Ontario Boxing Association: Mystery Solved

   ENTRY 409



OBA: DOWN FOR THE COUNT AND NOT LIKELY TO GET UP


BREAKING NEWS: The Ontario Boxing Association is still alive, but possibly for not much longer.

I found out through research that the organization still exists, but they are not allowed to sanction any competitive events.
This is due to a law that was passed in 2015 by the Ministry of Tourism-Culture-and Sport.
Game ON is the name of this policy and within it they re-assessed combat sports in the province of Ontario.
In order to keep combat sports safe, it was deemed that only one non-profit organization can represent any combat sport within Ontario. 
11 combat sports are represented by 10 organizations. 
For boxing the organization is Boxing Ontario. Therefore, any other organization who tries to organize a competitive boxing event will be doing so illegally and could face criminal charges.

Amateur MMA is still illegal in Ontario since there is no organization to run it. 


Here is an excerpt from the article that I found on the Ministry's web site:

Changes for Amateur Combative Sports

Ontario supports the safe participation in amateur combative sports.

In 2015 the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport released Game ON – The Ontario Government’s Sport Plan in which it committed to clarify the legal status of amateur combative sport.

Through an Order in Council, the Government of Ontario has designated 11 amateur sports in which contests are now legal if held with the permission of a government-recognized Provincial Sport Organization (PSO).

A PSO is a not-for-profit organization recognized by the Ministry as the governing body of a particular amateur sport in Ontario. The primary function of a PSO is the development of athletes, coaches and officials. A PSO must be recognized in accordance with the provincial Sport Recognition Policy. Currently there are 10 government-recognized PSOs in Ontario for combative sports.

Contests in sports that are not sanctioned by a provincially-recognized PSO are deemed illegal.

Designated Amateur Combative Sport	Ministry Recognized Provincial Sport Organization
Boxing	Boxing Ontario
Grappling	Ontario Grappling Association
Jiu-Jitsu	Ontario Jiu-Jitsu Association
Judo	Judo Ontario
Karate	Ontario Karate Federation
Kickboxing	Kickboxing Ontario
Muaythai	Muaythai Ontario
Pankration	Ontario Grappling Association
Taekwondo	Ontario Taekwondo Association
Wrestling^	Ontario Amateur Wrestling Association
Wushu	Wushu Ontario

Read the full article here.

So people, there it is.
The OBA mystery has been solved.

I have to say I am not surprised that the Ministry gave the boot to the OBA.
They are not very professional and also ran unsafe events.
They were also breaking a lot of rules such as performing medical tests on their athletes without permission.
One such test that I hate talking about because it is a stupid and pointless test is the Baseline Concussion Test. This test has been proven over and over to be inaccurate for many reasons.

I have mentioned about this before, but I would like to elaborate on it.


REASONS WHY BASELINE CONCUSSION TESTING IS INACCURATE

This is a test that is supposed to be able to detect if you have ever had a concussion. That in itself is inaccurate since it is very hard to detect a concussion unless it has happened within 24 hours.
Generally, this test is less than 20% accurate most of the time.
There are so many external factors that can cause an inaccuracy on the test.
Being tired and/or being sick can both skew the results. A change in emotion can also an inaccurate result. Such as being nervous or depressed.
Also, look at when the test was being conducted. About two hours before entering the ring. 
That is a stupid time to be doing such a test.
At that time a person's brain is going into Protection Mode. The brain knows that the body is soon going to be involved in combat. Since it is the brain's job to protect the body from damage, it begins to assess what it should do to protect the body. That is also known as "Fight or Flight" and in some cases "Self-Preservation".
This is a high-priority for the brain, so frivolous tasks such as processing the questions asked during a baseline concussion test are ignored by the brain's processing system.

Think of your brain as a computer with a 4 TB hard drive, but only 16 MB of RAM.

The hard drive is your storage, or long-term memory. The RAM is what your brain is currently processing or short-term memory.

The human brain has an amazing capacity for long-term memory, but is very limited to what it can do at any one time.
Therefore, it must prioritize what needs to be processed immediately and what needs to be stored for later.

A "Self-Preservation" is a high priority, obviously.
Short-term memory is not important while preparing for combat, but does become important during combat. At that time, your brain will switch priories to allow you to think "fast" in order to protect yourself as part of the Self-Preservation process.

However, there is something else I recently found out.
Intelligence can also affect how your brain processes and prioritizes.

If you have trouble remembering names and appointments, or questions asked as part of baseline concussion test, it is likely that you have a triple-digit IQ.

The reason is that a high-IQ brain likes to always think about things that it thinks are important. Therefore, unless you manually prioritize something as important, your brain will likely ignore it because it has more important things to do.

An example is remembering people's names. 
Have you ever met someone and then meet them again a few days later and for the life of you can't remember their name? Then after meeting that person four times, the name just automatically pops into your head?
That is your intelligent brain prioritizing tasks.
When you meet someone once, you brain does not think it is important to remember that name right away because there is a chance you may never see that person again. Your brain sticks the name onto the hard drive to access later, but as a low priority process.
That is when you remember the person's name after they have left...Damn!
What happens after you see that face a few times, the brain realizes that this face must be important, so it increases the priority of processing that name. From that point on, you always remember that name since your brain sees the face and knows to pull the name from long-term memory for immediate processing.

The thing to take away from this is that it is not a bad thing to have a poor short-term memory, or to do 'poorly' on a baseline concussion test. It just means that you are too smart for frivolous thinking and your brain has better things to do with its time.


SPARRING GIVES YOU BRAIN DAMAGE

I would like to finish off with a bit of humor.

One of my coaches mentioned the other day that at one time he had a person in his gym that didn't want to spar because "sparring gives you brain damage".
Coach was not happy about that.
He said that if that was true, we would all have brain damage.
You know, he is right.
I have been sparring for six years and my IQ hasn't dropped. If anything it has made me stronger and more fit.

Boxing is good for you despite the bad apples.

Find out for yourself and give it a try.
The next entry will be my "Guide To Boxing In Toronto". It will give you a chance to study and explore options for boxing in the GTHA.

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

--Paul 'The Brick' Brec, 2017 Golden Gloves Silver Medalist

Brampton F-up

   ENTRY 408



BRAMPTON F-UP

What can I say?  A complete and totally wasted weekend and a total waste of my time. 

First of all, the weigh-ins were not held at the venue. Which I found really confusing.
There was no indication on the Boxing Ontario website otherwise. If I had not confirmed it with coach I would have gone to the wrong place.

The location the weigh-ins were located had no bus service. Of course, Boxing Ontario doesn't think that not everybody has a car.

I needed to be at weigh-in for 8:00 in the morning. That meant catching the 6:00 bus from my place. Take the 35A to the new (crappy) Pioneer Village station. Then taking the subway one station south to the new (not-so-crappy) York University station. Then walking to the York University bus terminal (because nobody thought to move the bus terminal closer to the subway station). From the York University bus terminal I had to take the Brampton Transit 501A Züm to West Drive (the closest stop to my destination). Then a ten minute walk in minus 15 degrees to Clark Boulevard, then another five minutes over the Highway 410. 
By-the-way. the Brampton bus stop announcement does not announce West Drive. It announces Laurelcrest Street. 
If I had not noticed the sign for West Drive, I would have missed it.

I arrived at weigh-in at 8:15 to find a huge lineup. I guessed I was in the right place.
I messaged my coach while I was in line to bring my passbook.
10 minutes later someone came down with my passbook and I was still in the exact same place in line.

The whole weigh-in process was incredibly disorganized. 
For a while I had an OBA flashback.
Take my book downstairs for part one of the medical check-in. That was a 25 minute wait after 20 minutes in line upstairs.
Then take the book back upstairs to the head official for event check-in.
Then back in line to wait for the actual weigh-in and part two of the medical check-in.
Another wait. About 20 minutes.
Finally in for weigh-in.

Weigh-in was fine, but when I went for part two of the medical, he sent me back downstairs.
Then back upstairs to wait again.  By this time it was after 10:00.
Right at about that time and probably by no coincidence, my opponent walked in.
A really nice guy from the Steeltown Boxing in Hamilton.

It was right about that time that we were told that our bout was cancelled due to some stupid technical crap that I am not going into.

Okay, so you are telling that after all this trouble getting here and the long wait and the fact that I took the day off to be here, it was all for nothing?
Thanks a hell of a lot.

I came very close to going ballistic. 

I didn't. I said nothing and turned around to go home.

Going home took longer than getting there.

I discovered a different way to go home but at the time I did not realize it would take three hours.

I walked about a block and found a bus stop where the bus number 1 stops. I took the Brampton bus number 1 to the Bramalea terminal where my intention was to catch the 501A  Züm again, but the 501 Züm (not the 'A') came first, so I took that. After spending almost an hour on this so-called "express" bus, I realized that this bus stops at the new Vaughan Corporate Center station. The 501A does not stop at that station.
From there I was able to take the subway down to the (still crappy) Pioneer Village station. That station is huge. Three levels with three entrances, and I was the only one in there. Well, except for a few TTC employees walking around with their thumbs up their asses.
Unnecessarily huge and complicated station that nobody uses. Total waste of resources. Like the Highway 407 station. Located between Pioneer Village and Vaughan in the middle of a field with nothing around. 
Really?

I exited the Pioneer Village station as per the signage to catch the bus. 
When I exited the station I was met with an empty field with a bus terminal that was "under construction".

I crossed Steeles Avenue to another station entrance.
This entrance like all others had automated fare gates, but not one accepted a Metropass card, only the Presto fare card. Of course as typical with the TTC there was no clear signage indicating such.
I had my Presto card with me to use on Brampton Transit, but I had a Metropass card for Toronto, so how do I enter this station without the need to use a fare off my Presto card for no reason?

Easy.

I had my gym bag with me, of course. I didn't use it today, but it was about to come in handy.

These gates have sensors for anyone who is exiting the station, but will only open for entry upon presentation of a fare card.

Not a problem. You stand slightly to the side and hang something large in front of the exit side of the gate...like a huge gym bag. 
The gate will open outward, but there will be enough time to enter...without paying a fare.

Your welcome.

Anyway, after all that I was able to finally find where the 195 "Express" bus stops. It was not running earlier in the morning, but it was by that time. Although completely useless since it actually took longer.

I arrived home at 1:00. I left shortly after 10:00.

Just over two hours to get there and just under three hours to get back. 
From Brampton to West Toronto. A 45-minute drive at the worst.

Not to mention I was out almost $400 for taking the weekend off.
My weekends are my goldmine. They are longer shifts and I get a premium for working on the weekend. 
I don't mind if I am actually doing something. Like, for example, actually climbing into the ring and competing. Which is what boxers are supposed to do. I think. Unless that has changed?
Maybe boxers are just supposed to waste time training for the soul purpose of travelling to another city to stand in line and look good.
What a waste.

The point of this post:

Reasons 23,24,25,26,27 why public transit in Ontario is totally useless.

• The TTC wasted resources building a subway system way up there and the stations are too large and complicated and poorly marked.
• Brampton needs a non-stop service from Vaughan Corporate Center to Bramalea Terminal.
• The TTC 195 Express service has too many stops to be considered an 'Express'. This bus only needs to stop at major intersections north of Wilson Avenue.
• Public transit in the GTHA in general is too complicated for people who are not used to a particular service. It needs to be simplified so to not be confusing for visitors.
• Brampton stop announcement system is useless as it is. If a street has two names, both should be announced by the system.

Reason number 1 why Boxing Ontario pisses me off.

• Don't schedule a bout and then cancel it after the athletes arrive. If there are any questions about the bout, give a decent amount of notice. The bout was scheduled for a week in advance. Lots of time.

  I deserve a gold medal for all the trouble. 

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

Paul 'The Brick' Brec, Brampton Cup Non-Medalist

SURPRISE: Out Pops An Opponent

   ENTRY 407



OPPONENT FOR THE BRAMPTON CUP: UNEXPECTED

Next weekend will be the Brampton Cup. This is the largest tournament held in Ontario. It is one of very few where athletes from all over North America compete. 
The Brampton Cup is hosted by the Bramalea Boxing Club and has been held every year for a very long time. I can't find the year the Brampton Cup started, but it has been a while.

From the start of training camp I never really expected to get into the Brampton Cup. 
I went to training camp anyway, just in case.
I am glad I did. On the last day of registrations there was an entry in my weight class. A guy from Hamilton.
This caught me off guard. I thought I would not have an opponent. 

However, he does not have any ring experience. His profile is listed as "0" bouts.
That might mean that they may not allow us to compete because of the difference in experience. 
Sometimes they split the division into novice and sub-novice. Up to 5 bouts and more than 5 bouts. If they do that it would put us in different categories.
However, something tells me they won't.

My wife said that this will be "easy" since the guy has no experience.

I do not believe that.
I never assume that an opponent will be easy to beat. That is being cocky. You know what happens to cocky athletes in any sport?...They end up getting their butts kicked all over the place.
If anything, it is likely this guy may end up being super aggressive. It is his first time competing. It is a major tournament, and his opponent is more experienced. 
If it was me I would certainly be aggressive. I'd be trying for a knock-out. 
Seriously.

I have to take this guy just as serious as I did Jack Chisamore and all of my other previous opponents.

Although this will be the last entry until after the Brampton Cup, I will keep you all updated through social media. 

Follow me/Like me on Facebook. 

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

--Paul 'The Brick' Brec, Golden Gloves Silver Medalist 

The "F-Word" Ruined Boxing Gyms ~ What Happened To the OBA?

   ENTRY 406


THE "F-WORD" RUINED TRADITIONAL BOXING GYMS

Earlier in the week, I was talking to an MMA guy from X-Couture who used to be a boxer.
The reason he used to be a boxer is that he said that he was having a lot of problems getting decent coaching at other gyms.
Wait.
That sounds very familiar.
This guy was 34 years old, so still not quite a Master.

That is interesting. 
That means that this problem with the bullshit coaching is not isolated to me, or even to Masters.

This led me to thinking that there must be something else that is causing Crappycoachingitis

It really didn't take long to figure it out.

It is the 'F-word'.
Fitness.

Traditional boxing clubs are slowly being replaced or taken over by fitness classes.

This happened at Bloor Street Fitness. Originally it was Bloor Street Boxing. Once 'Fitness' was introduced, the boxing program went right downhill to where it became practically non-existent. 
Then it happened again at Stockyards.
Originally it was called Stockyards Boxing Gym. Then slowly they began to focus more on fitness classes and less on competitive boxing. Then they changed the name to Stockyards Boxing and Fitness.
There is that damn F-word again. As soon as that word appears the trouble begins.

It seems that there is more money in it for the gyms for fitness than for competitive boxing programs. 
Stockyards even went as far as to squeeze the boxers out when a fitness class was on. 

Xtreme Couture is different in that they can offer both equally.
They have people who specialize in fitness and ones who specialize in combat sports. 
That way which ever the members choose, they can get proper training.

Therefore, if you want good coaching for boxing, you need to find a place that is specifically a boxing gym or a place like X-Couture and hope that the F-word does not one day appear on their sign.
Although, X-Couture does have the evil F-word in small print on their sign, it will always be a combat sports gym.

Even then, it does not guarantee good coaching.
Kingsway Boxing Club is specifically a boxing gym and their coaching was terrible when I was there. I mean, throwing all of your boxers into the ring and shouting out a drill to work on and then fucking off for the rest of the session never to be seen again is not the way to coach future champions. 

Anyway. The point is you really can't tell what kind of coaching you are going to get until you try it. Unfortunately, most places do not allow you to 'try'. If they do, it is only for one session which is not long enough to judge the level of coaching.

That being said, since it is the beginning of the year, it is almost time for another "Guide To Boxing Gyms In Toronto".

I am currently working on the next guide, and it will be ready soon.
Look for it here.



CONTINUING STORY: WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ONTARIO BOXING ASSOCIATION  AND HAMILTON BOXING CLUB?

I have once again heard of the fate of the Ontario Boxing Association but still can not confirm it.
However, while doing some research I found some very interesting pieces of information.

Sherry Boone who was running the OBA, used to own a boxing gym on Lundy's Lane in Niagara Falls. Her son, Brodie, was the coach.
At that time her gym was under Boxing Ontario sanction.
Based on information I found from the Niagara Falls Public Library, an undated article mentioned that Sherry Boone was banned from Boxing Ontario for being disruptive and abusive.
I have to say I am not at all surprised by this since meeting her, I have witnessed her being quite abusive to people.
That explains a lot.

If she was booted from Boxing Ontario, then that explains her setting up the Ontario Boxing Association under the World Boxing Council. Her son was then able to open the Hamilton Boxing Club on Upper Centennial Parkway under the "new" OBA.

However, although I have not been able to confirm if the OBA has shuttered since as the time of writing this entry they still have a web site and Facebook page.
However, this is not true for the Hamilton Boxing Club. It too had both a web site and a Facebook page. Now, neither exist. If you do a search for 'Hamilton Boxing Club', the link takes you to a Go Daddy parked page. 
The Facebook page has just disappeared into Facebook heaven.

This is an interesting indication of what has happened.

If the OBA did shut down, it would mean that the Hamilton Boxing Club can no longer exist unless it switches to Boxing Ontario. However, with Sherry being banned it is unlikely that her son would decide to sanction under Boxing Ontario.

It is all coming together now.

...and as I mentioned in a previous entry, I am not surprised.

Hamilton Boxing Club



BACK TO HELL

In the last entry I mentioned that the idiots at Bell cut all of my services due to their own error.
Finally, after six days without any TV, internet, or phone services, everything is now back on.

In the meantime, I dropped my mobile phone onto the concrete floor at the gym and smashed the shit out of the screen.
That was the one that I had bought from Amazon after my original Samdung S6 Edge charging/data port had failed and they refused to fix it.
Two smartphones over two years. 
That has forced me to get another, but I wanted a really good one.

The one I originally wanted was out of stock everywhere for a very long time and then when it finally came back it was really expensive.
The Google Pixel 2 XL. $1350 or $425 on a 2-year agreement.
I don't think so.

I decided to go with the LG G6. 
It had specs close to that of the Pixel 2, but not as expensive.
$1000, but I got it for $50 because I painfully and reluctantly agreed to stay with Hell for another two years.

LG G6\

I have to say it is not a bad smartphone.
I have not fully explored it yet, but it has an amazing camera with two lenses. Close-up and wide-angle. I have never seen that on a smartphone.

I also bought a rugged case for it. To prevent the screen smashing from happening again.
Word of caution: Don't buy accessories from Bell. 
They wanted $55 for a decent case.
I got a good case with a screen protector and a belt clip for $23 from Amazon.

Amazing isn't it?

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

--Paul 'The Brick', 2017 Golden Gloves Silver Medalist

I Heard It Through the Grapevine

   ENTRY 405


I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE

I heard through the grapevine that the Ontario Boxing Association was in trouble and could possibly be shutting down. However, I have not been able to find any information to confirm that.
I don't usually post things like that unless I can find proof. 
However, if this is true I have to say that I would not be the least bit surprised.
I am posting this as an opinion, but if I find it to be true I will post it as news.


BRAMPTON CUP TRAINING

Brampton Cup training is well underway. 
Although there are a few masters registered, none of them are in my weight category. Either too heavy or too light, A couple are really up there at 95+ kg. I could move up, but I don't want to. Nor do I think my coach would like that. 
I want up to that class once, and you all know what happened.
I'm currently at 83 kg which is a bit above my competition weight, but I have found from talking with my team mates that most of them are also usually heavier than competition weight. Besides, it won't take long to drop 2 kg.

I am training with the team four times per week, plus bi-weekly personal sessions with the coach.

There are a couple of things I am particularly working on.
One is that my coach has been noting that I am too flat-footed. I need to be on my toes more.
We have been working on footwork drills.
It reminds me of the scene in 'Rocky III' where Apollo is training Rocky at the Tough Gym, and Apollo is telling Rocky, "On your toes...On your toes..." and they were doing footwork in the ring.
That is exactly what it reminds me of.

My life has become a Rocky Training Montage.


STOCKYARDS CARD

My former club, Stockyards Boxing and Fitness will be hosting a card later in February.
There are a couple of masters training in there, so if Richard puts out a request, I may be asked to compete on that card. 
Of course, I will do that,


COUTURE CARD 

My coach has been talking about putting on a show at our club. 
However, I am not sure when that will be happening. Once I find out, I will post it here.


LIVING IN THE DARK AGES

This is one of those "Not A Damn Thing To Do With Boxing" segments that I like to do occasionally, 
This one is a bit annoying, a bit funny, but most of all it is intended to be informative.

My buddies at Bell. Remember Bell?
I used to work there before I got a job at a real company.
I haven't talked about them in a while because I didn't have to.
Well, now I do.

For the past few months Bell has been claiming to not be receiving payments. 
Every month I have to show that a payment was made. This of course, is completely and totally unnecessary and a huge pain in the butt, so I stopped doing it.

A couple of weeks ago, I received a message from Bell billing indicating that I had an account balance of $863. It also said that if payment had been made to ignore the message. Since I was caught up on my payments I did what the message said to do, ignore it.

All was fine, so I thought. 
Tuesday I found that I had no Bell services at all.
No landline, no mobile, no TV, no internet. No access to Bell email.

After a typical day of talking to many people at Bell by using the phone at the Stockyards Bell store, I was finally able to do what many find impossible. I managed to get Bell to admit to making a mistake. 
Wow!

They credited the account what I had paid and said that they would put the services back on within a day.
Here we are six days later, and still no services from Bell.

The thing is Bell is not allowed to disconnect home phone service as per CRTC ruling.

I figured they would at least get that working.

Nope. Nothing.

I would happily say goodbye to Bell, but the wife likes them.
I have no idea why. They have the highest rates and the worst possible customer service of all of the telecom companies in Canada.

The thing about not having TV does not really bother me. Not having cell service really doesn't bother me too much either.
Although, I find that having the home phone is really important. Since I work and may need to contact them, or they may need to contact me. Plus my wife has a medical condition and may need to call her doctor. Not everything is an emergency, but is still important.

Above all else, not having internet access is the most annoying to me.
I do everything over the internet.

Right now my internet access is restricted to me using the wifi at the Jane-Dundas Public Library whenever I can.
I tell you, I have spent more time in the library over the past few days than I have all my life.

I can also use the wifi at work during breaks.
That is not too often, although I did get some things done.
I still have some banking stuff to do, but that has to wait until I get my own service back. There is no way I am providing banking information over a public network. 

This whole situation is pissing me right off.
First of all, it isn't even my fault, and why is it taking so long to put the services back on?

I think I am going to be sending a nice little note to the CEO of Bell. 
George A. Cope. 
Hi there. 
My name is Paul 'The Brick' Brec, and I just wanted to let you know that your billing department are idiots.
Thank you.

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

--Paul 'The Brick" Brec, Golden Gloves Silver Medalist

Oops, Weight Crept Up Over the Holidays

   ENTRY 404

Now that the holidays are over and a new year has begun, it is now time to get back into the grind. 
Back to regular training.

Not much happened over the Holidays, except that I gained a bit of weight.
Not a problem, I can lose that in no time.

The team is now going into Brampton Cup training.
I am not sure if I will be in that tournament, but I am part of the team so I will be training just like the rest.
I will do my best, but due to work I will not be able to attend every training session.
That is a piss-off because I want to attend every training, but I have to work.
Look at it this way: If I don't work, I won't have money to go to training in the first place.

Wednesday I did four rounds of good sparring.
Lots of technical training on other days.

Even if I don't go to Brampton Cup, I am getting good training.
There will be club cards coming up as well.
I have not done one of those in a while, and I am looking forward to doing one.

I know there are a few Masters out there who do not enter tournaments. 
My old gym, Stockyards has a couple, and I know there are more.

I will keep working at it the best I can.

By-the-way, my wife once again asked when I will be retiring from boxing. 
Again, my answer was, "When I feel like it, and I don't feel like it right now."


--Paul 'The Brick' Brec, Golden Gloves silver medalist

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