People have sometimes written to ask me why I train as often as possible at the Wild Card. Is it all that special? Is my hanging there just a celebrity-chasing fantasy thing or what? 

No no no! That ain't it. Here's the real deal: I have trained boxing for long periods at more than seven gym/clubs in my life, both in USA and Japan. All good places, all good people. I'm grateful that I've learned muchas cosas from those program and worked with great people. And I still hang at Watanabe when I'm in Tokyo half the year.

BUT the Card has one absolutely unique feature that just can't be replicated anywhere else: the quality of sparring partners is out of this galaxy. I mean just guys you can tag catch-as-catch-can to go a few rounds with headgear. These regulars at the Card are sparring badasses to an unfathmoable degree, far beyond anybody you can casually pair up with at any other club, gym, or program. They have all kinds of backgrounds, some are young amateurs, some are wanna-be-pro's, other are long time veterans, or maybe some pure hobbyists for all I know, but to a man these guys can issue a beatdown like no other collection of casual gym rats I've ever experienced.

So you may think you're some kind of Kung Fu master or whatever, fine - but just do 3 rounds or 5 rounds in the ring with pretty much anybody you can find out on the floor at the Card and you'll learn the meaning of SURGICAL BEATDOWN. Super nice guys to talk to before and after - but just COLD HARD METAL once in the ring. You'll need to bring every last ounce of boxing skill and endurance  you have to the match just to walk out under your own power at the end.

And to my knowledge, you won't find that um... depth of bench shall we say... anywhere else at any other facility or program known to me.