For Good Brains And Brawn

In life as well as in the boxing ring, they say, we are land in direst situations and often faced with many challenges, literally hard-hitting within the confines of ring.

Yet, not merely content with learning the techniques of self-defence, scores of city girls are dreaming to become boxers a la Mary Kom or our own Nikhan Zareen. Tapping their latent talents and skilling in the art of boxing is Golconda Boxing Association within the precincts of the famed fort. There are 37 girls among 160 trainees raring to enter the ring.

Early in the morning, a group of hijab-clad girls reach GHMC Owaisi Grounds in Golconda to train for three hours under Shaik Aijaz Ahmed, who himself is a boxer. He is all praise for their grit and determination to grin and bear the pain to turn into boxers. Trainees come from far-off places like Banjara Hills, Sun City, Kishan Bagh and many more.

Boxing has been nicknamed "The Sweet Science" for a reason. Despite what the casual observer may think, boxing is more of a mental practice than a physical one. Boxing is often compared to chess, the best boxers use setups and techniques to outsmart their opponents. Practicing these techniques can seem tedious at times, but one of the best feelings in the world is when you recognize that you are actually improving and getting better. It helps build a feeling of greater self-confidence that will aid you both inside and out of the boxing gym. That is when the sport can really become addicting. (https:// londonfightfactory.com/)

"This was started by my grandfather. Boxing is in our blood, grandfather and father Shaik Abdul Ghani both were in the Army and both of them were good boxers and national-level players and also participated in several tournaments. When my father retired during 1980's he used to train boys for boxing at road corners and later in 1990, he set up Golconda Boxing Association. After my father expired, it was run by my elder brothers and since 2015, I have been coaching children with the support of my brothers, leaving behind my government job," he added.

The training starts with the basics including exercise, physical fitness, self defence. At least after 2 months the rigorous training the boxing techniques are taught. Most of them show a lot of passion and some turn up as champions within 3 months of training. The best example is his first girl student Syeda Salma Jahan who took admission in 2015 and within 3 months she trained and won in nationals.

"In 2015, Syeda Salma Jahan was the only one girl and later on, more girls joined. Amongst them most have participated and won in both national and international tournaments including Bushra Shah, Sheela Rani, Amrutha Thakur, Juhi, Ahshan Shah, Ayani Sultana, Huba Fatima and many more," he noted.

Each year, at least 8 of his students win national and international championships in different categories. He said these girls were brought for coaching by their parents. "Every day after Fajr prayer, the father of Syeda Salma used to see the training of boxing and he sought admission for his daughter and would drop and pick her up daily. Most of the girls who were trained are now married and settled but once in a while they come for workouts and encourage other girls."

Earlier, there were two shifts but now due to pandemic he is at present running only morning shift, albeit with all precautionary measures.