Novice boxers lured into ring
Trainer runs boot camp before Battle of the Brave event
The ropes aren’t the only things to get past to take to the boxing ring. Te Puke Box Gym owner and boxing trainer Chris Walker is hosting Te Puke’s first corporate boxing show in November, with a leadup boot camp starting on October 3.
Made popular on the back of the televised Fight for Life events, Chris has hosted 21 corporate boxing nights in Tauranga.
“When the bell goes, the action’s real and it’s a lot of fun,” he says. “But it’s also a real challenge for people. You have to show a little bit of courage and participate in a sport that you haven’t mastered and won’t master in such a short space of time in front of your friends and family.”
The boot camp is important not only for getting the participants physically ready.
“Once you’re in the boot camp, you are in a group of like-minded people . . . it takes out a lot of the fear because everybody you are with is doing the same thing and supporting each other along the way and that makes a big difference.”
Chris says the event is to give people who are not amateur or professional boxers the chance to experience stepping into the ring.
“The training is about positive affirmation and people pushing themselves through boundaries and, if you get to the next level, you are going to be tested and going to be challenged, but once you get there it builds up your confidence and builds up your resilience.”
As well as fitness, the boot camps are designed to teach the fundamentals of the sport like combinations and defence.
“We go right up to sparring and then we match them appropriately to people of similar age, weight and capability. Ability can vary quite a bit among people — some are natural athletes, some have spent 15 years playing contact sport and you don’t want to be matching them up with somebody who’s been working in an office all their life and not picked up a rugby ball or anything like that.”
The event will be hosted at Te Puke Sports and Recreation Club on November 26. Already signed are players and Te Puke Box Gym members.
Females as well as males are welcome.
“I’ve done 21 corporate shows in Tauranga and over the years the number of females keeps increasing.
“Once upon a time females weren’t allowed to box. Now they have changed the rules. That’s one thing, but getting them to jump on board is another. But the barriers are slowly coming down and more females are participating in the sport than ever.”
From the events he has already hosted, a handful of participants have gone on to box more seriously, including Ariane Nicholson who represented New Zealand at this year’s Commonwealth Games.
The fights will be over three twominute rounds and mouth guards and headgear are compulsory.
Email info@tepukeboxgym. co.nz or call 573 7245 for more information.