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Happy 50th B-day to The Most Beautiful Car In The World
( 繁 | 简 | 日 )Saturday, Jul 30, 2011 3:09PM / Standard Entry
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The practical application of a butterfly kick.
( 繁 | 简 | 日 )Wednesday, Jul 27, 2011 3:12PM / Standard Entry
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Kayaking Sri Panwa
( 繁 | 简 | 日 )Tuesday, Jul 26, 2011 2:02PM / Standard Entry
It's hard for me to go on holiday and do nothing. The work-a-holic in me can not allow me to just lay down and do nothing. I have to be doing something. Whether it's an adventure or simply reading a book, something has to have my attention. My wife on the other hand, prefers to just relax. She has no problems laying out in the sun for hours. To compromise we chose one activity to do together every time we go on holiday. Since Lisa does not have a diving license, we usually go kayaking and usually we get ourselves into trouble. One time in Australia, we kayaked down the river after being told for sure we would be able to kayak back. Not the case, the current got strong and when we tried to paddle back upstream we got stuck in the same place for over half an hour. A fisherman saw us struggling and towed us back to where we started. Last year in the Maldives, we decided to kayak around the island we were staying on. A storm picked up and we had to deal with big waves slamming up into us.
On a recent trip to Sri Panwa resort in Phuket, Thailand, while hanging out in our infinity pool I noticed a small island about a kilometer away(the left side of picture). I also knew the resort had kayak for use, so I put two and two together and another kayak adventure was born! This time however, it was nothing but smooth sailing. Although it was a long journey, it went smoothly and we got an entire deserted beach to ourselves. The whole trip took 3 hours but it was lots of fun and great exercise too.
That's us half way through our journey. See that little bit of beach on the island? That's where we were headed for. Thanks to head of F&B at Sri Panwa for taking this photo of us and making sure we didn't get into too much trouble! I recently saw a documentary about two boys who kayaked from Syndey, Australia to New Zealand. It took them 62 days to complete the trip. Those kids had serious balls, this three hour trip was good enough for me.
I have been going to Phuket for holidays for over ten years now. The friendliness of the Thai people, the beautiful environment and it's close proximity to Hong Kong make it an ideal vacation spot. I've stayed in many places but I think I've just found my favorite spot in Sri Panwa Resort.Share
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and now...Rex Tso
( 繁 | 简 | 日 )Saturday, Jul 23, 2011 3:54PM / Standard Entry
Rex is another coach at DEF gym. He is a quick and spritely young fellow whom I have lots of trouble trying to hit when I get in the ring with him. He fast feet make it impossible to track him on the ring. He is having his professional debut on September 22nd. Here's more info on him:
Daniel
The Professional Boxing Debut of DEF Boxing's Very Own Rex TSO
If you sit next to him on a bus or walk past him on the street, you’d never guess that Rex Tso, 24, is a boxing champion. He looks like a typical guy his age: shy, his head buried in his PSP, and headphones in his ears. But behind his teenaged looks and his humble manner is a champion – he has the belts and trophies to prove it. In fact, he has been so dominant in the Hong Kong amateur boxing circuit that there’s no one left to challenge him.
On Thursday, September 22nd, Rex will make his professional boxing debut.
The first time I got into the ring with Rex, I foolishly thought that it’d be an easy fight for me. After all, I outweigh the guy by nearly 50 kilos (110 lbs). Boy was I wrong. When I jab, Rex slips them easily, moving his head just a couple of centimeters. More jabs, double jabs, one-twos – my punches hit nothing but air. My signature jab-left hook combo, which never fails me, is answered with a quick bob-and-weave, plus a solid gut shot. I keep pushing forward, chasing him around the ring, getting him into a corner, but before I know it, I’m the one in the corner. Then comes flurry after flurry, five, six, seven punches at a time, each combination thrown with blinding speed. I went into the ring a heavyweight, but I walked out a heavy bag.
I know firsthand that Rex can most certainly punch above his weight.
It Runs in the Family
Rex comes from a family of great boxers. His dad, Tso Shu-Yan (曹樹仁), was a seven-time Hong Kong champion even before Rex was born. His elder brother, Ralf (age 32), has been dominating his weight category and aspires to fight at the Olympics.
Something that may surprise you is that until recently, Rex didn’t even really like boxing. When he was just five or six years old, his father taught him and his elder brothers (Rex is the youngest of four) how to box in a parking garage near their home. “I wasn’t learning how to fight,” Rex explains. “I was just spending time with my dad and my brothers.” He had no notions of becoming a boxer himself, let alone of becoming a champion or a professional boxer.
Being Lazy Has Its Consequences
Soon after beginning his formal boxing training at the age of 15, Rex began to fight in local competitions. Even then, he didn’t really take boxing very seriously and didn’t train very hard: “I was lazy. Boxing is hard work! Why put yourself through so much pain?”
But Rex found that being lazy has its consequences: he lost his very first match. While he did win the next one, he lost his next two. Rex won some and lost some and soon compiled a mixed record. He was cruising along on his talent. His brother Ralf has always said that Rex has the most natural talent among the four Tso brothers, but that he was also the laziest.
It didn’t help that Rex was trained by his father. Some fathers can yell at their sons, but Tso Shu-Yan couldn’t yell at his. He wanted to believe that Rex was already working as hard as he could, and that he was gifted enough to win on talent alone.
Jay Lau, owner and head coach at DEF Boxing and a former student of Rex’s father, knew that Rex could do better. A lot better. He knew that Rex could truly excel if he were pushed harder. In 2003, Jay began to train Rex’s brother Ralf, who has been unstoppable since working under Jay’s tutelage. In 2007, Rex joined his brother at DEF – after compiling a 5-2 record in 2007, Rex has won every single one of his fights in Hong Kong since 2008.
The year 2007 marked a turning point in Rex. Not only did he start to train with a tough coach, but he also came to the realisation that he could do better.
That year, Rex competed in an international competition for the first time. His success in Hong Kong made him think that he was hot stuff. Losing to his Malaysian opponent in Taiwan made him realise that he still had a long way to go.
Boxing began to make more sense to Rex. “The first few times I fought, my mind would go blank the entire time I was fighting,” Rex recalls. “I would have no memory of the fights at all. But after a while, I was able to concentrate. I started to use my brain, and boxing became a game. I could decide the outcome if I think and analyse what’s going on.”
Jay, who is promoting Rex’s bout on September 22nd, will not give Rex an easy fight. If Rex doesn’t train hard, he’ll most certainly lose to his very tough opponent. To better prepare for his fight in September, Rex will spend his final month of training in the Philippines to work with some of Manny Pacquiao’s trainers.
Rex has already been training to fight like a pro boxer, and he has been seeing results: he won three of his recent fights by knockout, two of them in the first round. Then again, these were amateur opponents. How will Rex fare against a professional? We shall find out on September 22nd.
About the Author
Ken Ho (PhD – HKU; BA, MA – UBC) is a boxing and Muay Thai fan, a freelance writer and editor, and Event Manager and Writer at DEF Promotions. [email protected]
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Introducing... Bresson Brel
( 繁 | 简 | 日 )Tuesday, Jul 12, 2011 9:07PM / Standard Entry
I have been doing martial arts since I was a little kid. Wushu was my favorite until I started getting some pretty serious injuries. Now I just train in Thai boxing and Western Boxing. If I'm not working, I train everyday. Bresson joined our gym as a trainer almost two years ago. I remember the first day he came in asking for a job. One look and you knew he was a boxer. I have trained with hi many times and I must say they are the toughest workouts ever! Even though I'm an old man now I still can take a tough workout, but with Bresson, I can barely stand by the end of it and I love it! Now our gym is sponsoring him to fight around the region. He will b e fighting in Kunming this weekend and DEF gym will be putting on a WBA title fight in September. If you are a fan of boxing, come down to the fight. Here is a little more info about Bresson and the upcoming fights:
July 12, 2011
On Thursday, September 22nd, DEF Promotions will host the first all-professional boxing event in Hong Kong, featuring DEF Boxing’s very own Bresson Brel and Rex Tso.
“I don’t want to quit. I want to give it one more shot.”
Every high-level athlete has big dreams. Basketball prodigies dream of playing in the NBA. Tennis players dream of winning a Grand Slam. Young footballers dream of making it all the way to the Premier League. Like Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Floyd Mayweather Jr., Bresson dreamed of fighting at the Olympics, gaining the adoration of fans, turning pro, then winning a world title. He dreamed of fighting for the Republic of the Congo, of fans chanting his name and cheering him on, and of having a belt around his waist.
I go to DEF Boxing, where I do Muay Thai and boxing. Muay Thai helped me get through my PhD. Nothing takes away stress like hitting the heavy bags, punching some guy in the face, and getting punched in the face.
That’s where I first met Bresson (Lefoumbou NGOMA Bresson Brel) about two years ago."The tribe that won the war didn't like my tribe, so they
took me off the Olympic team."I heard rumours that Bresson almost represented the Republic of the Congo at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, so I ask him why he didn't.
"Oh, that. Well, my country went through a civil war, which ended in 1999. The tribe that won the war didn't like my tribe, so they took me off the Olympic team."
This despite the fact that he was captain of the national boxing team at the tender age of 20, after incredibly joining the team the year before that. Never mind that he was unstoppable at local, regional, then national competitions since he was just 14 years old.
Turning Pro
After being denied a shot at Olympic glory, Bresson continued to kick ass as an amateur boxer. At an international tournament in 2001, he defeated top boxers from Gabon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Central African Republic.
It was time to turn pro.
Resources can be hard to come by in the Republic of the Congo – Bresson didn’t even have a mouth guard in his first six months as a boxer! Going to South Africa, the richest and most developed country in Africa, was a logical choice.
When Bresson turned pro in 2005, he was once again unstoppable. Always the shorter fighter, Bresson liked to cut his opponents off, then surprise them with punches. Big knockout punches. He won his first six pro fights, five of them by knockout.
All this time, Bresson’s manager and promoters made big promises. “We’re gonna make you rich!” they’d say. “We’re gonna send you to the US! We’re gonna get you a title shot!” But when his contract was about to expire, they offered him a shitty new contract: less money, no US, and no title shot. They were twisting his arm to sign it.
Disillusioned by the broken promises and the betrayal by those he trusted, he lost focus in the ring. After building a perfect 6-0 record, Bresson got a draw in his next fight, then lost the one after that.
Things were going nowhere. He had no choice but to put his dreams aside. He wasn’t going to take it up the ass.
A New Life in Hong Kong
Taking a break from working as a bouncer in South Africa, Bresson travelled around Asia with some relatives. When he got to Hong Kong, he was dying for a workout, and was told that DEF Boxing is a place were serious boxers train. DEF's owner and head coach, Jay Lau, knows world-class talent when he sees it. He saw Bresson's workout and gave him a job on the spot.
"Part of Me Was Missing the Ring, Missing Fighting"
Bresson’s decades of amateur and professional boxing experience and his world-class training techniques quickly gained him a loyal following in Hong Kong. He was happy to teach students who were serious about boxing. Pretty soon, Bresson was making a comfortable living in Hong Kong. But Bresson began to feel that “Part of me was missing the ring, missing fighting.”
One day, he watched a local professional boxing match. He was not impressed. He felt, “I could do this. I can do it better. I want to get back into it, to give it another try.”So now, after a three year break from professional boxing, Bresson has decided to give it another shot. But at age 32, he’s no spring chicken. If he wants to become a world champion, he’d better do it fast.
A Rough Wake-up Call
To prepare for his big fight in September, Bresson has been competing in exhibition fights. On May 13th, Bresson fought and easily won a match by unanimous decision in Shanghai and felt he was ready for more.
On Tuesday, June 28th, he was given a rough wake-up call when he fought Warren Fuiava, an undefeated Samoan boxer with 15 wins, five by KO.
In round one, Bresson fought like he always did: by cutting the guy off and throwing punches. It seemed like he was going to knock this guy out in the first round. Somehow, the Samoan survived the onslaught. In round two, the tables turned. Bresson began to slow down. Then for the first time in five years, he got hit with a big shot. He stumbled, but didn’t get knocked down. He stayed in the fight and came back in round three, winning the round. But the Samoan, with better conditioning, got the upper hand in rounds four, five, and six. For the first time in Bresson’s career, it wasn’t him doing the cutting off. The Samoan cut him off and put on the pressure.
The Samoan won by decision. And he signed a new contract to fight in Las Vegas.
This was one tough loss for Bresson. "I don't mind losing to an opponent who is better than me. But I do mind losing because I wasn't in top shape."
“When I was a professional boxer in South Africa, all we did was train,” Bresson explained. “We didn’t have to worry about food, housing, or jobs. Boxing was our job. But now, things are different. I have responsibilities now. I’m married now, and have a baby on the way. And I have to worry about my students and the business.”
The scarcity of world-class trainers and sparring partners in Hong Kong also hurt Bresson. He needs full-time trainers who can refine his techniques and tactics and monitor his conditioning. And he needs sparring partners who can push him, who can help him simulate what goes on in the ring.When one of Bresson’s most dedicated students found out about the loss to the Samoan, he generously decided to partially fund Bresson’s training. With even more support, Bresson may be able to bring in a dedicated trainer, or maybe train outside Hong Kong where there are more trainers and sparring partners of his calibre.
Bresson has always dreamed big, and he came close to achieving them more than once. “I don’t want to quit. I want to give it one more shot,” he says with unwavering determination. But he can’t afford to lose again – another loss would make a chance at a title shot infinitely tougher. If he wants to achieve his dream of becoming a world champ, he must win his fight on September 22nd.
Stayed tuned for the story of Rex Tso and for more details about Thursday Night Fights, September 22nd, 2011 About the Author
Ken Ho (PhD – HKU; BA, MA – UBC) is a boxing and Muay Thai fan, a freelance writer and editor, and Event Manager and Writer at DEF Promotions. [email protected].hkShare
