CLASS LEADERS

 
CLASS LEADERS

Ray – Monday lunch instructor 

You can expect Ray to push the Monday lunch hour class to new limits with his thirst for prisoner squats and burpees – but if you’re too slow, then he’ll make you do more!

Ray began boxing approximately six years ago. His first three years he boxed non-competitively and on his forth year he entered the competitive boxing realm. Determined to improve, he took a year off and made an impressive comeback a year later by winning the 2005 Manitoba Provincial Champion title in the light heavy weight novice division.

There is no better way to shake the weekend off your system than by attending Ray’s class. You can expect an hour of amateur boxing basics by working on rock solid conditioning, building athletically useful long lean muscles, developing a solid core, aerobic and anaerobic fitness, and improving hand-eye coordination. Students agree that one of Ray’s greatest strength is his friendly demeanor and personalized attention to all students looking to improve their technique.

Susan - Monday Evening

 


Brandt - Monday

Brandt confesses to have bought his first pair of gloves at age 10 and using his bed as his ring. It comes as no surprise that years later he joined Pan Am and participated in his first fight in January 2006.  His largest boxing accomplishment to date was representing Manitoba at Canada Winter Games in the Yukon and winning the ringside world championships 141 lbs. 15-16 yr. old boys novice category. He hopes to someday represent Canada internationally and win an Olympic medal.

 A self professed “addict” to boxing, Brandt looks up to fighters such as Oscar De La Hoya, Bernard Hopkins, Diego Corrales, Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Muhammad Ali.

 Brandt demands 110% from his students. He likes to start the class with running followed by shadow boxing. Then he proceeds with hard bag work and stairs before they any of them can catch their breath. Why? Because that’s the physical commitment boxing demands. Students agree that Brandt’s classes are grueling but incredibly satisfying. Also, his encouragement and attention to technique are key features from his class.

Kelly - Wednesday lunch, tuesday evening & Wednesday youth class

Kelly is a devout member of the Pan Am Boxing family. Whether he is working the front desk, leading a class, participating in Pan Am’s fights, sparring or shadow boxing, you will quickly learn that he is around more often than not. Kelly fell in love with boxing after watching a pro-boxing fight on television.

Kelly will never let his classes forget that to be a boxer one needs to be in excellent physical shape. He will engage his students in various exercises building strength, agility, and coordination. There is no denying that Kelly pushes and encourages his students to reach their own excellence.

Kelly draws inspiration from some of the greatest technicians of the ring including Ray Robinson, Bernard Hopkins, and Floyd Mayweather. Students concur that it is a treat to see Kelly boxing for he uses that inspiration to display elegance, agility, and strength that is nothing less than admirable.

Darcy - Wednesday evening

By day, Darcy is a musical chameleon producing and engineering local and international music talent. By night, Darcy changes his tune and delivers an exhilarating class at Pan Am Boxing. Darcy places strong emphasis on push ups, bag drills and core fitness needed in boxing. One of the most Darcy’s favourite (and grueling) sequences is 10 seconds non-stop punching on the bag followed by 10 push-ups.  Get over the hump day with a class that packs a punch!

Gino - Thursday evening

“Boxing is the type of sport where you have to be fully engaged and make demanding commitments upon yourself as it is the type of sport that is a very physically and mentally demanding” -  is what you can expect to hear from Gino, a boxer since 2002. Gino and Ray Oaks (a lawyer in downtown Winnipeg) started the 1^st Executive White Collar Fight 4 ½ years ago.

An athlete all his life he began playing Hockey when he was five years old, advancing very quickly from a community club level to Double A, then Triple A Hockey then to Junior A Tier 2.  During the off season Gino would train like a boxer and would always be in great shape for training camp in late August early September.

Gino structures his class by providing a good warm up (running, skipping, stairs and shadow boxing), and he will do 200 push-up per class in intervals of 25 usually at the end of most 2 minute rounds when the bell rings. Also, part of his lead role is to review the basic fundamentals of boxing making sure the members do not pick up any bad habits. Then he moves on to heavy bag workouts that allow members to work on their technical skills and sharpen their punches. During this time, Gino will work individually with willing class members in the ring to work on focus gloves or body sparring. After the heavy bag workout Gino will do a few rounds of Technical Sparring where the class gets a chance to go against a real body without ever touching. Lastly, he will split the class and work on abdominals with the Medicine ball and continue on heavy bags doing pyramids. He always conclude with an abdominal work out and cool down……class members, at this point are enjoying the endorphins!

“Boxing is a wonderful sport; it promotes discipline, commitment, dedication and perseverance. FYI 50% of my classes are women, ever since Million Dollar Baby – Hillary Swank movie, women have become an essential part of this great sport.“

Heather – Friday evening

Heather has been involved in boxing for 4 ½ years. The first three years she developed her non-competitive boxing skills. Then, she made a switch to competitive boxing and participated in a total of six fights. In 2006, she decided to ‘retire’ but continues to be involved in Pan Am’s classes and fights. 

There is no doubt that if God didn’t give you the body you wanted, Heather’s class will.  You can expect a blend of aerobic, anaerobic, strength, speed, footwork and agility drills in formatted sequences. Heather will train one area to exhaustion and then move to a complementary exercise. She is self-proclaimed fan of the one-minute planks and jump squats on the stairs!

Heather thoughts on boxing:

“It takes a lot of guts to get in the ring, there’s no team behind you and mistakes are often painful lessons that you learn in front of a loud, opinionated crowd. People will judge your performance and it’s difficult to put that to the side, but in the end, you have to know yourself and learn from everything that’s handed to you inside the ring – and out.  However now that I’m not fighting, I enjoy pushing class members to their limit!”

There is no better way to welcome the weekend than by attending Heather’s Friday 5:45 pm class!

Ami - Saturday

Ami joined Pan Am in 2002 and has been a class leader for the past year and a half.  His classes are characterized by high energy, a blend of cardio and boxing technique and terrific music.  In a recent survey, they were unanimously selected as Pan Am members’ favourite class.  (It should, however, be noted that Ami wrote the survey and this was the only possible answer.)

 Ami believes in creating a positive and enthusiastic environment where every participant – regardless of age, fitness level or experience – is encouraged to find his or her inner world champion.

Lisa - Sunday

Roland - Monday Youth Program