Kasubi Boxing Club I first became aware of Kitunzi Swamadu and Kasubi Boxing Club via Facebook. It was a GoFundMe campaign that appeared in my feed. Boxing in Kampala, Uganda? I knew little about it, but I was intrigued. After reading organizer Mark Jordan’s description of the gym, its boxers, and the community of orphans Kitunzi and his brother Kabonge Salim care for, I was further intrigued. I researched deeper and learned more about Kasubi Boxing Club: the art of the young fighters, the passion of the coaches and the beauty of its community. I immediately contributed to the campaign. Since then, I’ve learned more about Kasubi Boxing Club and its associated KS Children … [Read more...]
Photos Of Rafael Trejo Boxing Gym, Havana
The following is the last of a series of posts on Rafael Trejo Boxing Gym. Rafael Trejo Boxing Gym (Rafael Trejo Gimnasio al Aire Libre) is, from my understanding, the oldest Western boxing gym in Havana, Cuba. Rafael Trejo was a Cuban who was murdered by police in 1930 during a student protest against the Machado government. Rafael Trejo, a law school student president, became a martyr and a hero for the Castro regime. (Source.) The gym is named in his honour. I only spent two days and no nights in Havana. Finding the gym was my main focus. I had arrived in Havana years earlier, in 2006, to source out a boxing gym to train at. I didn't find one. In 2013, I … [Read more...]
Boxing In Cuba – Training At Rafael Trejo Boxing Gym, Havana
My first impression of Rafael Trejo Boxing Gym (Rafael Trejo Gimnasio al Aire Libre) was that it was beautiful. The pockets in the plaster walls, the cracks in the concrete floor and the shots of red running throughout created warmth within my body. The ring, surrounded by stadium seating on two sides and bags on another, was well maintained. A slight breeze moved within the gym. Air flow. All of this made Rafael Trejo Boxing Gym a desireable location to train. I arrived to find the gym empty but for one woman. I wasn't prepared to train; I made the trip that day from Jibacoa to Havana with two friends, a tour guide and a private driver. I was there to see the facilities, … [Read more...]
Full Circle Cuba – Returning To The Roots Of My Nomadic Life.
Four days ago sand filtered between my toes in Jibacoa, Cuba. Nine days ago lightening hit and blasted my ears in a boxing ring in Havana. Eleven days ago I said good-bye to my roommate in Toronto's Bloor West Village. Today I'm writing you from a new Toronto neighbourhood. A new home. A new landscape to dig deep into. It seems fitting that dancehall from a parked car mingles with the clicking of the keyboard as I write you. Tasting the sunshine in a downtown lush backyard is a rare event for me in Toronto. Over ten years of my life spent here within the past fifteen and this feels decadent. The decision to travel to Cuba was spontaneous. An invite from a … [Read more...]
I Still Have a Soul – the Boxing Trainer as Protagonist
I recently came wise to the following piece from HBO and it guts me every time I view it. The strength of will and the perceived humility of the protagonist, the boxer, whom many may view this piece is about. I see that, but what hits me just as hard, is this man's trainer. His belief in what and in this case, whom others may view as obsolete, a waste of time and effort. The trainer could have taken the other man's money, patronized him, led him to believe he had his back when he didn't, but he chose not to. Check the neighbourhood the gym is in. He could have assumed the would be boxer to be a junkie, a hustler and chased him out of the gym, but he chose not to. As much as … [Read more...]