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Hundreds of people packed into the ballroom of Shanghai's Hyatt on the Bund on Friday night to watch a boxing event like no other. The 18 fighters Cheap Valtteri Filppula Hat , Chinese and foreigners alike, were all amateurs and ""white-collar"" workers with no previous boxing experience. Just three months before they had been like you and I, but on Friday night they climbed into the ring to duke it out under the Marquess of Queensberry rules and for three two-minute rounds under the heat of the lights those competitors felt like the great pugilists who have given the sweet science its salubrious sobriquet.

This was an event eight years in the making. The organizer, White Collar Boxing International's Shane Benis, launched China's first white-collar boxing event in Shanghai in 2008 with the Brawl on the Bund. Since then the promotions have expanded to include the nation's capital Cheap Jordan Weal Hat , Macao and Taipei.

The middle-class version of the sport has its origins in New York City, with Gleason's Gym credited with starting the craze in the 1980s. And the deal is quite simple. Those who have signed up with hopes of steeping into the ring in front of their peers have to attend 12 weeks of boxing and fitness training three times a week, put in the hard yards on the road outside the gym and lay off the regular vices of the Oasis-penned theme tune of the sedentary office worker - cigarettes and alcohol.

Even if you manage that, it's no guarantee of a chance you'll be dishing out hits in the glamour and glitz of the main event. Not everyone makes the cut - and that could be for the fact that they are too good, juts not good enough Cheap Brian Elliott Hat , unfit or there is no one else in their weight class. This happens because the organizers don't want anyone getting hurt.

This is not a straightener in the back of a pub car park. It's a fully refereed affair that is scored in the same way as boxing in the Olympics and just like -every Games until Rio this summer, headguards are mandatory.

The attention to detail in regards to the safety of the competitors is matched by the event's production values. It's a black-tie affair that is sponsored to the hilt and it gives a lot of professional boxing shows a run for their money, from the Grammy award-winning entertainment to the inestimable announcers.

The other difference is that much of the money raised at these events goes to support local charities in China - which is some solace after you've taken a good licking in the ring. And I can confirm that after coming second (of two) in my own white collar boxing debut at the inaugural Brawl on the Wall in 2013.

In a world where participation in traditional grass-roots sport seems to keep going down, this is a TKO, putting ordinary ladies and gents in touch with the sacrifice it takes to be a top class athlete - even if it is just for 12 weeks. If you like the sound of it Cheap Brandon Manning Hat , you can throw more than your hat into the ring in December.

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BEIJING, July 27 (Xinhua) -- The past five years since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) have seen an extraordinary development of the CPC and the country, President Xi Jinping said at a high-level workshop in preparation for the 19th CPC National Congress.

Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks at the workshop attended by provincial and ministerial officials on Wednesday and Thursday.

During the past five years Cheap Scott Laughton Hat , the CPC Central Committee grasped the general development trend of China and the world, followed the requirement of practice and people's wishes, and made a series of major strategic moves, he said. It introduced a series of important policies and advanced a series of significant work, Xi said.

He said that many difficult problems that remained unsolved for a long time have been solved Cheap Sean Couturier Hat , and many long-awaited tasks have been completed.

Xi said the leadership of the CPC has been strengthened, which has greatly enhanced its cohesion, combat ability, leading ability and charisma.

"We firmly implemented the new concept of development, and greatly boosted the development of our country towards the direction of better quality Cheap Travis Konecny Hat , more efficiency, increased fairness and growing sustainability," he said. "We firmly and comprehensively deepened reforms, and opened a new phase of comprehensive efforts, multiple breakthroughs and progress in depth."

We have continued to firmly enhance the rule of law Cheap Ivan Provorov Hat , tremendously improving the Party's capability to lead and govern the country by law, he said.

We have consolidated solidarity and unity of thoughts within the Party and through the whole of society by enhancing the Party's rule over ideological work, he said.

"We firmly advanced the building of an ecological civilization and took a great step forward in the construction of a beautiful China.

"We kept pushing forward the modernization of our national defense and the military, achieving historical breakthroughs in the reforms of the national defense and the military.

"We unswervingly carried forward a big country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics, which has helped create a peaceful international environment and sound neighbor environment for the country's development.

"We firmly strengthened Party discipline comprehensively Cheap Jakub Voracek Hat , and solved major problems that the public voiced the strongest concerns about and the problems that posed the biggest threat to the Party's ruling foundation."

He said that the fight against corruption has gained crushing momentum.

"The political life within the CPC has witnessed changes, the ideals and beliefs within the entire Party have become firmer, and the Party spirit has become stronger," Xi said, adding that the CPC had greatly enhanced its ability to purify Cheap Shayne Gostisbehere Hat , reinvent and improve itself.

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