ANNOUNCEMENTS

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ANNOUNCEMENTS 2

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Wednesday, June 20, 2018

It Is Like Preparing A Probe To Saturn



ENTRY 423


I THINK THEY ARE WORKING ON SENDING A PROBE TO SATURN

I wanted to use this entry to update everyone on what was happening with Xtreme Couture.

The simple answer is: Nothing.

They are still farting around and trying to place the blame on Boxing Ontario.
Boxing Ontario has nothing to do with it.

I am furious about the lack of communication.

One of the coaches said to me the other day, "We are still waiting to hear from Boxing Ontario about the length of your suspension".
That doesn't make sense.
Boxing Ontario has very specific procedures and the coaches should know that.
How can you coach a sport properly if you don't know the rules of the sport you are teaching?

First of all Boxing Ontario will always provide a letter to the athlete stating the reason for the suspension and the length of the suspension, but they don't suspend for an RSC, only for an RSC-H.
Do you have any idea how many RSC are given in amateur boxing? They gave six just at the Bronze Gloves alone including mine. 
A standing-eight can result in an RSC such as my case.
So what?
If they suspended an athlete for every RSC, nobody would ever be boxing.

Also, when Boxing Ontario suspends an athlete for medical or any other reason, they keep the athlete's passbook until the suspension is over.

A message sent to me by an assistant coach yesterday revealed that the head coach has my passbook.
Really?
If Boxing Ontario has issued a medical suspension, why does the coach still have my passbook?
The things that make you go hmmmmm...

This is getting too complicated.
It is not a science project. You'd think they were preparing a probe to Saturn.

What is annoying me is that this suspension has nothing to do with Boxing Ontario.
It is a suspension issued by the coach, but he is not telling me about it.
However, I am not allowed to train there but I am still expected to fork out $150 every month.
Also, for every day I am without a coach it is holding me back. 
I am not going to be able to make up all the lost time unless something is done soon.

Xtreme Couture is currently dangling over my bad side, and that is a place nobody wants to be. Once you fall in there is no way out and you drown in there.

Somebody is trying to pull a fast one.
They forget. I am a security guard. There is a reason why I am a security guard.
I can see a fast one coming around the corner from three blocks away.

They do not have very long to give me some answers before they fall in.

I am currently doing my own training program at Bloor Street Fitness, but I need a full-time coach.
I have already been talking with some former coaches about returning.

I really don't want to leave where I am now, but they need to start being honest with me and stop screwing around.

The clock is ticking.



Midnight Training at Bloor Street Fitness



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--Paul 'The Brick' Brec



Thursday, June 14, 2018

SPECIAL ENTRY: Back Into the Revolving Door


SPECIAL ENTRY



BACK INTO THE REVOLVING DOOR


It has happened again.
Kicked off of another team for something that wasn't my fault.

The disturbing part is that it was dropped on me on Wednesday due to something that happened at the Bronze Gloves over a week ago.

A lot happened at the Bronze Gloves, so I am not sure what sparked this.

I went in on Wednesday for sparring and was told by the coach that I was no longer allowed to spar. In addition, I had been removed from the July 14th club card.



The reason given was a "medical suspension".

What medical suspension?

That was news to me.

Apparently, someone unknown to me or anyone else I have talked to, I have been placed on an indefinite "medical suspension".
This has also caused the coach to pull me from our card in mid-July.

A few things annoyed me about this. One is that if this apparently happened due to the Bronze Gloves, why was I not told about this earlier?
Second, nobody had an answer as to how long this suspension is supposed to last.
Third, nobody seems to know the reason for the suspension. 
No suspension was issued by Boxing Ontario.

I am very angry because I was training very hard and this is how I am treated.
I really wanted to be on that card, and for no reason, I was pulled.

I was even going to send a crew from Metropolis TV to cover the event, but that is not going to happen now.
As a matter-of-fact, I have decided to completely boycott that show. 

So, what's next?

Well, there is no point in me traveling all the way down to Kipling and North Queen if I can't train. I was going there specifically for boxing. I can do everything else anywhere.

What I have decided to do was to pause my membership at Xtreme Couture and go back to Bloor Fitness until I find out what is going on.

Fortunately, I kept my Bloor membership. I knew something like this would eventually happen because it always does.
There seems to be a continuous revolving door for me when it comes to boxing.

I will keep up my cardio and weight training at Bloor, and if Xtreme wants me back, they can ask for me to come back. I just simply have no idea how long this so-called "suspension" is going to last.

If I don't hear anything from them by the middle of July, that tells me that they don't want me on the team and it means for me to step right back into the revolving door.

None of this makes sense especially since this was dropped on me out of nowhere and no one had any explanation.

Remember my article on bullying?
That is what this is.
Can you really blame me for being a bit upset?

I guess going forward, I have to assume that I will never be at a boxing gym longer than a year. That is exactly the length of time I was at Xtreme.

Except for this incident and a few minor ones in the past, I liked the quality of coaching at Xtreme, so I hope they get their shit together and decide to ask me back.
However, I have other plans in case they don't.

Back to Bloor Fitness on Thursday.
It has been a long time since I was there.


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--Paul 'The Brick' Brec

Sunday, June 10, 2018

Upcoming Club Show~~This Month's Award Winners~~Why UP EXPRESS Is A Rip-Off


ENTRY 422


PREPARING FOR A CLUB SHOW?

Xtreme Couture boxing is planning a card for July.
It would be nice if the entire team could be represented.
Although the date has not yet been confirmed, I will announce it once I know.


THIS MONTH'S AWARD WINNERS

Occasionally when I have a short entry, I like to post some of my photography.

Here are my photos that won awards this month.









THE SHOCKING TRUTH OF WHY UP EXPRESS IS A RIP-OFF




The Union--Person Express is a commuter train system that goes from Union rail station to the Toronto Pearson International Airport with three stops in between.
It costs extra to ride this system as it is operated by a transit system not part of the Toronto Transit Commission, although people ride it because they believe it is faster.

Well, you know I just had to test that theory.

The trip was from St. Clair Ave and Jane Street to Union station and back again. For one direction I took only TTC vehicles, but on return, I opted for the UP Express train in addition to the TTC.

Here are the shocking (or maybe not) results:

The trip by TTC only:

The wait for a southbound number 35 bus was 4 min.
The trip on the number 35 bus to Jane station was 7 min.
The wait for an eastbound Line 2 subway was 3 min.
The trip on Line 2 to St. George station was 11 min.
The wait at St. George station for a southbound Line 1 subway was 1 min.
The trip on the  Line 1 subway to Union station was 6 min.
The walk through Union station to the street was 2 min.

The total time for this trip was 34 min. and cost just a regular TTC fare of $3.25.

The trip by TTC and UP Express:

The walk to the UP platform through Union station was 6 min.
The wait for the UP Express train was 13 min.
The trip on the UP train to Bloor GO station was 6 min.
The walk from Bloor GO station to Dundas West subway station was 4 min.
The wait for a westbound Line 2 subway was 5 min.
The trip on the Line 2 subway to Jane station was 6 min.
The wait for a northbound number 35 bus at Jane station was 11 min.
The trip on the number 35 bus to St. Clair Ave. was 6 min.

The total time for this trip was 57 min. and cost a TTC fare of $3.25 plus the UP fare of $4.71 for a total of $7.96.

It cost almost $5 more and took almost twice as long by using the UP "Express".

Also as per advertising, you are supposed to get $1.50 discount on GO transit when you transfer to/from the TTC.
As you can see here, that discount was not honored in the case of my trip, and also for some strange reason the transfer from GO Bloor station to TTC Dundas West station was not recorded which is where the discount was supposed to have been applied.
Nice trick. Did they really think I wasn't going to check?
Amateurs.




From the GO Transit web site:



Well, it does say up to, so I guess zero counts as part of up to.

The point of this experiment was to prove that you don't always get what you pay for.




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--Paul 'The Brick' Brec



Sunday, June 3, 2018

That Didn't Go As Planned


ENTRY 421


THAT DIDN'T GO AS PLANNED

I wasn't going to do an entry today, but I felt that I needed to do one.

Friday night was my first Bronze Gloves.
It was at the Holiday Inn near the airport.

My opponent was from Combative Concepts. An MMA gym on Kennedy Road.

To make it very short, he overwhelmed me.
He struck fast and hard. At least three sets of at least four punches each that I didn't see until they hit me.
Although I tried my best to keep him away, he just kept up his assault.

The referee issued me a standing-8 at about half-way through the first round.
He asked me if I wanted to continue and I gave him the "YES" motion.
The referee looked at me and he took a couple of seconds as if he was making a decision.
Then after what seemed like forever, the referee made a decision. He made the "out" signal.

That's it.
It was over.

A wise desition. I am not at all angry about him stopping it.
There was no way I was going to win and I would have been hurt.

Although my coach did not blame me for the loss. There were questions.

It was obvious and you did not need to know anything about combat sports to know that there was no way that guy has had more than one bout.
He had claimed to be 43 years old, and there is no way a 43-year-old can be that fast without previous experience in a combat sport.

He either did another combat sport such as kickboxing. The only difference between kickboxing and boxing is that you are allowed to use your legs as weapons. The punching techniques are the same. Another theory is that he may be ex-military.
In either case, there is no way Boxing Ontario would have known about it.
Although, you are supposed to report all combat experience to Boxing Ontario upon registering.

If any of that is true, he should not have won.
Not reporting everything on a competition registration is cheating since it gives the athlete an unfair advantage.

I filed a compaint with an official. I don't know if my coach or gym did the same.

I don't know if anything will become of it, but it goes beyond just not winning. 
I could have been seriously injured.

Fortunately, the referee put a stop to it.

I am frustrated by the situation.
I took full responsibility for not winning in Hamilton. However, I agree with my coach that this time it was not my fault. I did everything I could.
That being said, if I had won in Hamilton like I should have, it would not have made this loss so frustrating.

I had also noted that they have reverted back to using 12 oz. gloves for our division.
They had switched to 16's for the Masters for a couple of years, but this time they used 12's.
12 oz. gloves really hurt, and I am not used to using them. It feels like not having any gloves at all, and it really throws you off when you are used to always using 16's.

Another concern of mine is that this time I did not have the extreme anxiety that I normally have before a bout. As a matter-of-fact, I was not even as nervous as normal. I felt somewhat relaxed.
Now, after this had happened, is the anxiety now going to return?

This is amateur boxing. It is supposed to be fun. A chance to test your skill. It should not be about trying to hurt someone, especially with an unfair advantage.
Not to say that an injury can't happen, it is a combat sport, but it should not be the ultimate goal.

Coming up, we will be having a club show in July. Plus, the Silver Gloves and Golden Gloves tournaments later in the year.
That will bring us to the end of the year and the expiration of my Boxing Ontario competitive registration.

I will then need to decide if I want to continue competing, or stay on the team as a non-competitor. 
Yes, we have some of those.

After this weekend, I am beginning to lose faith in this sport.



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--Paul 'The Brick' Brec