Year in Review

With 2019 upon us, let’s take a minute to reflect on our achievements from 2018.

Larry hit his stride this year, he attained his fifth Dan in Traditional Japanese Ju Jutsu, his three stripes on his Black Belt in BJJ and saw the Sydney Roosters who he worked with all year not only win the Minor Premiership but also demolished the Melbourne Storm in the Grand Final. Let’s not forget the work he did with the Sydney Swans, and the Australian Rugby 7’s where he saw the 7’s win the Sydney Tournament. Having the players present him with a medal and signed jersey was quite an honor.

Our female Boxing team hit some major goals this year! Viviana, Annabel, Liza and Caitlin all represented NSW in the qualifiers for the World’s. This in of itself was amazing to have 4 representatives all travel to Queensland together to compete for their shot in the Australian Team was incredible. Viviana and Caitlin won their spot and self-funded their efforts to get to India with a little help from the Boxing Works Family assisting in fund raising efforts to see them realise their dreams. Bernadette and Marine both jumped into the ring for the first time and Coaches Billy, Simon and Ben all realising that it is probably easier and less stressful being in the ring rather than in the corner watching their students put all their hard work into a match.

Our Men didn’t sit on the sideline, we had Ben train like a Champion to completely destroy a loud mouthed competitor. Ben allowed his hard work and fists do the talking in the ring completely shutting up the competition. Billy and Simon both jumped in the ring after a long sojourn in the corner and while they did not come away with a win, Billy did get some hardware in his shin, their strength of spirit and mind has them along with all our coaches as mentors for everyone wanting to challenge themselves and push harder to achieve their own goals.

We had a fertile 2018 welcoming new members to our family, Harper and Colin both arriving on the same day at the same hospital only rooms apart. Coach Simon realising that all the trophies and belts in the world fade into obscurity with the joy of being a birthing coach to his gorgeous wife and welcoming his amazing daughter into the world. Being in Shirley’s corner was probably one of the hardest and most rewarding experiences of his life. Alexandra Ripley trained like a trooper right up till she went into the Birthing ring to bring her little bundle of joy into the world we can’t wait to see them all start punching some bags in the near future. When BJJ Coach Carlos first started training with us many moons ago at Castlereagh Street he was a young boy, Larry and I had the pleasure of seeing him become a man, marry the woman of his dreams and just weeks ago also become a Dad, joining Soloman and Guy who welcomed their little bundles this year, clearly our BJJ boys were busy both on and off the mat.

While these were not the only wins we had in 2018, there are too many others to mention, add your photos and posts so that we can all celebrate the joy!

SURRY HILLS

The movers are moving in, so we are moving out!

Only 2 weeks ago we were advised that our end date at Surry Hills will be the end of February 2019. While we have known that this is coming for many years it came up rather suddenly. We have tried to catch up with as many people as possible over the last couple of weeks to let them know personally, however, certainly have not had the opportunity to get to everyone.

The exciting news is that with an end date we are able to concentrate on making sure that Kings Cross and Tramsheds are able to step up and keep all your training needs covered.

KINGS CROSS & TRAMSHEDS

We will be increasing classes and service times at both gyms, adding morning and lunchtime classes at both Kings Cross and Tramsheds. Our BJJ Program will increase with classes at Kings Cross on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights, at Tramsheds we will have classes Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Our competitive advanced boxing program will be split across both gyms, Monday and Wednesday night at Tramsheds, Tuesday and Thursday night at Kings Cross, with Coach Ben and Coach Simon working at both locations. Our Thai Boxing Program is set for a revamp with Coaches Tim, Billy and Eoin looking at making the classes a little more traditional. The changes set for Saturday morning at the Cross is exciting. We will have two 1.5 hour classes, with the first 45 min conditioning work and the next 45 min more advanced technical work and sparring, Thai class to begin at 8:30am and Boxing to begin at 9:30am. These classes will cater to all levels from beginners through to advanced, as a beginner to intermediate participant you are able to do the first 45min and finish up, for the more advanced people you can continue on with the advanced skills and sparring.

Keep an eye on Facebook and the Website for the start dates for these classes and Timetables.

On Behalf of Larry & Ally we would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a safe and Happy New Year! Santa did leave a little present for you to pass on to your friends and family so if you do not have yours yet make sure you ask at reception.