Personal Training Is Working

   ENTRY 410


This week's entry was supposed to be my annual "Guide To Boxing In Toronto". However, as you can see it is not ready.
I had decided to make this year's guide more comprehensive and even include photos. Therefore, it is going to take longer than expected to collaborate everything and then compile it here.

I will take this opportunity to discuss my boxing plans for the near future and about my current training. Which is what this blog is supposed to be about.

I will also be discussing other projects that I am working on right now.


I BROKE THE LAW AND DIDN'T KNOW

If you remember last week's entry, I spoke about the legal demise of the Ontario Boxing Association. 
Since that law passed in 2015, and I joined the OBA in 2016 and competed under their sanction twice during that time, it means that those were illegal bouts. Then technically those two bouts don't count and are removed from my record. I am down to seven bouts from nine.
That means that I am still in Novice division for a bit longer and there are advantages to that. 
Currently there are more opponents in Novice and it also means that I can still take advantage of the 90 second rounds. Once I move to Open I go to two minute rounds.
Besides, I am trying to forget that disaster of being part of that (crappy) OBA organization.

Remember back when I was under stress contemplating my move from Boxing Ontario to the Ontario Boxing Association.
It turned out to be a bad decision. 
Sometimes those things happen in life. We choose a different door, and we find a mess behind it, and the door we came from closes and locks, so we are stuck in the mess.
Fortunately for me, the Boxing Ontario door did not lock and I was able to re-enter.

My relationship with Boxing Ontario is one of Love-Hate, in case you haven't already figured that out.
Overall, I like Boxing Ontario except that sometimes they do things that piss me right off.
Like the stunt they pulled at the Brampton Cup. That was a waste of my time, and I think you all know about how I feel about time-wasters. If you want to screw around and waste your own time that is your business, but don't waste mine.


PERSONAL TRAINING WITH ASSISTANT COACHES

One thing that I enjoy (sort of) about my current boxing club is that I get personal sessions with a coach. Not THE coach, but A coach.  
Once a week, usually Thursday, I get about an hour (sometimes a bit more) of boxing technical with one of the assistant coaches.
The session generally includes target pad work, supervised shadow boxing, supervised bag drills, and several minutes of core conditioning. On top of that I still do my usual 30-45 minutes of cardio.

Currently I am still working on the "on the toes", plus a couple of interesting new techniques that I am trying to fit into sparring.  Coach also noticed that after a while I tend to drop my guard. The hands start to drop. 
Well, that is because I am freaking tired after over an hour of "on the toes", cardio, and shadow boxing.
He told me that it doesn't matter, If I drop my hands in the ring, I will get knocked right the "F" out.
There is a difference. I'm not in the ring for over an hour. Only 90 seconds.
Although, I totally understand his objective. He's trying to build endurance.
It is not easy. 
As a matter-of-fact, ESPN ranked boxing as the most difficult sport as far as stress and strain on the athletes. 
ESPN GRID OF MOST DIFFICULT SPORTS
Taking into account that I am in my 50's and can still do this training says a lot.
I don't care what anyone says. I am very proud of what I can do and what I have accomplished. In addition, my boxing skills are getting much better. Thanks in part to the personal training sessions.
I really can not wait to get into the ring again.
I really want to get onto a Stockyards card and have a Stockyards boxer as my opponent. 
I don't know why, but that is one of the things on my Boxing Bucket List.
Getting into the Golden Gloves was also on there, check off that one.

My Boxing Bucket List (so far):

• Golden Gloves
• Brampton Cup
• Stockyards boxer as an opponent
• Local club card representing Xtreme Couture (any opponent)

SPARRING IN OTTAWA A POSSIBILITY THIS SUMMER

I have not told coach yet but there is a Master at the Beaver Boxing Club in Ottawa who really wants to meet me in the ring. 
The problem is that he is outside of the age allowance as per Boxing Ontario rules (more than 10 years older), so we can not compete. However, we can spar,
I was planing a trip to Ottawa this summer anyway, so I am going to try to arrange a couple of sparring sessions at Beaver.
I will of course need the permission of both coaches, but I really don't foresee any problems.

Another place I would like to spar is at the Cabbagetown Club. 
He has a Master who has tried to get into tournaments for a while, and couldn't get an opponent each time.
I understand that frustration. I don't mind going over there to help out. Sometimes it works out better for a Master to spar another Master.


STOCKYARDS CARD TONIGHT

Stockyards Boxing will be hosting a card tonight, February 24. Two boxers on my team will be on the card, and I will be going. 
I will be there as a normal spectator. Not watching from behind a viewfinder for a change.


METROPOLIS TV AND RAdiO-C\65

That being said, Metropolis TV is no longer using YouTube as an outlet for its productions. We are currently looking at other options, but in the meantime all productions from Metropolis TV are halted.

We are still working on a permanent 24/7/365 schedule for RAdiO-C\65. We are working on installing new servers and software so we can operate automatically without the need to have an operator on all the time. Right now, we still operate manually and are therefore only broadcasting part-time programming.

The link to listen is to the right of this blog, along with a list of whatever is currently playing. If you see a program or music listed, it means we are on live. If you see "TONE" at the top of the list or the list is static, it means that we are currently not broadcasting.

We are also currently not broadcasting to U.S. IP addresses due to music licensing issues.


'THE BRICK'S' NEWEST E-NOVELS ARE ALMOST COMPLETE

I have two e-novels in the works.

"The Coach" (Humor) A young man moves from an undisclosed city to Niagara Falls to work at a resort. When that job falls through, he finds himself mentoring teenagers as a boxing coach. Although, he has a bit of a problem getting along with his co-workers as his manager is always on his case.

"Perfect" (Sci-Fi) A man goes missing for 53 years and when he suddenly re-appears, it is discovered that he now has abilities that he never had before. His amazing super-human abilities stun the science community and he becomes a human science project. 

Once the e-novels are complete, links to them will be on this blog.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--'The Brick', Golden Gloves Silver Medalist