I saw your talk with Tom Holden and Janice. I really enjoyed it. I was curious as to why Chicago only has 4 boxing clubs (if I heard correctly). There is definitely a south American boxing culture. Is there a Latino population in the city? I come from a boxing city - Belfast. I did a search for local boxing clubs and discovered 7 of them. The inner city has an official population of 380,000 and a metropolitan population of around 700,000. So much smaller than Chicago's 2.7m. We haven't had many heavy weight champions but there have been several light weight. It is very much a working class sport and the clubs are in the poorer parts of the city. It is certainly seen as a way for young men to achieve something in areas of high unemployment.
Why there have been no successes at heavier categories, I don't know, but that's a different topic.
I look forward to reading more.
BTW: George Bernard Shaw was Irish. Tsk, tsk, to be sure!
Thanks for correcting my stupid mistake on Shaw, which I have fixed.
My boxing coach says I underestimated the number of boxing clubs in Chicago. There might be 10 instead of 5, but that's nothing like it used to be. Many Chicago neighborhoods once had boxing clubs as a matter of national pride, Irish, Italian, etc., but most neighborhoods do not have those identities any longer. In addition to private clubs there are park district (City-sponsored, public) clubs. But in Chicago Golden Gloves competitions I would say that only 4 or 5 send most of the boxers. Boxers come in from other cities 50-100 miles away for the GG. Most are black or Hispanic. One thing I hear from parents who bring kids to boxing classes is that they are looking for discipline as well as fitness. I think the motivation a few decades ago was different,more about ethnic pride and economic opportunity.
Sadly these things go in a downward spiral. The fewer boxers there are in a generation the fewer will want to coach the next generation - and so it goes on.
I did teach karate to children. I didn't enjoy it as most kids were only dumped there for an hour of cheap babysitting. I find the idea of parents looking for boxing coaches to instil discipline interesting. Corporal punishment has been removed from discipling children, yet these parents are sending their kids into an environment where they will get hit to help with discipline. They obviously trust the coaches to keep the situation under control so 'hitting' isn't hurtful.
And that is further interesting in itself. These coaches and the other men in the gym are not to be messed with. I should imagine they could punch my lights out. They have the potential to be very dangerous. Yet parents are trusting these strange men with their children. They must think these coaches are both dangerous enough to instil discipline yet safe enough not to cause harm. It says a lot about what the parents want from these men. It might be something we all want from men.
One thing I see in the best coaches is that they know how to make finesse and skill appealing to kids. My coach lines up the kids in the ring and has them advance and retreat throwing 2- or 3-punch combos, sometimes pivoting left or right. The kids feel like they are line dancing. So I think you are right that this kind of coach makes it clear that he knows his stuff but also knows how to get it to kids in an attractive way. He is tough of them, too, when he sees them getting sloppy. I would say that in some ways I am like the kids. My coach could certainly knock me out of the ring and then some, and he lets me feel his power often enough. He is also very, very hard to hit. Once in a while he lets me get a shot in, but I try to hit him all the time. He uses lines in my book sometimes, giving me my own advice. I think you are exactly right that we want a mix of danger and discipline and care from men. Thanks for the note.
Hi Allen,
I saw your talk with Tom Holden and Janice. I really enjoyed it. I was curious as to why Chicago only has 4 boxing clubs (if I heard correctly). There is definitely a south American boxing culture. Is there a Latino population in the city? I come from a boxing city - Belfast. I did a search for local boxing clubs and discovered 7 of them. The inner city has an official population of 380,000 and a metropolitan population of around 700,000. So much smaller than Chicago's 2.7m. We haven't had many heavy weight champions but there have been several light weight. It is very much a working class sport and the clubs are in the poorer parts of the city. It is certainly seen as a way for young men to achieve something in areas of high unemployment.
Why there have been no successes at heavier categories, I don't know, but that's a different topic.
I look forward to reading more.
BTW: George Bernard Shaw was Irish. Tsk, tsk, to be sure!
Thanks for correcting my stupid mistake on Shaw, which I have fixed.
My boxing coach says I underestimated the number of boxing clubs in Chicago. There might be 10 instead of 5, but that's nothing like it used to be. Many Chicago neighborhoods once had boxing clubs as a matter of national pride, Irish, Italian, etc., but most neighborhoods do not have those identities any longer. In addition to private clubs there are park district (City-sponsored, public) clubs. But in Chicago Golden Gloves competitions I would say that only 4 or 5 send most of the boxers. Boxers come in from other cities 50-100 miles away for the GG. Most are black or Hispanic. One thing I hear from parents who bring kids to boxing classes is that they are looking for discipline as well as fitness. I think the motivation a few decades ago was different,more about ethnic pride and economic opportunity.
Sadly these things go in a downward spiral. The fewer boxers there are in a generation the fewer will want to coach the next generation - and so it goes on.
I did teach karate to children. I didn't enjoy it as most kids were only dumped there for an hour of cheap babysitting. I find the idea of parents looking for boxing coaches to instil discipline interesting. Corporal punishment has been removed from discipling children, yet these parents are sending their kids into an environment where they will get hit to help with discipline. They obviously trust the coaches to keep the situation under control so 'hitting' isn't hurtful.
And that is further interesting in itself. These coaches and the other men in the gym are not to be messed with. I should imagine they could punch my lights out. They have the potential to be very dangerous. Yet parents are trusting these strange men with their children. They must think these coaches are both dangerous enough to instil discipline yet safe enough not to cause harm. It says a lot about what the parents want from these men. It might be something we all want from men.
One thing I see in the best coaches is that they know how to make finesse and skill appealing to kids. My coach lines up the kids in the ring and has them advance and retreat throwing 2- or 3-punch combos, sometimes pivoting left or right. The kids feel like they are line dancing. So I think you are right that this kind of coach makes it clear that he knows his stuff but also knows how to get it to kids in an attractive way. He is tough of them, too, when he sees them getting sloppy. I would say that in some ways I am like the kids. My coach could certainly knock me out of the ring and then some, and he lets me feel his power often enough. He is also very, very hard to hit. Once in a while he lets me get a shot in, but I try to hit him all the time. He uses lines in my book sometimes, giving me my own advice. I think you are exactly right that we want a mix of danger and discipline and care from men. Thanks for the note.