Cabbagetown Festival Card ~ I Have Been Boxing For How Long?

    ENTRY 464


CABBAGETOWN FESTIVAL

Hey everyone.  It has been a while since the last entry. It is summer, I was busy with a new job, and generally summer is a slow time of year for boxing. However, things are picking up.

September 7 is the Cabbagetown Festival, and as usual, Cabbagetown Boxing Club will be hosting it's annual amateur boxing card.

I have been entered in 175 lbs. class. That means that we are waiting for a response from another coach who has a boxer in the same category.

I have not competed at all so far this year, and I have been working very hard. I need to redeem myself after that piss-poor performance at the Golden Gloves last December in Niagara Falls.

I will admit to picking up a lot of bad habits, especially from the lest gym I attended. I was a better boxer while I was at Stockyards. I left Stockyards for a reason that I can't remember. Then I went to the Toronto Boxing Acadamy which at the time was an Ontario Boxing Association gym. Then I left there when the OBA lost their license, and went to Xtreme Couture. They were terrible, and I ended up picking up bad habits due to poor coaching and their odd training techniques.

One of my current coaches verified that by saying that some coaches don't like coaching Masters, and that has been my feeling all along, and it was nice to have someone agree and understand my position.

The interesting part is the reason I chose to attend Xtreme Couture, and it was a mistake.

"The Heartbreaker" with coach at Stockyards Boxing Club
. ©2017 paulbrec Photography

I was at attending a card at Stockyards as a spectator, and there was a bout between Mike from Xtreme verses Peter "The Heartbreaker" from Cabbagetown. The end result was that Peter knocked Mike right onto his ass in the first round. What did I do? I decided to attend Xtreme. Yeah. Good idea. Go to the gym where the guy got knocked right out. To this day I have no idea why I did that. I ended up going to Cabbagetown anyway, and I could have saved a year by just going there right away instead of going to Xtreme. To be honest, after attending Xtreme for a year myself, I am not surprised that guy got knocked onto his ass. Their training is so screwed right up. I have never seen amateur boxers trained the way they do there.



Anyway, I'm at a decent gym now with coaches that can acually coach.
Thank you to the coaches at Cabbagetown Boxing Club and my fellow boxers who work with me five times a week. If it wasn't for all of you, I would still be full of bad habits.

I hope to get an opponent for September 7, so I can make up for last year and practice what I have learned over the past year, and bring in a 'W'.

Join us at the Cabbagetown Youth Centre on September 7 for boxing in the afternoon and a dance in the evening. In support of the Cabbagetown Youth Centre. Enjoy the rest of the Cabbagetown Festival along Parliament Street all weekend.


I HAVE BEEN BOXING FOR HOW LONG?

You know, I had actually forgotten how long I have been boxing? I have always thought it was six years, but it is actually longer. I found a photo that was taken of me at Stockyards in 2013, and I was at another boxing gym before that. It is actually eight years.
My first bout was in 2015 at Stockyards, before there was a Masters Division in Ontario. I remember wearing 12 oz. gloves, and it felt like I wasn't wearing any gloves at all.
That first bout in April of 2015 is now forever immortalized on the wall of the Cabbagetown Boxing Club in the form of a poster. Right directly next to the men's room mind you, but still...

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--Paul 'The Brick' Brec

LINKS:
MASTERS BOXING ON REDDIT
ANOTHER 'BRICK' IN THE SPRAWL 

The Brick's Guide To Boxing In Toronto--Fourth Edition

    SPECIAL ENTRY 


GUIDE TO STARTING BOXING IN TORONTO (OR ANYWHERE)

Welcome to another guide to Boxing in Toronto.
This one will be a bit different. I will not be rating or ranking the boxing gyms this time. 
This will be a guide on how to get started in boxing..Even if you don't live in Southern Ontario you may find this guide helpful as it will take you through the steps of how to become a  competitive boxer that can be applied almost anywhere.

Please now enjoy "The Brick's" Guide To Boxing -- Fourth Edition

So you wanna be a boxer?
The first question you should ask your self is, "Are you sure you wanna be a boxer?"
I say that because boxing is not like other sports.
It is not only the oldest sport but also the most difficult. Both ESPN and MSN have deemed boxing as the the most demanding sport in the world. Even within the top 10 the rank between sports is different between ESPN and MSN, but both placed boxing at number one.
That means that if you wanna be a boxer, you have to be ready.
Boxing requires stamina, hand-eye coordination, speed and agility.

SO YOU WANNA BE A BOXER?

I personally don't recommend trying boxing if it has been a while since you have been exercising.
You should start slowly and work your way into it. Of course, if you are already in spectacular shape, it may be okay to jump right into boxing. However, just like any exercise program you should get clearance from your physician first.

I will give you an idea of how boxers train later in this article, but first you need to find a coach and trainer. This process is probably the most time-consuming part of your start to a boxing career.

The search for a good coach takes time. You may even have to try working with a few before you find one you can connect with.

Here are some tips on how to search for a coach: Attend some local amatuer boxing shows and study the coaches. Look at how they intereact with their athletes and also with  the officials. 

Once you find one you are interested in, try to get feedback from the althetes who are already working with that particular coach.

From there you should collect information about the boxing club where that coach works. Location is important and also the hours. Some boxing gyms have very limited hours. 

Now, if you like the coach and the gym, make an arrangement to meet the coach at the gym.
I always like to notify the coach in advance that I would like to meet him, instead of just walking into the gym unannounced.

Some notes about coaches and gyms.
From my own experience, many coaches do not like coaching Masters division boxers. This category is for athletes over the age of 35. I found many coaches ignore or only provide absolute bare-minimum guidance to Masters. The reason for this is unclear, but I have heard a few reasons floating around. The reason is not important, but finding a Masters-friendly gym and coach is part of the searching process if you fall into that category.
Also, for everyone, avoid gyms that appear to be "commercialized". I find that the best coaches are those at gyms that are run by a non-profit organization. This is not to say that you won't find a good coach at other boxing gyms as well. I guess what I mean is to avaoid gyms that "OVER-commercialized".
Also try to avoid "boxing gyms" that also offer fitness-only classes. Try to locate a real boxing gym. They are getting harder to find but still exist. The so-called boxing gyms that also offer fitness classes tend to lean focus on the fitness and less on the boxing. To get the best boxing experience the gym should be focused only on boxing or fitness classes that are directly related to boxing.

Okay, so you have spent two months or so finding your ideal coach and boxing gym, now what?

Now, you start the fun part. Your training regiment. 

Your coach will first guide you on what gear you will need for training and also what your training will involve.
Generally speaking, if you are a beginner you will need to take basic boxing classes before anything else. The length of time you will need to spend as a beginner will depend on how fast you learn. Follow the guidance of your coach.

Training is generally 60 to 90 minutes per day for at least three times per week, but to take it seriously, I recommend going five times a week.
The sessions will almost always contain tradional exercises, weight training, technical drills, and cardio. Technical drills may include target-pad work, shadow boxing, and non-contact sparring.

A note on sparring.
After you have been at the gym a few times, and you notice others in the ring doing real sparring, you will for sure want to try it.
One misconception about boxing is that you can step in off the street and right into the ring to spar. That is the furthest thing from the truth. Beginners are not allowed to spar full-contact. Generally, you will need to be assessed by the coach to see if you are ready. Even then, there is an administrative process involved.
This is the point where you begin the process of becoming a boxer.
You will need to register yourself as a competitive athlete with your sanctioning organization. For example, in the province of Ontario, the organizatin that sanctions boxing is Boxing Ontario. Contrary to popular belief, Boxing Ontario is not a government organization. It is a non-profit organization that is licensed by the government to oversee the sport of boxing in Ontario.
There used to be two such organizations. Up until 2017, there was also the Ontario Boxing Association. The OBA was an extension of the World Boxing Council. It also had different rules from that of Boxing Ontario. However in 2017, the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Sport revoked the OBA's license after a change in the laws governing combat sports in Ontario. The decisition was made amongst concerns over althete safety.

In addition to sanctioning boxing in Ontario, Boxing Ontario is also responsible for providing insurance for its athletes. Many Ontarians don't know this, but the Ontario public heath insurance does not cover sports injuries. The sanctioning organizations are legally required to provide injury insurance for all of their athletes.

When you are ready, your coach will explain the process required to register yourself with your repective sanction.

USA Boxing Master's passbook

Once registgered, you will receive a passbook, which many mistake as a license.  It is not a license. Licenses are issued by the government. Your boxer's passbook is your boxing passport. Everytime you step into the ring to compete, an official signs off in your book. It also contains all of your previous opponents and the results.
However, a passbook is also required for full-contact sparring. It is your proof that you have insurance coverage, which is required for full-contact sparring.

Now you are ready for your first sparring session. I won't lie. Your first time sparring wil be scary.
I always have said, once you have sparred the first time and come back again, you can call yourself a boxer.

Once you are used to sparring, you should spar as much as possible but not over-do it. 
As with everything else, follow your coach's guidance when it comes to sparring.
If your coach tells you "no more sparring", it is for your own good. That being said, your coach may want you spar more. It may be that he feels that you need more work or he wants to evaluate your performance.
In all cases, always listen to your coach.

The boxing sanction will place you into a category.
If you chose to do more than just sparring and want to compete, the category you are placed in will determine who your opponents will be and any specific rules for your division.
For example, some divisions have shorter rounds or use a different sized gloves.
There are also different weight classes. Also, right now only in Ontario, there are age categories within the weight classes. This began in 2007 when Boxing Ontario started receiving complaints about there being too much age difference in the boxers. Although, age really doesn't matter that much, Boxing Ontario created the age categories anyway, so now there is a maximum age spread between boxers amongst everything else.
The age spread is 10 years for most divisions.

There is also a Novice and an Open category for the Elite and Masters divisions.
Up to and including 10 bouts you are a Novice and can only have another Novice as an opponent. In tournaments, they spit that category into Novice and Sub-novice. The latter being boxers with only up to five bouts.
After 10 bouts, you become Open. The rules are slightly different and your rounds will be longer. It also means that your opponents will only be Open with no limit on the number of bouts.

Boxing Ontraio boxer's classifications (may apply to other jurisdictions as well):

Elite (19-34) Novice: 3x2 rounds,  Open: 3x3 rounds
Masters (35+) Novice: 3x1.5 rounds  Open 3x2 rounds
Female (19-34) Novice: 3x2 rounds  Open: 4x2 rounds
Boxers 11 - 18 are classed as Youth or Junior A,B,C depening on age.
Initiation division for ages 8-10 are exhibition bouts only called 'Funbox'.

Novice bouts are resticted to a maximum of three Standing-8 counts per bout.
Masters division uses 16 oz. gloves in all competition bouts.

That is how you start yourself in boxing.

Also, talk to other boxers as well. Boxers who have been in it for a while can be very helpful in getting new people involved in the sport.


MORE INFO:

Boxing Sanctions

Boxing Ontario (Local Sanction)
Boxe Quebec (Local Sanction)
Boxing BC (Local Sanction)
Boxing Alberta (Local Sanction)
USA Boxing (United States Sanctioning Body)
Boxing Canada (National Team Sanction)

Government

Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Sport

Not-For-Profit Boxing Clubs (Ontario)

Cabbagetown Boxing Club (Toronto) [Master's friendly]
Corcoran's Boxing Club (Peterborough) [Formerly BEL Boxing Club]
McGrory's Boxing Club (Hamilton)


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--Paul 'The Brick' Brec

LINKS:
MASTERS BOXING ON REDDIT
ANOTHER 'BRICK' IN THE SPRAWL 

Cabbagetown Crew At the Bronze Gloves ~ One Year Anniversary

    ENTRY 463


ONE YEAR WITH CABBAGETOWN

It has now been exactly one year this week since I started traing at Cabbagetown.
I have to say it has been a very productive year.
The coahes at Cabbagetown Boxing Club did a lot of work, and continue to do a lot of work, to repair four years of having Crappycoachitis. They have done a very good job and for that I thank them.

As I have mentioned, I will not  be entering any tournaments this year, but I am looking forward to being in one local club event.
I am concentrating all my efforts on that.



CABBAGETOWN CREW AT THE BRONZE GLOVES

This weekend is the Bronze Gloves tournament at the Westin Airport Hotel.
There are a few Cabbagetown boxers on the card and I am not going to mention all of them because you know that I will forget at least one.

In case I can't make it out to watch, I want to extend my best to all of my teammates who will be repesenting Cabbagetown this weekend.


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--Paul 'The Brick' Brec

LINKS:
MASTERS BOXING ON REDDIT
ANOTHER 'BRICK' IN THE SPRAWL 

Gone But Not Forgotten

    ENTRY 462


GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

I just wanted to shoot out a quick update since it has been a while.
The truth is that two things have happened that have kept me from boxing and blogging over the last few weeks.
I had just started with a new company and I was concentrating on that, plus I was very sick.

I just came back to sparring on Friday and I did 9 rounds.

I stole this photo from a Facebook post.
I don't get too many photos of my sparring and it is nice when someone thinks to get one.
Thank you for posting this.

Although I am still getting over being sick. I am now finally setting into my new workplace,
The reason for leaving the other company is a very long story, but it was for the best.

I will be getting back into my full boxing schedule this week. 
I have dropped to 177 lbs. and I hope to keep it that way.
Although, I plan on cutting down on competing, I still want to do a couple of local events per year.
I have not done one yet this year as I (my coach) was waiting for my weight to drop below 178, and now it has. 
Now I will be concentrating on keeping my weight down and training for the next Cabbagetown card.



BOXING GYM GUIDE OUT SOON

Just a reminder that the next edition of "The Brick's Guide To Boxing In Toronto" is due out by mid-June.
If you have any additions or edit suggestions, PM me.




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--Paul 'The Brick' Brec

LINKS:
MASTERS BOXING ON REDDIT
ANOTHER 'BRICK' IN THE SPRAWL 

"Your Other Right"

    ENTRY 462


THURSDAY AND FRIDAY SPARRING

I did a total of 16 rounds of sparring last week. Six on Thursday and 10 on Friday.
Martin hit me in the kidney with a nice right hook. Not unlike three weeks ago when Dave hit me with an awesome liver shot.
Yes. I need to work on body defence.

I have been concentrating recently on offence. The main problem I have had in the past was that I was not aggressive enough, so for the past few months, I have been working on offensive techniques. "Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy".

Since I have been working so hard on aggressiveness my defence has been lacking.
Although I have never had the best body defence. 
I tend to use "lazy" defensive techniques for head defence. I like to block or parry. I would rather not have to slip or roll. Although, I need to start using more different techniques to defend.
Now that I have offence done, next I am going to start working on a good defence platform. I will focus on the body but also use more slips and rolls.

There is a club card coming soon and I want to be on it, so I need to be prepared. I have to impress the coaches.
I won't be registering for the Bronze Gloves this year. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am going to be cutting 'way back on tournaments and concentrating on the local club events.



"YOUR OTHER RIGHT"

I did a few rounds of target pad work with Coach Johnny last week.
In one session he asked me to do something odd. He said, 'Slip the left and come back with a left hook'. I was confused because that is not something that you would ever do.
You can't throw a left hook off of a left slip unless you reset first.
I questioned, "Left hook? Are you sure?"
He then said, "Slip the RIGHT and then a left hook! You will get knocked out doing it the other way!"
Oh, yeah that makes sense. I have no idea why I was thinking to slip the left.
Likely because on the rare occasion that I actually slip, it is a left slip, so I was thinking that and actually tried it.
Here I am with over six years experience in boxing and I went and made an idiot mistake like that right in front of the coach.
I'm an idiot.


BOXING GYM GUIDE OUT SOON

Just a reminder that the next edition of "The Brick's Guide To Boxing In Toronto" is due out by the end of May.
If you have any additions or edit suggestions, PM me.




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--Paul 'The Brick' Brec

LINKS:
MASTERS BOXING ON REDDIT
ANOTHER 'BRICK' IN THE SPRAWL 

Stockyards Is In the (Cabbagetown) House!

    ENTRY 461


SPARRING UPDATE

You can tell it is a slow week when I am doing a sparring update.

During our Friday morning sparring session I got to spar all the girls.
That's right. None of the guys wanted to spar which was unusual.

The thing about sparring the girls is that although they don't hit as hard, they are really fast.

She is there, and then she is not. 
Zoom!
What the hell just happened?

It is good to practice with people who are fast. Speed is very important in boxing.

Regardless of who I work with in the ring, I appreciate it. 
Everyone at Cabbagetown is good to work with.
I am about to get to the one-year mark at Cabbagetown. At the end of May I will have been training at Cabbagetown for a year.
Thank you to my teammates for all their help over the past year.
Oh, yeah, and of course the coaches too.


THE STOCKYARDS CREW IS IN THE (CABBAGETOWN) HOUSE

I would like to welcome Cyrus to the Cabbagetown Boxing Club.
He is also a Masters division boxer. He used to train with me back at Stockyards. He moved on to the Sully's Boxing Gym shortly after I moved on.
He recently left Sully's due to their limited hours of operation. He likes the morning sessions that Cabbagetown offers.

Welcome, and I now have another sparring partner.


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--Paul 'The Brick' Brec

LINKS:
MASTERS BOXING ON REDDIT
ANOTHER 'BRICK' IN THE SPRAWL 

Reasons Why Boxing Is Misunderstood: Blame It On the Media

    ENTRY 460


REASONS WHY MOST PEOPLE DON'T UNDERSTAND BOXING

For this, entry number 460, I would like to discuss one of my peeves about boxing. Well, not boxing itself, but a look into why there are so many out there who simply just don't understand the sport.

Although it is not something that I commonly think about, it came to mind earlier in the week while the wife and I were watching something on TV.
On this particular show (a comedy), boxing was being represented and it was at that point I realized how many times boxing is misrepresented in TV, film and radio.

In this entry, a closer look as to how poorly this great sport is represented in the media.


TELEVISION (VIDEO STREAMING)


Laverne and Shirley S3E2: "Tag Team" (1977)  The character Carmine Ragusa was apparently a boxer in the series in this and the episode "Rocky Ragu" although in neither episode do we ever see him boxing.
In this episode, once in the ring, all that happens is a bunch of silliness. Including Carmine's opponent sitting on a stool in the middle of the ring and pulling his trunks all the way up to "confuse" his opponent.  None of this would most certainly be allowed in the real world of boxing. Although a comedy, there are ways this segment could have been funny without disrespecting the sport.




Three's Company S7E16: "Jack Goes the Distance" (1983)  This was very accurate right up to the boxing bout.  
Jack is challenged by a boxer to "come to the gym to fight". 
First of all two guys can't just walk into a boxing gym and jump into the ring. It just doesn't work that way. 
Second, once in the ring things just became silly. Not really any boxing at all. Jack was just messing around and even the character who was supposed to be the boxer didn't do any boxing, either. Yes, this is a comedy, but one can still be funny and represent boxing in an intelligent way.



Fame S3E5: "Knockout" (1983) In this episode, the character Christopher is challenged to a boxing bout. Apparently this character had boxing experience. Although not much of the boxing is shown in the episode, just before the bout Christopher says, "When you are in a fight there is a bloody guy on the canvas who isn't going anywhere for a while."
That is not how boxing works. Great build-up, though.


RADIO

Stu Jefferies CHBM-FM Toronto This guy just drives me absolutely crazy and that is the reason I no longer listen to him. He is constantly saying stupid things on the radio. I think he forgets that there are thousands of people listening to him.

Among his comments was one about a year ago when he actually had the nerve to compare boxing to MMA, saying that they were the same.

I found that quite offensive. 
Even if he didn't know he should have done some research first.

Boxing has nothing to do with martial arts and should not be compared to it.
MMA is a form of self-defense that was sloppily turned into a "sport". Whereas, boxing has always been a sport that can be used as a form of self defense.
Completely opposite and definitely not the same.


FILM

Of all of these, films seem to represent boxing the most accurately.
However, nobody can mention boxing films without mentioning Rocky.

I think few can deny that Rocky is a very likable character and that in his fictitious world he was heavyweight champion. However, let's be honest, in the real world he never would have been a champion. He had zero technique and had the sloppiest form of boxing every represented by a boxing character in a film. I doubt he would have even been good enough to become a professional in the real world.



To sum up, it is important to remember that in most cases the entertainment industry likes to "enhance" things and that includes boxing.  

If you really want to learn what boxing is really all about, ask someone who knows. A boxer or a boxing coach.

You can't believe everything the entertainment media throws at you.

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--Paul 'The Brick' Brec

LINKS:
MASTERS BOXING ON REDDIT
ANOTHER 'BRICK' IN THE SPRAWL