Look once at the Farrer Park Boxing Gymnasium and you’d see a little shabby hut surrounded by a rickety steel fence. Pass it by and you’d miss the blood and sweat shed by the boxers inside dancing deadly and pummeling bags of sand, the coach’s roars like music to their ears. This is the place that nurtured champions and ignited the spirits of those who sought a purpose in a noble art.
It was this very
gym that acted as a pioneer in
It won’t be an easy task, what with modern youth having more crucial commitments like school, work, family and relationships to shoulder. The prospects of roping in young and devoted boxers are indeed daunting.
But hope’s not
lost. There are people who aspire to bring boxing back, or at least bask in the
best of what it can offer. People like Hemalata Sinniah, current president of
SABA or Syed Abdul Kadir, one of
As far as successful boxers past and present are concerned, our country’s had quite a bunch of them. Behind every good boxer, there is a good coach. A mentor to learn from, who’ll guide a young unpolished mind and turn it into a skilled and dangerous dynamo.
Coach Bala, as
he prefers to be called, is a grizzled, humble man. Currently, he serves as vice
president of
An Interview
with the Coach
Q: Why do you coach? Did it start out as a passion?
A: Well, I always wanted to be a very good boxer, but due to circumstances I couldn’t reach that goal. My mother is a conventional and religious person, so she doesn’t condone the sport, as she deems it violent. I also never found a good coach in my life. During my army days I happened to be selected as a boxing coach, which I did good at. Soon after I was selected to be a SAFSA boxing coach. Everything just happened so fast. I used that chance to train people. What I never get, I want others to get. When others achieve something there’s glory in it for me. This is what my hunger is all about—for others to be good boxers. You know, I boxed during my army days, in inter-unit competitions. But I wasn’t fond of the coaches back then because of their vulgar language. So boxing for me took a different direction. Because the love for it never faded, I became a coach.
Q: What were you aiming for when you started out U2CAN program?
Q: Did you ever box professionally?
A: I only really boxed during my army days, in small tournaments.
Q: Describe the feeling being in the ring gives you.
A: You feel doubt, nervousness and the mind is complicated. But once you execute the first punch and blows are exchanged, after the first round, all the fears are gone.
Q: Who is the greatest in your opinion,
Muhammad Ali or Mike Tyson?
A: None of them in particular. Anyone who goes up into the ring is a champion in my book. Even a new boxer who goes up to fight is a champion, because he has the courage to go up there. Every fight is a new fight.
Q: How do you prepare for a fight?
A: A good training regime. It’s what you call training the mind, body and soul. Quality training is very important. Your fitness must be there, but the psychological part of it is as important. You can have all the skills and fitness, but you’ve got to be mentally prepared. Your brain has to understand this sport. There’s a fear that discourages a person to even go up to try. The mind is the driver, it drives the body. So a boxer must understand this psychological barrier, because your opponent will go through the same thing. Tune it to the right frequency before entering the ring. You learn this in sparring.
Q: Any diet a boxer must go through?
A: Boxing is a weight-classed sport, so a boxer has to be the right weight, has to control his diet to match his opponent’s weight. The best would be that boxers don’t smoke, must have sufficient rest, must not divert their focus elsewhere; eat well, sleep well, and train well. That’s what my nutrition is.
Q: Do you think
A: Yes, definitely. Because
once upon a time we had a lot of good boxers in
Q: Why do you think there more and more females taking part in boxing nowadays?
A: Women are changing their mindset, even in politics there are a lot of women involved. Because they don’t want to be the second class, they want to be equal to males. They are going into many things and boxing is just one of them. There are female fighter pilots, female Special Forces in the army. The list goes on.
Q: Women’s boxing seems underrated and isn’t given much coverage in
A: We’re working on it. If men can do it women can do it too.
Q: You are an International Olympic Council certified boxing coach, a reflexologist and have a diploma in massage therapy. Why are you so well-equipped?
A: Because as a coach I must also take care of my boys’ injuries. I feel a coach must know how to look after his students’ health, and have basic knowledge about anatomy.
Q: Do you think Asians can one day claim a stake in a largely Western-dominated sport?
Q: What was the greatest challenge you faced along your career?
Q: Your daughter is an honorary secretary of the administration team. Did
you influence her at a young age?
A: She followed in my footsteps, joined me to help drive this forward. Boxers should also be involved in humanitarian services, like blood donation. This is very important, I feel.
Q: Finally, do you have any advice for a beginner who wants to start boxing?
A: Come and learn. If I can do it, you too can. That’s how the word U2CAN came about. My advice is, train yourself to be a sportsman not a spoiled man. Keep away from bad influences like drugs. Boxing is not dangerous. I always tell people boxing is not dangerous, politics is. Train fun, but don’t try to be funny.
(laughs)
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