ANNOUNCEMENTS

******** COMMENTS FROM THE RING IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY EXCLUDING HOLIDAYS ***** ********

ANNOUNCEMENTS 2

****** [EVENTS] ....**** ... * ********

Friday, August 31, 2018

A Bit of Sparring ~ That's Too Light! ~ Big Announcement

    ENTRY 432


A BIT OF SPARRING


This was the first time at the new gym, and actually, the first time since I trained at Stockyards that I sparred every day of the week.
At this new gym, sparring is very important. If the coach asks you to spar, you should always say 'yes'.I generally only spar when a coach asks, and this week a coach asked me every day, so I said 'yes' every day.
A total of 17 rounds this week.

I agree that more sparring is better.
It is really the only way you can properly work on things.

At the previous gym, we only sparred once a week and that was not enough.
However, at that gym sparring was very hard. It was almost always 100% contact and that is not necessary for sparring. It is called 'sparring', not 'kill your teammates'. 
At this new gym, we spar lightly. Usually only about 60% or sometimes 70% at the most. 
That is all you need. The idea is to help each other.
I like how this gym we all help each other and treat each other equally. 
For the most part, there is no 'Grandpa Syndrome'.
I say 'most' because there is one coach who likes to protect the Masters, and you all know how much I hate that.
That being said, none of the other coaches do that. 
I'm going to talk to that coach about that because I don't think he realizes how much it bothers me.
My number one all-time boxing piss-off, and the main reason why I am on my fifth boxing gym.


THAT'S TOO LIGHT!

Coach told me that there would have been an opponent for me for September 8, but he is too light. He is 155. I'm 174. I actually gained a bit.
My coach wants me to drop to Middleweight. 
I'm getting there.
I can't believe I gained a pound after CNE day.


"THE BRICK'S" BIG ANNOUNCEMENT EARLY NEXT YEAR

I will have a big huge major announcement coming up. It is so major that I don't want to announce it too soon.
It is something that is not directly related to boxing but will affect it.

See here for more information starting in January!

A very few of my close friends and family already know, but for the rest, you will have to wait.


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--Paul 'The Brick' Brec

Friday, August 24, 2018

For Those Who Didn't Notice ~ We Run ~ CNE Day ~ Facebook Problem

    ENTRY 431



WE RUN

The competitive team coach approached me after sparring on Tuesday and told me that he was very happy with my boxing.
However, once again he wants me to "get stronger". That is to build endurance.

First I want to mention how attentive these coaches are. I mean, after all this time my boxing skills are finally up to the level they should be, and it took these coaches only about a month to do it.
Could this mean that I have finally found a Masters-friendly boxing gym?
There were three, now four, Masters training there.
That must mean something.

Secondly, in addition to what he has currently asked me to do, you know all those sit-ups and push-ups, he wants me to go out with the running team.
The running team?
Do you have any idea how far they go? They go from the gym, which is near Bloor Street, all the way to Cherry Beach and back!
Let me tell you how far that is.
That is 8 km each way.
16 km. That is a marathon, isn't it? Almost.
Running every morning. 
The sun blinds you through the trees.

WE RUN



FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT AS OBSERVANT

Some of you may have noticed, but some not, there are some entries missing from this blog. 393, 394, 395, 396, 397, 398, 399, and 424 to be exact.
Some may be thinking for someone who is so anal about everything being so correct in the blog, how can this be?
Since this is entry 431, that means there have been a total of 431 entries since the blog began, but that is not exactly true.
Some are "missing" as mentioned before, and "Special Entries" are not counted. They are just listed as "Special Entries". These are posts that deviate from the normal flow of the blog.

Let me explain the ones that are missing.
393 was unpublished and put in the archive for legal reasons that I won't get into.
394 was the entry that announced my retirement from boxing, but since I ended up returning to boxing, that made the entry obsolete and so it was put into the archive to avoid confusion.
395, 396, 397, 398, and 399 were written and published in another now-defunct blog.
When this blog was reincarnated earlier this year, the first new entry was 400, so it worked out well.
424 was one of these odd cases where I wrote the entire entry in advance, but what I wrote about didn't happen, so the entry was never published but still on file.
To save time, I write some parts of some entries in advance but edit them before publishing if needed, but in the case of 424, the entire entry was based on me returning to the Durham Boxing Academy, which as you all know didn't happen. That made the entry obsolete before it was even published. Instead of rewriting the entire entry, it had just remained unpublished.

There you have it. 'The Mystery of the Missing Blue Corner Entries' has been solved.

Another issue I have been informed about are some entries not showing up on Facebook.
A lot of traffic to this blog is generated from social media.
I am currently looking into that Facebook problem, but until it is fixed, I will be posting links to this blog on Facebook twice. At about two hours apart.
Hopefully, that will give people a better chance to see it.



CNE DAY


This year, Thursday, August 23 was CNE Day.
That one day of the year I take a break from my routine and just stop caring.
No worries about work and no worries about boxing. Just myself doing what I want and eating what I want.

I told coach I was taking Thursday off to go to the CNE and he said that I deserved it.

Yes, I deserve it.

I had a very relaxing day.
I ate a bit, but not as much as I thought, and my dinner included a salad. Yes. I can't go one day without a salad.
I also wanted to try some fudge. I am not really a fan, but the wife wanted some so I got a small slice for her and I had a sliver of it.
I got her a slice of the orange swirl.
It was awful. 
She said it tasted like a creamsicle. I thought it tasted like sucking on a cube of sugar.
Fudge, a.k.a. Diabetes In A Box.
I don't know how people can eat junk like that. No wonder our society is obese.

To get there, the TTC had an express bus shuttle between Dufferin Station and the CNE. 
In previous years the express left from Dundas West station.
It is funny how many people don`t read the destination sign. So many people boarded at Dufferin Station thinking that the bus was a 29A. The driver had to yell about 20 times that the bus only stops at the CNE. I kind of felt sorry for him. However, I did feel like going up and asking him if his bus was going to the CNE, but he was already upset and I didn`t feel like waiting for the next bus.

Since I took the express, it did not take long to get there. It cost $20 to get in this year, but the parkour show and the lantern festival were well worth the cost of admission.














The last shot is of me posing with Atlas. Notice the resemblance?

It was a great rest day and I look forward to it again next year.
In the meantime, back to training.

Watch ABITS 9 here. Featuring Rush Parkour.


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--Paul 'The Brick' Brec



Friday, August 17, 2018

Training For September Club Card and More About My Mystery Coach

    ENTRY 430


TRAINING FOR SEPTEMBER BOUT

I still don't have the final word on who will be on the card next month as it is still a bit early.
Although my coach wants everybody on, so I am training very hard.

Eight rounds of sparring this week. Although not quite as much as I like, it was the best I could get. I wanted to keep going but everyone else wanted to stop.
Interesting how I am one of the oldest ones there, but I have the most energy. How does that work exactly?

That being said, my coach has been great so far. One of the best.
He gives me pointers every time I am in. He also does target pads with me every second day.
That is more than I received from that previous gym that cost so much more as well.

Anyway, let us move on from that...

I am still not revealing who my coach is. 
However, he does not talk about his past very much, so I did my own research.

He had 138 bouts as an amateur and 36 as a professional. 
He has had a 77% win ratio as a professional, but he had a 92% win ratio as an amateur, so yeah, he was much better as an amateur.
Here is the cool part: He was in the 1984 Olympics. He did not place for a medal, but he was there, which is a lot more than most athletes ever get.
He became a professional boxer only three months after the Olympics.

That is the background of my coach. At least what I could find so far.
Since he does not talk about it, I don't ask him, but still. I know someone who was in the Olympics. How cool is that?


I WANTED TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THE TTC TODAY, BUT I AM IN A RARE GOOD MOOD

I won't go into details because I am really not in a complaining mood. I am in a rare good mood right now, so enjoy it while it lasts.

All I want to say is that the TTC had police doing fare inspections at Bathurst Station on Friday,
I am telling you this because the next time there is a shooting rampage in this city and want to know why there is not enough police presence, it is because they are checking fares at Bathurst Station.

That's all.



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--Paul 'The Brick' Brec


Friday, August 10, 2018

Appropriate and Ironic: He Broke Me

    ENTRY 429



APPROPRIATE AND IRONIC, HOW THE COACH BROKE ME

This happened over two days, well actually over a 24-hour period but there was an overnight in there.

On Thursday evening, I was in the ring doing some footwork practice. Out of nowhere, the coach in charge of the competitive team who I had not yet worked with, jumped into the ring and showed me a new drill. Well, new to me.
It was a footwork drill where you start at the center of the ring and move to the ropes. Then you throw a combination using the top rope as a reference. Then you move back to the center and to one side, then forward again. Then once again throw a few using the top rope as a target. 
You keep doing that for the entire round and for three rounds.

Then he said to me, "Your boxing is good but you need to get stronger".

What? Am I not strong enough?
I guess not.

He wants me to do five sets of 25 sit-ups and five sets of 20 push-ups every second day.

Push-ups? Really? I absolutely hate those.
When I was younger I could do 30 in less than 30 seconds with no problem.
Now, that I am older...
...Oh, wait. I can't use the age excuse anymore. Dammit.

Anyway, I did what he asked. I took me not 30 seconds but closer to 30 minutes, but I did it.

Although I think it is great that the competitive team coach is taking an interest in my training, I think he broke me with that.
He really did break me.
The problem was me taking too much time off without doing them and now having to go back to doing them again.
I guess that was my fault.



On Friday morning I went in for my weekly Friday morning sparring, and still sore from the previous evening training, the sparring coach played the Rocky IV soundtrack. It was the first time anyone played "appropriate" music in there, but ironic.
The night before I watched Rocky IV for the sole purpose of obtaining the image above.
I couldn't remember where it was in the film, so I watched the whole thing.
It also gave me a chance to test my new monitor.
Actually, I am trying a TV as a monitor. It works great for watching movies, which makes sense since that is what a TV is for.
Thank you Captian Obvious.

I guess this is the official start-up for training for our club card next month.
More on that in a later entry.

Oh, and a side note, I dropped another pound.



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--Paul 'The Brick' Brec


Thursday, August 2, 2018

The Drama Continues and A Training Update With Another Weight Loss Announcement!

    ENTRY 428


THE DRAMA CONTINUES

Okay, so here we go again.
I wasted two days off from work trying to sort things at Xtreme Couture.

At first, I just put a pause on the membership because I wanted to try to work things out.
However, that did not happen.
On Wednesday I went in to get them to sign the release form and immediately one of the coaches started to yell at me and refused to sign the release, and that is exactly what I thought would happen. So, my idea to try to save the membership had failed. I was asked by the nice person at the front desk to return the following day to talk to one of the managers.
On Thursday I did what she suggested.
I felt really bad because the manager I spoke with was very nice but I explained that I tried my best but the coaches were being uncooperative.
He was very understanding and canceled my membership.

While all this was happening, I looked up and saw the boxing coaches standing in the doorway of the boxing area and they were watching me.

I had no problem getting the membership canceled, but I still didn't get the form filled. 
Although Boxing Ontario requires it, I forgot that the coaches at Xtreme Couture are exempt from the rules.

My only alternative at this point is to see if Boxing Ontario will accept the form without a signature. They already know about it because I had already informed them.
It is likely Xtreme Couture coaches may get in crap from Boxing Ontario, but that is their own fault.

This doesn't make sense, anyway. They want me off the team, but won't release me. Just sign the damn form and let me get that place out of my life.

As you can tell, I am very annoyed at the coaches at Xtreme Couture. They are so unprofessional and conceited, and they are not even good coaches.

My new coach was able to find a flaw in my technique and make many suggestions within two days. 
I was paying almost $200 a month at Xtreme Couture for a year and none of the coaches were able to find any flaws or even make any decent suggestions.

Based on my experiences at Xtreme Couture, I can honestly not recommend the boxing program.
However, they do have decent fitness facilities and the front area staff are wonderful, and I can't comment on the other combat sports they teach because I didn't take any of those classes.
All I can say is to stay away from the boxing.

They did give me a six-month credit that I can give to someone, so if anyone wants to try Xtreme Couture for a few months, let me know.


TRAINING UPDATE

As I mentioned before, my new coach has provided me with a lot of great advice.
I don't share all of my training anymore, but this one is interesting.

Have you ever seen a boxer tap himself on the forehead?
There is a reason for that.

It reminds him to return his hands to his face.

My coach told me that and wants me to try it.

There, you learned something about boxers today.


ANOTHER WEIGHT LOSS

When I last checked, Wednesday, I was down to 174 lbs.
That is a 5-pound drop since leaving Xtreme Couture and a 12-pound drop since leaving Stockyards.
However, my coach wants me to drop to below 170.
That is doable.



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--Paul 'The Brick' Brec