He was not the least bit surprised. His response was, "Yeah, okay. That's fine. Go ahead."

I have a feeling he already knew, but was just waiting for me to tell him.

Coach Will feels that we are ready to move ahead with some more complex techniques.

I will be practising on the days I don't train with Will. Otherwise, it will be tough training and conditioning right up to the day of the tournament.

I have also decided that for the month of January, I will be cutting junk completely out of my diet. 

Oh, yes, I will be enjoying the Holidays, but come January 2, the celebrating will be over. 

The next celebration after that, will hopefully be a medal celebration at the Brampton Cup.

I have decided that with all the training I am doing, I am not settling for just passing the preliminaries. I want a medal, Damnit!

Hopefully, I meet Andy from Orangeville in the ring sometime while I am there. I own him a ripe-royal butt kicking.

Registration Almost Complete

I handed my medial form to my physician, and he said that it will be done in about a week.

Yes. It is a long time, but he is doing it for free, so I really can't complain.

I want to get my renewal done earlier this year, becasue it needs to be processed before the Brampton Cup.

"The Brick" Has Fans In Russia

This week's stats for this blog indicate that Russia has the second-most visitors.

There are a lot of good boxers in Russia. They can kick some ass.

Добро пожаловать, гости из России!

"Blue Corner" Holiday Breaks

"Comments from the Blue Corner" will not publish any material on December 24, 25, 26 and on December 31 and January 1 to observe the Holiday season.

======================================================

"The Brick" is an amateur boxer certified by:

www.boxingontario.com

REGISTRATION DUE: January 1

"The Brick" is a member of the Stockyards Boxing Team, and trains 4 times a week at:

215 Ryding Ave. Toronto

stockyardsboxingfitness.com

THIS GYM IS CURRENTLY UNDER REVIEW
OTHER GYMS BEING CONSIDERED:
SULLY'S, SIBERIA, CABBAGETOWN

"The Brick"

                                                                        

E = mc²

ENTRY 282

Sparring Report

No sparring so far this week.

I am hoping to get in a few rounds on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Stockyards will be closed on Friday for Junmar's bout at Mattamy.

Brampton Cup Training Update: The Countdown

The Brampton Cup is fast approaching. I have just calculated the number of days I have left to train with Coach Will, and it is not that many.

December 10, 13, 17, 20, 29 and January 4, 7, 10, 14, 17, 21, 24, 28.

That is 14 days, and about two hours each.

That is 28 hours. That's it. Just a little over a day left to train for what could possibly be the largest and most important experience in 'The Brick's' boxing history.

That is not a lot, and I need to take advantage of every second of it.

It Is All Relative, Therefore E = mc²

On Sunday, Coach Will told me that I had improved a lot, so I asked if we will be ready for the Brampton Cup in two months.

His answer to me was, "That's relative."

Okay, so as per Albert Einstein, 'relative' means that energy and mass are equivalent and transmutable. The laws of physics are the same for all observers in uniform motion relative to one another.

How does this relate to boxing?

Well, actually a lot.

Boxing is all about physics and relativity.

However, I am not here to give a science lesson.

I'm sure you can figure it all out on your own.

Although, I am being sarcastic about this, I know what Will means.

I told him I was serious about this, but he seems to think I don't trust him.

He keeps asking me to trust him.

Of course I trust him. If I didn't, I would not have asked him to train me for the Cup.

You all understand my sarcasm by now. 

I predict there will be more as the countdown continues, and the stress increases.

I only hope Will understands. 

It is not a trust issue. It is a stress issue.

"Blue Corner" Holiday Breaks

"Comments from the Blue Corner" will not publish any material on December 24, 25, 26 and on December 31 and January 1 to observe the Holiday season.

======================================================

"The Brick" is an amateur boxer certified by:

www.boxingontario.com

REGISTRATION DUE: January 1

"The Brick" is a member of the Stockyards Boxing Team, and trains 4 times a week at:

215 Ryding Ave. Toronto

stockyardsboxingfitness.com

THIS GYM IS CURRENTLY UNDER REVIEW
OTHER GYMS BEING CONSIDERED:
SULLY'S, SIBERIA, CABBAGETOWN

"The Brick"