re: #112 Lidane

The boxing community still has a shit-load of sexism and racism in it. I often exhorted students to be welcoming to anyone who came in through the doors, especially if they were very unskilled—who better to come to train, than someone with no training? The guy I respected most in the boxing community was my kickboxing coach, Joe Plewa, who had the magic touch when it came to being a teacher, everyone felt comfortable in his class, male, female, no matter what, everyone just had a great time.

But I never told my students to introduce everyone they could to boxing. I have no idea why I would. Joe never told us to go out and introduce as many people as possible either. In fact, he told us the opposite, to only encourage people to come if we thought they’d stick with it, if they were mature enough to handle it, if they weren’t weirded out by controlled violence. Part of this is because it’s easy to hurt yourself, or others, during boxing, so you don’t want reckless people involved, but only part of it.