Wellbeing
 

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Boxing in schools

 

 Boxin in schoolsBoxing is being reintroduced in several schools to help pupils develop their mental and physical skills.


Some schools in Bromley, south London are incorporating the sport into PE lessons, under the supervision of the Amateur Boxing Association of England. Boxing has not been taught in schools since 1962, when a campaign to ban it from PE classes won popular support.

Peter McCabe, chief executive of brain injury association Headway, urged the schools involved to reconsider.

 

Olympic Games

The director of sport at Beckenham's Kelsey Park Sports College, Matthew Strange, believes there could be a place for boxing within the national curriculum "due to the massive impact it can have on those young people involved". "This type of activity requires young people to develop a range of mental and physical skills that are transferable to other aspects of learning. "It is therefore possible to see this programme developing substantially as we approach the Olympics of 2012," he adds. His school reintroduced boxing after it gave a new home to a local boxing club that had closed down. It had such a positive effect on the pupils involved that the school decided to take things further.

 

Fitness

Head teacher of Orpington's Priory School, Nicholas Ware, told the BBC his school had reintroduced boxing because it had wanted to offer "as wide a range of sporting opportunities for young people as possible" as part of the school's new sports status. He added: "In a sense, we are not really boxing yet. "We have had a year where students are engaged in fitness for boxing which has involved no contact whatsoever - it's really based around fitness using the pads and using the gloves. "With all the right safety equipment and close supervision from the Amateur Boxing Association, those who have been through this year's initial training are now engaged in sparring," Mr Ware said. He added that only pupils who had opted to take part were involved and that it was certainly not compulsory.

"This is purely for developing fitness levels in youngsters and getting them engaged in sport and trying to identify who may be another Amir Khan."

 

'Brain damage'

But Headway's Mr McCabe said he was astonished that boxing was being reintroduced to schools. "I am pleased to hear that they have not really got involved in fights yet and I would urge the school to reconsider. I think the governors have a responsibility.

"Eleven medical associations around the world have said chronic brain damage is caused by recurrent blows to the head, experienced by all boxers. "As long as it is legal to hit an opponent above the neck - there aren't any safety precautions which can prevent this damage." He stressed that there was a long list of boxers who had died or sustained serious injuries in the ring. "Children below the age of consent should not be allowed or encouraged to box. "It's quite wrong and will result in more injuries which Headway will have to deal with."

 

1960s campaign

A spokeswoman for the Department for Education and Skills said it did not specify which sports should be taught in schools so boxing is not on the national curriculum. "But schools are free to offer it if they choose. They should of course bear in mind the safety precautions that should be in place. "Generally we consider boxing to be best offered through boxing clubs with qualified boxing coaches." Chairman of the Amateur Boxing Association Keith Walters said boxing in schools could benefit children by boosting their overall fitness, reaching out to disengaged young people and improving their self-esteem, discipline and self confidence.

 

In the early 1960s Edith Summerskill MP tried to get boxing removed from schools sports curriculum but lost several votes in Parliament. However, her campaign won popular support and after many parents wrote to schools asking their children to be excused from classes involving boxing, the sport was gradually removed from schools. Have your say


Gym'll fix it:#

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Clinton McKenzie tells kids there is an alternative to knives and guns


The Birth of the Cool, a poster of a 1950 Miles Davis jazz album, hides a flaking wall, Salt-n-Pepa - a Grammy Award winning hip-hop band from Queens - is pumping out from the speaker system and a sparkling 52-year-old grandfather of five is taking up the fight against street crime with his fists.
 
Clinton McKenzie, who lost on a split decision at the 1976 Montreal Olympics to Sugar Ray Leonard, is the charismatic former British and European light welterweight champion and this is his south London den, safely a long jog from where Ross Kemp's TV show took a tour with the Murder Zone gang.
 

Clinton, one of the legendary fighting McKenzies - boxing's most decorated family - has been working out of this crumbling Grade II listed building above the Half Moon Pub for more than a decade; the walls are packed with memories of his fighting (and modelling) past, his smart website includes video footage of his most famous ring rivalries.

 

The man knows his art. It is not all fighting here. Men and women of all ages are also invited to work out with McKenzie and his non-contact boxing training and local schools are turning to him for help with  fitness and discipline too.
 
Across the country, almost 900 schools are offering boxing as a curricular or extra-curricular option - this represents an increase of 500 per cent in four years. A government- backed scheme through the Amateur Boxing Association now offers a Certificate of Personal Effectiveness, a qualification equivalent of a GCSE. Boxing is trendy again.
 
With gangs across the country a growing menace but still an attractive draw for street kids -the Metropolitan Police reckons there are 169 gangs in London alone - the ABA launched a nationwide initiative aimed at offering an alternative: 'Gloves - Not Guns, Gangs or Knives.'
 

McKenzie is happy to be on the front line

'Boxing is not about hurting someone else, but helping yourself; it is a voyage of discovery. Not just about strength, but about fitness and health, about breathing and control, about endurance and confidence,' he argues passionately. 'It is for men, women and children of all ages. We have a six-year-old lad here with a real talent and 75-year-old man who comes in here, too. He's a game boy, offered to take me on in the ring last week.'


Why are schools suddenly interested in the noble art? Sandra Dale, a Sports Lecturer at the London Leisure College, explained: 'The PE curriculum has always been traditional in its focus, revolving around games and stereotypical ideals. 'The spectrum has broadened; PE teachers and specialists are now encouraged to consider that while tradition is right for some, it's not for all. Boxing is a way of engaging young people. 'It may be considered controversial, but there is more to boxing than combat. The sport can challenge students and help them to achieve self-control and selfconfidence.'


McKenzie continues: 'Some kids have trouble with concentration and focus. They fall behind in class and can become obstructive and destructive. They lose the will to learn. In a gym, they discover new challenges. Achievement can then build their confidence and selfesteem. 'Boxing shows them they can, rather than they can't.'


McKenzie and his brothers were drawn to the fight game when their father, Dudley, would wake his seven children from their beds to watch fights beamed live from America in the early hours. 'We had a small black-and-white TV and I would watch in amazement as Ali fought. I wanted to be a fighter like him.'


Despite his success in an age when there were only two world titles at every weight, Clinton's biggest domestic purse was the £12,000 he collected for fighting Terry Marsh. No 1 contender McKenzie had become impatient for a world title shot and, even though he was warned against taking on the dangerous Marsh, his
bank account needed the help.


He lost, retired and Marsh's next fight was that world title shot. It might be cliched for a boxer to turn back to the fight game when hanging up his gloves, but it was not Clinton's immediate choice for
a career. 'I tried to stay away, tried everything. I had a Rolls-Royce business, estate agents, cleaning, but nothing satisfied me like boxing. One day I was driving past this place and it needed a bit of love and care. I could see my future, in fitness and training.


'I've brought the atmosphere back. It's not like a posh health farm, but people aren't intimidated; it's an authentic boxing gym.

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