Heaven Help Me! I Just Want To Be A Boxer, Damnit!

OK, this whole boxing thing is getting to be a bit too dramatic, and is getting to be a real pain in the ass.
I am going to chalk up the Kingsway Disaster as experience, although I am no where near finished with them. I am going to talk to a lawyer to find out if I can request a refund based on the fact that they did not do their job properly, mislead me, and cancelled my contract without just cause. As mentioned before, simply requesting better service and suggesting a different way of doing things is not disrespectful. Also, you do not put someone into a competitive boxing program, and then say, "Just because you are in a competitive program, does not mean you will compete." That is not only misleading, but it discredits the whole program. What a dumb thing to say to someone. Don't pretend to care and lead someone down a path and lead them to believe something that is not true. That is one of the worst things you can do to someone. I mean, I totally understand that you can't start in a competitive program and expect to jump into the ring right away. No shit, Sherlock. At the same time, there are alternate options. Put people into the recreational program first, then move them to competition later, and you have to provide proper coaching to make sure that happens. That is why you are being paid. If you don't feel someone is ready, say that!
Oh, and I was also told that if I had paid more, I would have received better coaching. What?! Kingsway is already the most expensive boxing club in Toronto. They wanted me to "upgrade" to $125 a month! Yeah, sure. Anyone willing to pay $125 a month for a boxing coach really needs one, because you have been hit in the head one too many times. The average is $50.
I really don't feel bad at all about what happened a Kingsway. I don't feel I was wrong. I was paying a lot of money, more than average, and they were not meeting my expectations. They are just angry because they were trying to pull a "fast-one", and got caught. It is their loss.
Since then, I have been approached by other coaches, and I was interviewing them over the past couple of days. I am pleased to announce that starting in September, Richard Souce, former Canadian Professional Champion, will be my coach. He is opening up a new place very shortly, and it has been announced that Junmar Emon, formerly of Bloor Boxing, will be one of his assistants.
I was very impressed with what Richard was telling me on the phone, and the fact that Junmar will be helping him, is a big bonus. I know Junmar quite well, and I know that he will not screw around.
In the meantime, I am still training at Bloor Street Fitness. Although I sometimes complain about them, I really do like them. The staff are friendly, they are open 24 hours, and are only one block from my apartment. I just don't like what has been happening to the boxing program.
However, something interesting happened while I was there on Monday. One of the boxing trainers, I think there is only one left, came up to me while I was using the heavy bag, and started coaching me! Yeah, as a matter-of-fact, he went up to all the boxers, and started providing feedback. Just like that. We did not even have to ask. Yeah, the things that make you go "Hmmmmmmm...".
After, we were talking, and he wants to have more "real" boxing classes, with sparring classes. He also wants to see Bloor become certified by Boxing Ontario. Once that is done, Bloor will be able to offer a competitive boxing program. This is an interesting turn of events. Could the opening of Richard's gym have something to do with this?
However, as much as the staff at Bloor want the gym to become certified, the final decision is up to the owner. It costs money for a Boxing Ontario certification, and from what I have been seeing lately, I am not sure they are willing to put any more money into the boxing. At this point, I have decided to keep my membership at Bloor because of the convenience. As far as the Boxing Ontario certification goes, all I have to say about that is, "Show me the money".
I am looking forward to my new relationship with my new coaches at the new (not yet open) Stockyards Boxing Club. However, I have decided that this will be the absolute last time I change coaches. If Richard and Junmar can not help me, it will likely be "bye-bye boxing". I will admit that it will be a rough road to start. I have been programmed and de-programmed and re-programmed with so many different types of coaching, that I am really confused right now. It is easier to teach someone a sport when they don't know anything, as opposed to someone like me who has had 15,000 different coaches with different coaching techniques. I ask for patience. I will do my best, provided that I am provided constant feedback. Do not pretend to care. I have been through too much of that. Richard wants to create a new boxing team from scratch, and I am willing to help. I want to be part of it. Together, I think we can make it work. Just give me a fair chance, and be honest. I do not need another let-down.

Paul "Pissed-Off" Brec

For information on Stockyards Boxing:
Stockyards Boxing and Fitness

Canned from Kingsway !!!

Well, I don't know how to say this, but I have been kicked off of the Kingsway boxing team.
I was not happy with the quality of coaching, and I made the mistake of bringing my concern to the coaches. Apparently, nobody is allowed to express an opinion there. My main concern was lack of feedback.  Is it not a coaches job to provide feedback to the athletes? Yeah, I thought so too, but that is not how they feel at Kingsway. Asking for feedback there results in a sarcastic answer, and being told I am being disrespectful. How paying for coaching, not getting it, and then asking for it, is being disrespectful?
I had been there for eight months, and was apparently told that I would eventually be allowed to compete again, but I never saw any signs of that ever happening. Then I was told, "Just because you are in a competitive boxing program does not mean you are going to compete"...Huh? That does not even begin to make sense. What the hell else is the purpose of a competitive boxing program?
The feeling I have been getting for a while is that I don't think the coaches were taking me seriously. They were leading me down a path, and pretending to care, but really didn't. They were just waiting for the right moment to boot me, and they found it.
This is just another let-down, and I have to say I am very disappointed. I have put a lot of effort into this.
All I want is for a boxing coach to take me seriously, and give me a chance. I don't see why that is such a difficult request to fill?
Please, any boxing coach in the Toronto area willing to take me seriously. I will work very hard, and do my absolute best for you.  All I ask is to be honest with me, and give me a reasonable chance.

Coaches please respond. Serious inquiries only.

Body...Head...Body...Head...Smuck! Ow! I'm So Confused!

I have been away, so I have not been updating the blog. I will have to say that I did keep up with my training, along with a lot of walking.
Since I have returned to Toronto, I have still been visiting both gyms on a regular basis albeit on a "summer schedule".
I feel that my boxing skills are better than ever, and I have had two more open sparring matches since returning. I have also been doing a lot of soft sparring at both Kingsway and Bloor.
Usually, Thursday is open sparring at Kingsway. Last Thursday I sparred the coach. There are advantages and disadvantages to that. The advantage is you learn a lot. The disadvantage, the coach does not in any way feel sorry for you.
Well, sure enough, he nailed me four times in the solar plexus. Yeah, you'd think that after the first time I would have learned something.  Well, what ended up happening is that I had a bruise there. Do you have any idea what that feels like? The solar plexus is where all the nerves from the stomach, rectum and bowels are collected before going back to the spine. They are very close to the surface, and are therefore very sensitive.
I had an extreme stomach cramp for four days! Yeah, it was not the most pleasant thing in the world.
This past Thursday, I did sparring with four of my teammates. Easier? No, not really.
For the most part, even during open sparring, my team usually go fairly easy on each other. After all, it is just for practice. However, open sparring (full-contact) does help you prepare for competition. Think about it, when you are competing, your opponent is not exactly going to be love-tapping you. May as well get used to the hard hits in the gym.
Chris. Yes, I spoke about Chris before. He is one of the ones who does not let-up during open sparring. He always hits full-power.
Chris is a really big guy. He could pass for a professional wrestler. What is also important here is that he is also in my weightclass now. How this happened, I don't know, but I will discuss it a bit later.
The coach insisted I do one round with Chris. I knew he would clobber me, but there must have been a good reason the coach wanted this to happen.
I am not stupid. I remembered last-week's disaster, and was not going to let it happen again. I adjusted my boxing stance, so I am more at an angle. My stomach is now farther from my opponent, and thus, harder to reach. I now drop my left slightly so I can use my elbow as defense. This is a completely new tactic for me, so I was really not used to using it. My main focus was on protecting my body.
Well, it did not take long at all for Chris to notice my weak defense: My head! He ended up nailing me twice in a row. Both sides! How did that happen? All I hear is the coach yelling at me, "Paul, where's your defense?!" Yeah, well if you really must know, its down around my solar plexus where it will be staying right now, thank you very much.
The shots to the head really did not bother me. A seasoned boxer can shake that off quite easily. However, shots to the body are harder to shake, and can cause mush more damage, longer, and will really tire you quickly. This is one reason why good boxing coaches focus on body attacks.
That being said, a punch to the head is a point against you, and can cause you to loose, if it doesn't just knock you right onto your ass.
OK, so now that I have the body defense done, I have to find a way to get the left up to defend my noggin. Something to work on this week.
Now back to my issue about weight. In the spring, I was at the 89 kg class. I had been there for a long time. Then, for some reason, I began to creep up. I am now officially at 93 kg.  That means that in five months, I gained 4 kg, or 10 pounds! I know it is not fat. It is definitely not that. I don't know what happened, but I am now in a bad spot, because I am now at the low end of the Super-Heavyweight class. This is very bad, as now I can be matched with any man from 91 kg and up. Meaning, up to...whatever.
My coach is always going on about not increasing to a higher class, and I really tried not to. Now, I have to do everything I can to get below 91 kg. It will be a challenge, but something to work toward.

My next scheduled match: [TBA]

My current division and class: Master's Novice 93 kg [Super-Heavyweight]

My current record (Kingsway): 0 - 0 - 0  //0  (4 Open Sparring)

 Paul "The Brick" Brec

The Gloves Are Coming Off !

This is one of the huge boxing gloves that used to be outside the entrance to Bloor Boxing and Fitness, now called Bloor Fitness.
I have discussed this location's decline in boxing facilities. However, it now looks like they want to wipe boxing completely away. The last time I was in, they had removed the giant boxing gloves from out front, a once signature fixture of the Junction area.
I have been hearing complaints from other members that use the "boxing facilities" of Bloor Fitness, that the former boxing gym is rapidly going down hill. I have noticed it, too. Since, the owner moved his office upstairs, he watches that area like a hawk, and will apparently come out and lecture you if he sees something he does not like. As a result, more users of the boxing area are now going "after hours" to avoid Paul's lectures. Since I always go after Paul leaves, I have not experienced any of his "lectures", so I can not fairly comment on it.
I have to say that Paul needs to be really careful how he handles his boxing clients. Since a few members, such as myself, use the boxing area exclusively. If he does not start looking after it, he will lose members.
In an interesting turn of events, a former employee of Bloor Fitness is building a new Boxing and Fitness not to far from Bloor Fitness. Since this former Bloor employee is a boxing coach, I imagine there will be more emphasis on the boxing.
Could it be possible that this person is quite aware of what is happening at Bloor Fitness, and is trying to draw clients away? It is quite possible this could happen.
Oooo...Drama ! Stay tuned to "The Boxing Blog". Same Boxing Time...Same Boxing Channel.

My next scheduled match: [TBA]

My current division and class: Master's Novice 93 kg [Super-Heavyweight]

My current record (Kingsway): 0 - 0 - 0  //0  (2 Open Sparring)

 Paul "The Brick" Brec

Bloor Boxing Has Decided To Become A Film Studio !

Well, this is just like my life. Right now, I am only going to Bloor Boxing on Mondays. So, of course this is the day a freaking film crew decided to work in there.
This is one of my top-10 Peeves. You need to decide if you are going to be a gym or a film studio. You can't do both. It is really pissing me off. Kingsway did that a few weeks ago as well. They brought in a film crew, and kicked out all of the members. It may not sound like that big of a deal, but it happens frequently. 
Anyway, this huge crew of about 10 people, director, camera people, actors, and whomever started to file into my space!  They started dropping craploads of gear all over the place, and they dropped their stupid scrips and runsheets all over the ring.
It was getting kind of crowded, which wasn't too bad, until...

Script, runsheet and clapboard.

The director had the nerve to turn off my radio! He did not even ask. That really pissed me off.
I said to him, "Stop turning off my radio", and he said, "Well, we are rolling soon"."We are renting this place."
So? You don't have any manners? I don't give a rat's big red fat patootee who you are or who you thing you are, or what the 'F' you are renting. Don't you have any manners?
I told him, "I don't care. I am paying to train here." Then he said, "When will you be finished?"
I was actually ready to leave, but because he was being an ass, I decided to stay longer. "In about 20 minutes.", I said.
I think he got the message. You are in a boxing gym, buddy. It is not a good idea to piss off the ones who train in there.
I took my sweet time, and made him wait. In the meantime, I took a peek at the script. All I saw was "HOOKER #1:" and "HOOKER #2:" What kind of movie is this?
Don't get me wrong. I am a photographer too. However, I do my best not to interfere with other people. Also, if you want to film, either rent the location at a time when it is not busy. After midnight, for example. Even better, Toronto has about 85,000 film studios. Rent one of those.
OK, that's my rant for now.

My next scheduled match: [TBA]

My current division and class: Master's Novice 92 kg [Super-Heavyweight]

My current record (Kingsway): 0 - 0 - 0  //0  (2 Open Sparring)

Paul "The Comeback Kid" /  Paul "The Brick" Brec

My First Hard Sparring Match At Kingsway

There are a lot of things boxing coaches do to prepare you for upcoming competition. One of those things is sparring.
There are two types of sparring, Hard Sparring and Soft Sparring. I go into more details about this in my article "All A-BOUT Boxing" on Triond.  To put it simply, Soft Sparring is used for coaches to judge a boxer's performance. Participants do not throw full-power punches, but concentrate more on technique. I have been doing this for a while. However, once you are ready, the coach will put you into the ring for Hard Sparring, also called Open Sparring. With this, full-contact punches are thrown, as if in a match. This is a boxer's first step into the "real-world" of boxing. It prepares you for what it is like to be in an actual competition. Let's face it, in an actual match, your opponent is not going to throw baby punches. He is going to want to knock you onto your ass.
As I mentioned before, the coach has to be confident that you are ready for this kind of activity, of course. Well, this past week I was ready.
The coach stuck me between the ropes with Antonio. Antonio has only started at Kingsway three months before I, but does not really have any previous boxing experience.
I did three grueling rounds. Three minute rounds, which I may add, are longer than actual competition rounds. The Master's Division has only one minute rounds.
Anyway, Antonio is...good. I appreciate that, because just like with any sport, you learn from people who are better than you. I am not saying he's better, but definitely has a different style. That is what makes boxing the sport it is. Two different guys, with different ways of doing things, trying figure out the other person's way.
I found that I have a "Getting punched in the face" phobia. So, guess where my defense was all the time? Well, it did not take long for Antonio to pick up on it. Remember last week, at the Camp, when I went nuts on Phil? This was the same, except it was my ribs being pounded. Now I know how those sides of beef must have felt when Rocky trained in that meat freezer.
The good thing was, I didn't get hit in the head. Well, I wasn't letting anything though up there, but my body was a different story. Can you say: "Open season on Paul's ribs"? My coach kept on yelling, "Paul, you're leaving your body open!" Yes, thank you Coach! I never noticed!
I was also told to circle to his left, not his right. So, what did I do? I circled to his right! I kept getting nailed by his right cross. Although, it didn't get through, still...
My coach said that I did fine, but I feel I could have done much better. That is a good thing. Once an athlete gets cocky, it is not a good thing. You should always have a goal in any sport. Always find something that can be improved. In my case: Body defense. I will definitely work on that. My bruised ribs are telling me that.
I am looking forward to the next Open Sparring. I like it. It is a great exercise, and a great--although sometimes painful--way to learn.

My next scheduled match: [TBA]

My current division and class: Master's Novice 92 kg [Super-Heavyweight]

My current record (Kingsway): 0 - 0 - 0  //0  (1 Open Sparring)

Paul "The Comeback Kid" /  Paul "The Brick" Brec

A Weekend At Boxing Camp

OK, so, remember summer camp? You had so much fun?
This is nothing like that.
The idea is to prepare you for competition boxing, regardless of what level you currently stand. This is done by teaching all aspects of the sport in a logical manner.
You start of with the basics. How to stand, how to move, offense and defense. Then it is all put together.
Most will be surprised at how complicated boxing really is.
Let me see how much I remember. There are eight offensive moves, and five defensive. There is a certain way to stand, and two ways to move. There is offensive footwork, and defensive footwork. Oh, yeah. It takes a lot of knowledge to become a good boxer. It is not just about pounding the piss out of each other. Although, that is the fun part. I mean, pounding the piss out of another guy. Not me getting the piss pounding.
Although, at the end of the course we did some technical sparring. We were supposed to not hit so hard, but I get a bit too aggressive, and payed for it. I will discuss that later.
The course ran two days, and each day we started with a warm-up. Each class also included an "introduction" to conditioning. This is the most important part of boxing. You can have the best technique in the world, but if you can't last the three rounds, you won't get anywhere. I am personally not a huge fan of the conditioning part. Skipping and push-ups are very repetitive and boring, but it has to be done. However, the good part about bing in the Master's division, one-minute rounds. That is a huge advantage when you are training for three-minute rounds.
One of the biggest things I took away from this camp is a huge improvement in my technique. The coach was very impressed.
I did quite well at the technical sparring. I was sparring Phil. As I mentioned before, I got a bit too aggressive. This type of sparring is supposed to be done lightly. Well, I got Phil against the ropes, and began to pound on him. The coach was egging me on, and I felt really good about it. Phil is a really good boxer, and I found it odd that he stayed on the ropes for a good 10 seconds to let me play drums on his kidneys. Well, that fun didn't last long. He suddenly spun around and knocked me silly with an overhand right to the side of the head.
OK, my fault...my fault. This sparring bout was video recorded, I'd like to see it.
I also have a exhibition match coming up later this week, where I can really get aggressive. Looking forward to it.
Well, overall I learned a lot at the camp. Back to regular training on Monday.
Oh, and I am looking for another nickname. I have had a suggestion of "The Brick". Yes, Paul "The Brick" Brec...

My next scheduled match: [TBA]

My current division and class: Master's Novice 92 kg [Super-Heavyweight]

My current record (Kingsway): 0 - 0 - 0  //0

Paul "The Comeback Kid" /  Paul "The Brick" Brec