The Blue Cat Boxing Club was founded in 1999 in Montreal. Starting with limited funds, and a small, confined space with no air flow and uneven cement floors, new members just kept showing up. It became evident the club served a community need, and demand progressed unabated.
In January 2003, we made our first move to a nice, dingy locale hidden behind the Dimitri Cuir building on Parc and Van Horne. We had changerooms for the first time. There were train tracks running below our windows, that we would run along daily. It was a huge improvement, but it still remained unpolished and simple. A home to sweat and box.
After 5 great years on Van Horne, in January 2008 we expanded to our next location, a huge space on Beaubien where we remained for over 15 years, until August 2023.
In January 2024, we moved permanently to our new space in Magog. Although the dream of a foray back to the old 'hood in Montreal will always remain in our hearts, our new locale in Magog brings us back to our roots. Simple, small and personal.
The club has endured, with thanks to the pivotal contributions from our members throughout, and
founded with the following guiding principles:
Boxing is an amazing and challenging sport. The primary goal of the club is to provide an environment that makes boxing accessible to you, no matter your background, gender, profession or other qualities.
Boxing can be a safe sport, when it is practised conscientiously and under strict attention. We provide a safe environment for you to learn the sport, allowing the positive qualities of boxing to emerge and flourish.
Boxing is hard. In the club, the workouts are designed to push you to your personal physical limits. It requires hard work and consistency to survive, and we reinforce those principles throughout.
In the ring, eventually you will confront your mental, emotional and physical boundaries. We facilitate the journey to your limits and subsequently to traverse your personal barriers.
After 25 years in Montreal, the Blue Cat Boxing Club moved to Magog, in the beautiful Eastern Townships region of Quebec. Classes began in earnest in January 2024.
In our new space, upstairs at the Centre Chat bleu, we offer small group classes (maximum 10 people), private and semi-private classes, along with boxing specific conditioning classes. See below for more information on group classes and pricing, or view the current schedule.
With health safety as our priority, it is highly recommended that all members have their own handwraps, bag gloves, (yoga) mats and towels. Everyone is expected to arrive in workout gear, along with shoes that are clean and dry. If you are experiencing flu or other cold symptoms please refrain from entering the premises.
In addition to boxing, the Centre Chat Bleu in Magog offers hockey skills development at the Pineapple Hockey Academy on the main floor, as well as, dance and yoga classes in the upstairs 750 sq.ft. space.
The Pineapple Hockey Academy provides synthetic ice accessible throughout the year, where participants can hone their skating and shooting skills. They offer private, semi-private and team sessions on a multitude of training equipment, including the first of it's kind shooting simulators in North America. Powered by Hockey Gyms.
Workout-Technical Courses (Beginner / Intermediate Levels)
The Winter Training Sessions run from January 13 to March 26, 2025 in Magog. During this class we focus on fundamental sport-specific conditioning and the technical attributes essential for you as a boxer. The course consists of a once a week 70 minute class. There is a maximum of 10 people per session group. It is possible to sign-up for more than one class per week. See also our PRICE LIST.
Course Dates and Times:
Option 1 - Monday: 6pm - 7:10pm (Level: Intermediate, 14 yrs+)
Option 2 - Wednesday: 6pm - 7:10pm (Level: Open to all, 10 yrs+)
Saturday Workouts (All levels)
The Saturday class has been an essential component of training at the Blue Cat Boxing Club since 1999. It offers a great opportunity to work on your physical conditioning, through an intense workout in a relaxed atmosphere. Accessible to all fitness levels. Reservations are required for this drop-in class. The class runs for one hour (maximum 10 particpants). The purchase of a 10-class card is possible. See also our PRICE LIST.
Class Times:
Option 3 - Saturday: 12:15pm - 1:30pm (reservation required)
See our PRICE LIST.
Boxing is an art and a science. The barriers a performance athlete confronts are both intrinsic and environmental. To challenge their limits, the athlete depends on practise, preparation, teamwork and coaching. The sport of boxing presents additional demands in the face of violence, physical harm and loss of agency. Our role is to facilitate and guide you as an athlete, to traverse your boundaries and master self.
Photo: JF Galipeau
A key component of boxing is understanding space and distance, and creating boundaries through physical means.
Photo: Maxime Normand
A boxer must decide whether to engage, move or defend. Effective choices are often counterintuitive. They result from years of practise, while learning to temper preconceptions and intrinsic reactions to fear and conflict.
Photo: JF Galipeau
Although the boxer's journey may focus on one individual, others implicate themselves for their betterment.
Photo: Maxime Normand
Asserting oneself in boxing involves the challenge of defending against attacks, and the genuine danger of physical injury.
Photo: Maxime Normand
There are two athletes in the ring, but their experience is lived by their coaches, team members and everyone else that is present.
Photo: Benoit Marineau
The coach facilitates the athlete in traversing the intractable barriers they confront on their journey.
Photo: Maxime Normand
Within the context of struggle there are moments, even with adversaries, to rest and breathe.
Photo: JF Galipeau
Each journey brings a new depth of knowledge and experience to the athlete. Ultimately, the fighter learns there is never finality.
Photo: Maxime Normand
Pushing their boundaries in the ring is a shared experience. No matter the outcome each person is touched; opening their raw selves to confront their vulnerabilities, strengths and limitations together as adversaries.
BOXING TRAINING SESSION
TRIAL CLASSES (space permitting)
SATURDAY WORKOUT CLASS
PRIVATE LESSONS
Phil Dickinson founded the Blue Cat Boxing Club in 1999, and is the head coach and owner. He is a high-performance boxing coach (Level 4 NCCP) and competed as an amateur boxer in the 80s and 90s. He also has a PhD in Neuroscience and Masters degree in Psychiatry. These combined and diverse interests provide the basis for the defining principles of the club.
279 rue Principale Est, 2e
Magog, QC
J1X 1Y7