MY DAYS IN SCHOOL - BOXING IN THE CLASSROOM !
Boxing,
as a sport, is believed to have been popularised in India by the British through the
Army. Every cantonment had at least one boxing team. The boxers were young
soldiers, or jawans, given
time off from regular duties to focus on training and practice. They were
trained by veterans and put on special diets aimed at building their muscles
and stamina. Each centre had its annual boxing tournament and vied with
other centres for top honours.
I
remember, during the mid nineteen sixties, as a boy of some ten or eleven
years, standing by the road outside my house near Madras Engineering Group
& Centre (MEG) on the banks of the Ulsoor Lake
and watching with awe the groups of boxers, with their boxing gloves on,
jogging around the lake and practicing their jabs and cuts.
We
schoolboys were allowed inside the MEG campus to witness the boxing matches.
Oh, what a thrill it was to see the top pugilists spar with one another, “floating
like butterflies and stinging like bees” (a phrase made famous by the legendary
Muhammad Ali)! I still recall the exploits of MEG's champion boxer
"Tiger" Subramani during the mid-sixties.
During
the nineteen forties and fifties, Bangalore was home to several well known boxers,
including some who were in the world rankings during their heydays. The exploits
of "Tiger" Nat Terry, Gunboat Jack and Arthur Suares are well
documented.
Our
school, St. Germain High School, was the cradle of boxing talent in Bangalore. But some time
during the late fifties (or early sixties), boxing was stopped in school due to
concerns of injuries. My class teacher, Mr. Bruce Suares, who was also a
student of St. Germain’s before returning to teach there, was, apart from being
a great teacher, no mean boxer himself. He was the scion of the legendary Suares family of Bangalore, known for its sterling contribution to sports and to the teaching profession, and a nephew of Arthur Suares.
The
year 1970 saw the introduction of the ICSE system, replacing the Anglo Indian
Secondary School Certificate (AISSC, also known as "Junior Cambridge" and "Senior
Cambridge" exams for Standards X and XI respectively) system in India. The new syllabus was announced
only in July that year, so, during the first few months, we had nothing to do
except wait for the syllabus. One day, during the lunch hour, some of us
students got together and rearranged the benches in the classroom to create a
boxing ring. Another classmate, a good boxer himself, produced 2 pairs of
boxing gloves and we were in business! The class was witness to some great boxing
matches during those lunch hours. We took great pains to ensure that the benches were put back in their proper places, just before the lunch hour ended, so that the teachers did not know of the boxing bouts going on inside the classroom.
But we were
caught in the act one day by Mr. Bruce – and then he took over. He decided to continue the bouts, albeit under his supervision! He became
our coach and referee. He taught us how to protect oneself with the right hand
in front of the face whilst jabbing away at the opponent with the left. He
taught us how to dance in with a smart left hook or dance out of harm's way. He
taught us that it was the small jabs which progressively weakened the opponent
and brought him down rather that the one big left hook which not everyone was gifted
with.
As we
learnt how to box, we began to enjoy the sport. Contests were held daily
between boys of similar builds. The contests became more and more thrilling
with each passing day and there were many future boxing champs in the
making. Until, unfortunately, one of the boxers slipped and fell during a bout
and broke his arm; that put an end to the boxing matches.
© Shiva Kumar 2014
