New Boxing club
Thursday night boxers taking a break from training; coach Kas Muller is third from left. Photo: Neil Wilson.
Kas Muller trains boxers for seven hours a week. His classes attract men and women of all ages, and everyone involved is serious about their commitment to the sport.
The former amateur fighter—who had 13 fights in his career for 11 wins, a draw and a loss—says that the sport sometimes gets unfairly bad press.
“For these young kids, the ladies and the big boys it’s just such a good way to get fit. It’s good for your reflexes and it’s a very good discipline.”
Kas explains that learning the art of evading punches—and throwing them too—involves strength of mind, self-control, speed and courage.
“I always say to my fighters, ‘keep it in the hall’. I want them to do their punching and their personal development here, under strict control and where they’re safe. Being a street scrapper is silly. One silly mistake can change your whole life.”
Kas says he has been overwhelmed by the support from the community in the 10 months he has offered boxing classes in the Bay. His gym in the former scout hall has punching bags, speed balls, a “pain bench” and a miniature ring—all contributed via donations or volunteer labour.
When The GB Weekly visited it was ladies’ night, but some men were there too—one because he had missed his session earlier in the week and others because they like to help out or take advantage of every opportunity to train.
The session was very organised, very disciplined and very supported. Coach Kas gave plenty of orders, encouraged his charges to extend themselves and praised them constantly. The men and women in the class responded positively, committing themselves to progressively more complex routines and losing a serious amount of sweat. Through it all, Kas was paying lots of individual attention, asking different things from each boxer and always respecting their efforts.
In the very short recovery and drinks breaks, some of the boxers agreed that, apart from the obvious fitness advantages, their participation in boxing gave them a good place to bring their aggression. Everyone asked said that the amount of punching they did in an average boxing session made it less likely that they would ever punch another person in ordinary life. One said that she “just loved the hitting part of it” but that she left all that behind her when she went home exhausted after each session.
Kas says that he is due to have a meeting with the owners of the scout hall in another couple of months.
“That’s when we’ll decide whether we can afford to pay the rates and the electricity. It’s such a great thing having that small dedicated space where we can leave our bags hanging up and the wonderful ring that Jamie, Luke and Hika and the boys at ITM joinery jacked up can be there all the time.”
About 50 people have given boxing a try in the last 10 months, and Kas says the hard core of dedicated people will ensure that the sport continues.
“There are 16 or 17 young boys in that 12 to 13 year age group where they respond to plenty of structure. I’m not into team sport myself and I never responded well to people in authority who yelled at me all the time. I just say to the kids, ‘If you’re smart enough to find out where we are and you have the courage to walk through that door the first time, there’s a place for you. I never turn anyone away, but I don’t muck around with anyone either. I’m here to push people to exceed their own boundaries. If they don’t want to do it they don’t have to stay. I like all the groups – the Thursday night ladies are so serious and dedicated. I really like the young kids who come on Tuesdays and how they’re making progress. I especially like the big boys on a Tuesday night. I’m spending so much time training with all these boxers that I’m getting pretty fit again myself.”
Neil Wilson
