The Brampton (Masters) Cup ~ Florida ~ Ottawa

    ENTRY 474


Brampton Cup Summary

The Brampton Cup is over for this year, but I should have registered. The were a 'record' number of Masters registered this year. 19 to be exact. That is a huge number for that division, so much that they had a semi-final. You usually never see a semi-final in Masters.

As I have said before, I am not a huge fan of doing tournaments any more, but it looks like the number of Masters registering is increasing. Maybe I will try for the Golden Gloves. They are in April this year. I will monitor to see how many other Masters register.
Of course, I still have an exhibition in March.


Fundraiser In Florida (??)

I am still indecisive whether I will be going to Florida. My exhibition at Cabbagetown has been moved from February to March, and I really should give priority to my gym. These fundraisers in Florida are held frequently, so there are plenty of chances to go.


Beaver Boxing Club Invite--Part 2

Another one. I have been invited to the Beaver Boxing Club in Ottawa as well (Again). Actually I was supposed to go last summer, and didn't get to it. I would really like to do it this year. Perhaps something to look at for vacation time since I have never been to Ottawa.


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--Paul 'The Brick' Brec

LINKS:

MASTERS BOXING ON REDDIT

ANOTHER 'BRICK' IN THE SPRAWL 

Florida on My Mind

    ENTRY 473


First Entry For 2020 and Possibly a Big Year for 'The Brick'

Happy 2020 everyone, and welcome to the first entry of the new year and a new decade.

This new year could very well bring new possibilities for me.

I don't want to go into too much detail right now, but I will drop a few hints.

First of all, it looks like I will be participating in another exhibition sometime in March. 
More on that as it gets closer.

Secondly, I have been invited to box in another exhibition...in Florida.
The interesting part is that I have boxed in Florida before. Before becoming a Master.
Let me tell you something about boxing in Florida, there were practically no rules. 
That was a while back, and maybe things have changed by now.
It might be worth checking out, although I don't know how the Boxing Nazis will feel about it. -- I mean Boxing Ontario. It just seems that they don't like anything I want to do.

Thirdly, there is a small chance right now that I may be going away for the summer. Away from Toronto for the entire summer, from June to September. To work at a resort.
I'll just leave this here for now, but I have been called for a second interview.


New E-Novel In Progress

The service that I use to publish my novels, called Wattpad, (Based in Toronto by-the-way), has this new service where you can have a bot read your novels and then provide feedback based on various factors such as sentence structure, use of adverbs, sentence length, and complexity of words used.
According to this system, I use too many adverbs, my sentences are too short,and I have a "script" style of writing (non-descriptive). That makes sense, since I am used to writing scripts from when I worked in broadcasting. However, I don't want my novels to be like that.
My latest novel, "Aftermath", is currently in the works. It is a post-war apocalyptic science-fiction. It will take a bit longer to complete due to the fact that I am trying to avoid all the things the bot found in my previous novels. 
I will let everyone know when it has been published.


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--Paul 'The Brick' Brec

LINKS:

MASTERS BOXING ON REDDIT

ANOTHER 'BRICK' IN THE SPRAWL 

Happy Holidays, Last Entry For 2019

    ENTRY 472


HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM 'THE BRICK'

We are closely approaching the end of 2019.

This past year went by fairly smoothly for me. Although,there were a couple of mild hiccups, they were nothing major.

Although, I did not officially compete at all in 2019, I did get in two exhibition bouts.
The next one is scheduled for February. 
I do want get at least one competitive bout in for Cabbagetown in 2020, as I want to add to my trophy case, but there is no hurry. I like the exhibitions. They are fun and less stressful.

This will be that last entry for this blog for 2019, and on that note, I would like to wish everyone a happy holiday season.

The next 'Blue Corner' entry will be in mid-January.


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--Paul 'The Brick' Brec

LINKS:

MASTERS BOXING ON REDDIT

ANOTHER 'BRICK' IN THE SPRAWL 

Cabbagetown Fundraiser

    ENTRY 471



Cabbagetown FUNdraiser

This past Saturday, the Cabbagetown Youth Centre held it's annual fundraiser at the Cabbagetown Boxing Club, and I have been told that it is going to be semi-annually starting in 2020.
I was asked to participate in an exhibition match for this event back in October, and I had worked very hard. I had been told back then who my opponent was, and had a lot of time to get prepared.
I just wish I could always have that much notice.
My opponent was Ryan Taylor, and he likes to use the Southpaw stance. Although, he did switch on me a few times, but I was surprised at myself for having absolutely no problem handling it. It just seemed that I knew exactly what to do when he switched. 
I have to say that a year ago, that would have confused the crap out of me.
It is all thanks to the great coaches at Cabbagetown.

Ryan Taylor and Paul 'The Brick' after a friendly battle on December 14.

Heather was helping in the corner between rounds. She gave some really great advice.

I like this photo. It was the way I was standing. It was an almost-perfect boxing stance. My right foot was planted, but that could have been because I was in the middle of resetting. 

My jab, that all my coaches think is great, but I don't use enough. How's this?













I am not sure what I was doing here. I think it was an odd defensive move. Although, the coach will probably correct me on it. I definitely look off-balance.

It was fun. 

As I have mentioned previously, I enjoy doing fundraisers. 

I am not sure how much they raised, but if you would also like to help save the Cabbagetown youth programs, visit the gofundme.

One thing I would like to say to end off.

I really find it rude when people are talking while the boxing is going on. If you are there to watch the boxing, then watch the boxing, otherwise talk outside. 

That is extremely disrespectful to the athletes who train really hard. 

That is all for this post.

There will be one more "Blue Corner" entry later in the week as the last entry of the year.

═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
--Paul 'The Brick' Brec

LINKS:

MASTERS BOXING ON REDDIT

ANOTHER 'BRICK' IN THE SPRAWL 

If All Else Fails...Use Brut Force

    ENTRY 470



If All Else Fails...Use Brut Force

A couple of weeks ago, we changed our clocks back, because in this area we use Daylight Savings Time. 
I have a lot of clocks because I like clocks. Yes, the computer and smartphone, and even my watch will automatically adjust for DST, but my other clocks don't.
I have one on the counter in the bathroom that I bought from Ikea a couple of years ago. It looks like this, but it is green:

When I turned it back, it stopped.
Just like that, it stopped. I tried a couple of new batteries, but I still couldn't get it to work.
I thought it had died, so I tried one last resort. I punched it. Right in the face. It started working again, and has been ever since.

If all else fails...A punch in the face works.




Update On Training For December

I am still training hard for my exhibition in December.
As far as I know, by opponent is still the same person. His name is Ryan. He is about my age, but he is southpaw. I'm not sure how much boxing experience he has, but I do know that he used to use orthodox stance, but switched to southpaw recently. That means that he can also switch back at any time.

My coach has changed my training a bit. 
Instead of training as a southpaw, I will be returning to training orthodox with focus on offense and defense against a southpaw. It is easier, but still different. You can't use the exact same techniques as you would if your opponent is using the same stance as you.

I will provide more information on this event as it gets closer.


A Different Kind of Training

Exercise is boring, isn't it?
As an athlete and avid about keeping a a fit body, I am always looking for new and interesting ways to do so. However, recently I found one quite by accident. I was looking for something else, and I found something very interesting.
It is called Pursuit OCR. It is an indoor obstacle course. One of the largest in North America.

It has a giant ball bit with over 100,000 balls. There are also tunnels to crawl through, climbing walls, a punching-bag maze, nets, and a room full of ropes strung at all angles to navigate. 
You can also race giant tricycles through a hilly track.

The one I really want to try are the rings. Yes, they have the suspended rings! I have always wanted to try those and imagine being chased by a Gladiator. Remember that show?

You get all that and more for $20 for an all-day pass.

How far do you have to go to experience this?
Not far.
It's in Toronto.

More information here:

BlogTO article
Pursuit OCR official site

Just Listen To the Radio

This is not boxing related, but it is part of my life and interesting.

I work in a condominium building near St. Clair West and Yonge Street. 

I see many people come and go, but recently someone moved into one of the units who plays for the Toronto Raptors.

For privacy reasons, I am not allowed to say who, but for $3600 a month, who else could afford it?

He is very tall, and has to duck every time he enters the lobby to avoid smashing his face on the EXIT sign. That building just isn't built for basketball players.

Every time he comes back from a game that they won, I ask him who won, even though I always hear about it on the radio first. He will tell me, and then I would say, "I know because I heard it on the radio, but I wanted to hear it from you". 

He's a cool guy, but after a while he stopped telling me who won and would just say with a smile, 'listen to the radio'.

═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
--Paul 'The Brick' Brec

LINKS:

MASTERS BOXING ON REDDIT

ANOTHER 'BRICK' IN THE SPRAWL 

Boo!

    ENTRY 469  SPECIAL HALLOWEEN EDITION

BOO!

Welcome to the yearly Halloween edition of the Creepy Orange Corner.
This year I would like to share with you a creepypasta based on boxing.
This is not my story. It was written by someone else and posted to the Creepypasta website.

Although, it isn't all that creepy, it is a good story for this day.

Enjoy.



"Faustian Boxing"

“I could feel his muscle tissues collapse under my force. It’s ludicrous these mortals even attempt to enter my realm.” – Mike Tyson

ROUND 0

The singular incandescent light bulb isn’t nearly large enough to illuminate this dingy locker room. Darkness surrounds both me and my trainer, it seems like nothing in this universe exists other than us. He finishes taping up my hands and starts lacing up my gloves. With a grave expression on his face, he looks directly into my eyes and reminds me of what I’m supposed to do.

“Okay kid, make it respectable for the first two rounds. Don’t get too cute with this guy, he doesn’t know the fight is fixed. Go easy on him and he is likely to bash your face in.”

“I know, we already went over this.”

Ignoring me, he continues, “In the third round you go down and you stay down. Your contract will be fulfilled then, and this demon will be out of your life for good.”

We exit the locker room and walk down a short tunnel. Bright blue lights are scattered all over the smoke filled arena and I feel disoriented. To make matters worse, the crowd boos me as they throw rubbish in my general direction. I desperately scan the crowd for my wife, but I can’t find her. I know she is in here somewhere, I really want to see her face one more time before the fight begins.

Once I step up into the ring, I can see my wife from the higher perspective. She is five rows back and looks terrified. Sitting next to her is a middle aged man with slicked back grey hair who is wearing a black suit and tie. He looks like a stereotypical Mafioso. If only that were the case, everything would be so much simpler.

“Get your head out of your ass!” my trainer yells at me. “You can’t be worried about her now. If you want to help her you need to concentrate on the fight.”

ROUND 1

My mind isn’t on the fight at all. I’m worried about my wife and that thing sitting next to her. The ringing of the bell nearly sends me into a panic as my opponent comes straight towards me.

I’m taller and have a reach advantage, but he is more compact, outweighing my by a few pounds. My plan for the fight is simple; I’ll dance around him for a couple rounds, keeping him at bay with my longer reach. If he gets too close, I’ll clinch and not let go until the ref forces us apart.

Thirty seconds into the fight, my plan literally goes straight to hell. My opponent is much stronger than I assumed and preternaturally fast. His left hook catches me on the chin and I go down. Everything went red.

1……2……3……

A brief vision of intense burning and pain, not for me but for my wife. Flames engulf her as she screams in agony. I want to help her but I can’t. An overwhelming feeling of helplessness looms over me so terribly that I feel like I’m having a heart attack.

4……5……6……

I’m back in the ring and I gasp for air. My trainer is screaming at the top of his lungs for me to get up. I oblige him with a Pavlovian response as I jolt back onto my feet.

The referee grabs both of my wrists. “Can you continue?”

I nod my head and he signals for combat to resume.

Somehow I survive to the end of the round. I actually get a few good combinations in, which is the only thing that saves me. My opponent definitely won the round though. My left ribs hurt every time I breathe. My head still feels fuzzy from his love tap on my chin.

ROUND 2

“Damnit kid, weren’t you listening to me? I told you not to get cute with this guy. No more dancing around and clinching,” my trainer yells.

I respond by spitting blood into a bucket.

He continues, “Okay, you just need to last one more round then you are home free. You can do it, I know you can!”

I resist the urge to look over at my wife and her captor. Not looking makes me feel even worse. I sense an evil presence in that general direction. Intense feelings of sadness, despair, fear, loneliness and hopelessness suddenly overcome me. I know it’s some trick the grey haired man is playing on me. I need to fight these feelings, I must go on and finish this round.

The bell rings and my opponent makes a beeline for me, I can sense murder in his heart. No, it’s not murder, murder is a human emotion. He looks more like a crocodile heading straight for its prey, sheer predatory instinct trying to kill me. This fear keeps my adrenaline up and I get a few good punches in.

My left hook connects squarely to his temple, but somehow he is unfazed. Before I can follow up with a combo, he dishes out multiple body shots and a glancing uppercut to me. The crowd roars its approval.

I desperately tie him up in a clinch. My ribs hurts worse than any pain I’ve ever felt before, and that’s saying something because I’ve been lots of fights. I’m lucky his uppercut didn’t fully connect or I’d be dead. The referee pries us apart and we trade several more punches.

Right as the bell rings, he hits me in the ribs again. I’m blinded with pain as I double over. I stagger back to my corner and collapse onto the stool.

ROUND 3

“Okay, you did it, you are home free,” my trainer says as he massages my shoulders. “At the next reasonable punch he throws, you hit the mat and you stay down.”

Paying no attention to my pain, I consider the grey haired man sitting next to my wife. Even though I still feel his malicious presence, he doesn’t scare me anymore. I’m about to live up to our end of the bargain and soon he will be out of our lives once and for all.

The bell rings, and I’m practically smiling under my mouth guard. All I have to do is let this guy punch me, I’ll take a dive, and it will all be over.

Eight seconds into the round he catches me off guard with his deadly uppercut. Before I know what’s happening, I’m lying on the mat. Perhaps it’s my endorphins kicking in, or perhaps it’s a result of my brain rattling around inside my skull, but for whatever reason time seems to slow down to a crawl.

1………………2……………

A distant voice is screaming “stay down, stay down.” I wonder who is yelling at me. Where the hell am I?

3………………4……………

I remember a nice grey haired gentlemen coming to me my wife several weeks ago. He had a ridiculously strange offer for us. Something involving a whole lot of money. We signed some meaningless contract, and I am supposed to do something during this fight to fulfill the contract.

5………………6……………

There was something in the contract about her soul as collateral. My wife thought it was a joke or a prank. We figured there was no harm though, perhaps it was just some kooky old man who had too much money on his hands. We were quite shocked when his check cleared several days later. All of our money problems had been solved.

7………………8……………

I get up onto my knees and I don’t know what to do. The blow to my head left me feeling confused. I need to do something to fulfill the contract, I just can’t remember what. Am I supposed to win the fight?

9……………

I spring to my feet. The referee looks shocked that I’m able to continue. “Are you sure you can go on?”

I don’t understand a word he says, but somehow I know to nod my head in response.

Pure instinct is taking over. I’ve been a boxer long enough to know how to fight while hurt. I’m sure I have a concussion, that’s why I’m confused. My body is operating on pure muscle memory.

My opponent is already standing on the ropes with his hands up, celebrating victory. He looks annoyed that I’m back on my feet. He moves in to finish me with a deadly flurry of punches.

He throws a punch and I block it. I easily block his second and third punches, I’m in the zone. When he throws his uppercut I dodge to the side and I hit him with one of the best right crosses I have ever thrown. He goes down like a sack of potatoes.

Euphoric rage envelopes me as I stand over his unconscious body. The referee shoves me towards a neutral corner and ceremoniously counts to ten before declaring me the winner.

“Oh, my god, what have you done?” cries my trainer.

“I did it, I won the fight!”

I run over to hug him, but he looks afraid of me. Before I can get within ten feet of him he hops out of the ring and runs towards the locker room. Instead, I go to look at wife, my fists in the air signaling triumph. As I lean on the ropes, I look in her direction only to find that her seat empty.

POST FIGHT ANALYSIS

By the time I make it back to the dim locker room my trainer is long gone. My faculties are slowing coming back to me and I feel a gradual sense of growing dread. Something isn’t right. I wasn’t supposed to win the fight was I? Realizing my mistake I feel sheer panic.

I sprint back through the tunnel and into the arena. Most of the crowd has already cleared out, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find her. A few stragglers want to congratulate me on my victory, but I don’t care. I frantically run to the seat where my wife was sitting but she’s not there. I make a giant loop around the arena, and then the balcony, but there is no sign of her. I sprint out into the lobby and she’s not there either.

My vision is blurred with tears as I dejectedly walk back towards the locker room. This can’t be happening, it just can’t be happening. I didn’t mean to win the fight. I was confused. I didn’t know what I was doing.

Opening the locker room doors, I see a blurry figure standing directly under the gentle light of the locker room. My vision clears as I wipe the tears from my eyes. It’s my wife and she is facing away from me. I run towards her and scoop her up in a giant bear hug.

“Thank god you are okay, I was so worried about you!” I exclaim.

She doesn’t embrace me back. I slowly place her down and examine her closely. Something is seriously wrong, I feel ice water running through my veins. The hair on the back of my neck stands straight up as I gaze into her dead soulless eyes.

Credit: M Barnett


Fundraiser Event

More information on the December fundraiser will be in the next entry.


Happy Halloween.

══════════════════════════════════════════════════
--Paul 'The Brick' Brec

LINKS:

MASTERS BOXING ON REDDIT

ANOTHER 'BRICK' IN THE SPRAWL

Boxing For Dollars ~ What Is the Fascination With Combat Sports?

    ENTRY 468



What's the Deal With the Fascination of Combat Sports?

Hello everyone. Something a bit different this time.
I'd like to talk about boxing in a bit different way.

Have you ever thought about what attracts people to combat sports, and boxing specifically? I often do. I did some research, and found out some very interesting things.
First of all, and this may seem obvious, but combat sports appeal more to men, for participation and as spectators. When a combat sport event is advertised, it is generally aimed at a male demographic.

That is not so much of a surprise, but what is the fascination, anyway?

Look at it this way: If someone is at work and gets hit on the head and knocked unconscious, it is a big deal. People get upset and worried. However, if a boxer is knocked unconscious in the ring, that is perfectly fine. As a matter-of-fact, there seems to be a rather odd fascination with that. Why?
To be honest, I have no problem watching "Boxing's Most Brutal Knockouts" on YouTube. I enjoy it, but I can't tell you why. If someone was to ask me why I enjoy it, I would not be able to answer. I really don't know.

If you go back into history, the very first organized sport was a combat sport called Prankration. It goes back to BC 648. It was a combination of boxing, kickboxing, and wrestling. It also had very few rules.

I find it rather unsurprising that the very first sport was a combat sport. 

Although, things have changed over the years in the world of combat sports, I never really found much interest in the MMA-type sports. 
As I have said before, if you are going to study a combat sport, pick one, and learn it very well. Nobody can learn every combat sport well enough to be good at all of them.
In my opinion, boxing is still the best. A boxer can still kick an MMA guy's butt all over the place. I used to spar MMA guys when I trained at Xtreme Couture. I miss that. Kicking butts. That was fun, actually. Being able to put those cocky MMA idiots in their place.
MMA guy says, "I know kickboxing, and I know wrestling, and I know boxing, and I know jiu-jitsu, and I know..." 
You know nothing. 

Boxing still rules.

I found out that there are actually four different current types of boxing:

Shoot Boxing (1985). Based on Japanese rules and created in 1985 by a combat sports promotions company by the same name. Although, technically not 'real' boxing since other types of strikes are allowed. Shoot Boxing can not end in a tie, so in this case additional rounds are added to break the tie. Rounds are three minutes long. 

Pugilism. Also called 'bare-knuckle boxing'. It has been around for a very long time, and is currently making a comeback in England. The interesting thing about this type of boxing is that there are very few injuries from strikes. Due to there not being any hand protection, guys don't want to strike hard areas of the body. Therefore, there are few, if any, head strikes. The human skull is very hard and will damage your hand if hit too hard.

Modern Professional Boxing (1867). This is the most common, and most well-known type of boxing. It is based on the Marquess of Queensberry Rules established in 1867. This set of rules specifies the following: Rounds will be of three-minute duration with one minute between; No wrestling allowed; No seconds allowed in the ring during the bout; A man on one knee is considered 'down'; If a man goes down, he is allowed 10 seconds to get up and his opponent must remain in his own corner.

Olympic-Style Boxing (1908) Also called Amateur Boxing. This style is based on a modified version of the Queensberry Rules from 1908. These modifications have determined that when a man goes down, he is considered 'out' and disqualified from the contest. The modified rules also allow for shorter rounds. Currently, there is only one amateur division that has three-minute rounds, and that is the Elite Open category. All others except Masters Novice are two-minute rounds. Masters Novice are 90 seconds.


Boxing For Dollars

I have been asked to participate in a fundraiser on December 14.
I don't know much about it yet, but I will update here once I know more. 

═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

--Paul 'The Brick' Brec

LINKS:

MASTERS BOXING ON REDDIT

ANOTHER 'BRICK' IN THE SPRAWL