Robert Ecksell
www.wbanews.com
Boxing is for men, and is about men, and is men. A lost art of masculinity all the more trenchant for being lost." –Joyce Carol Oates (on boxing)
There are many father-son acts in boxing. From the beginning of time, fathers, surrogate fathers, and concerned male citizens introduced their sons and male charges to the manly art. Sometimes it was futile. Other times, the times we remember best, it led to fame and riches.
Most father-son acts take place in the gym. The timeless oral tradition of the classical arts is how the knowledge is passed from one generation to another. It is how fighters learn to box. The father/trainer reveals the ins and outs, the ups and downs, the essentials of a sport that is "serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude" –Aristotle's definition of tragedy.
A sport which celebrates male culture naturally draws men to its ranks. Few women have more than a passing interest. If one looks hard enough, there's a female promoter here, a female referee there, a woman manager, a female ringside physician, an occasional female corner-person.
There is a place for women in boxing, however peripheral. But even women's boxing, which is sometimes superb, has failed to catch on with the public at large, flying as it does in the face of convention, social norms, propriety and expectations.One father-daughter team has made it work.
Dr Calvin Inalsingh, from T&T, is a medical doctor and sports medicine practitioner. He is chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee and part of the WBA directorate. His daughter, Shivana Inalsingh is a clinical integrative reflexologist and lifestyle medicine and wellness coach. She, too, is on the Medical Advisory Committee and was recently appointed director of the WBA Female Championships Committee.
Their concerns are identical. Their focus is on the fighter and protecting his or her physical and mental health.
Dr Inalsingh explains that the focus of the WBA Medical Committee is on addressing health issues that arise in the sport. "We try to protect the boxer as much as possible. Outside the ring, we want boxers to be educated, to know what to do, how to get fit, and how to recover from injuries and when they're in the ring, we want to educate the referee, the trainers, and the ringside physicians what to look out for. That's the essential thing, because it can result in a power knockout which can be avoided.
"Sometimes a boxer could have a minor internal head injury during a fight, but can escalate after a fight. If their parents or their friends know what to look out for, (for example the boxer complains of headaches at home or starts to vomit or cold sweat) a parent, a friend or a relative can take the boxer to the hospital. A little bit of help is better than no help at all."
The knockout in boxing is the ultimate. It's the grand slam in baseball, sudden death overtime, a hole in one in golf. But boxing is boxing. Boxing is different. It is fundamental. It is complex. Boxing can be dangerous.
Dr Inalsingh knows boxing's dangers. He is a professional in a profession which questions boxing's relevance. When a fatality occurs, groups like the AMA (American Medical Association) call for a ban on boxing. In a perfect world, they might get their wish. But in the real world, in our world, it's not happening.
Banning boxing is like banning air or water. It's like banning music or the sun. Boxing preceded us. Boxing will be here when we're gone. It's not going anywhere and it's important that we create the change that can support the development of the sport and athlete. Dr Inalsingh does not want boxing banned, but he empathizes with its detractors.
"Boxing is a violent sport," he told WBAnews.com. "The aim of boxing is the knockout. But other sports it's not the aim to knock out. So now we have to know who is going to be involved." Boxing is complex, from both a physical and psychological standpoint. It's where people can channel their aggression in a socially acceptable way and the training cultivates discipline.
"It brings people out to better for themselves and that's very good," said Dr Inalsingh, "because you're directing the energy of people who don't know where to go. You catch them as a youth and you train them. Everybody doesn't like to fight, and there are problems in society, but I think boxing brings out the talent and helps society in general."
He recalls an observation he made a few decades ago. "I spoke with a patient in Trinidad who had a reputation for being a "Bad John" when he was young. That is the local word for a bad man or gangster. The "Bad John" said that when he was a young boy, he would fight anyone in the street if he did not like them. He also told me that if he saw someone who wore a good pair of shoes, he will beat him and take it. If they had ice cream he will take it and eat it. He thought that was the right thing to do at that age, but now, as an adult he does not think that way anymore."
Inalsingh said, "I realized the person before me had changed for the better." He continues, "And then later on I met Mike Tyson. He told me the same kind of story. Mike Tyson was saying he would beat somebody or anybody, just to take a shoe, and admitted to me, 'Doc, I don't know why I did that.'"
Inalsingh recognised a common link between two people from different countries. "I thought about it and realized that both "Bad John" and Mike Tyson grew up in the same type of environment." He says, "I feel I know why both of them behaved the way that they did, when they were young.
They were not nurtured as children and were not privileged to learn simple family environment values–how to behave, how to feel loved, how to share, how to be social. Because they lacked these simple nurturing and guidance, they did not know or understood the difference from good or bad, what they wanted they physically fought for it because that was how they "learned" control!"
Referring to the Freudian psychoanalytic theory of personality concept, Inalsingh goes on to explain. "You're born with the "ID", the basic animal instinct to survive. Then, you develop the "EGO", this is the stage of self personality–"I want that," "I want to live." Then, eventually you are trained, and you then develop a "SUPEREGO" and this superego tells you, "This is correct," "This is not correct."
So your life changes as you develop each stage of learning. In drawing reference to this Freudian Theory, I felt that these two people, who spoke to me about their youth, were at the basic stage of "EGO" too long. They didn't have parents. When Tyson got a mentor he changed. I know he changed. Boxing helped to transform Tyson, and sports can help transform a segment of society, who does not have the right support. This is important to know and should be dealt with in the society to avoid underprivileged citizens from becoming unsociable.
Dr Inalsingh also draws a clear distinction between the boxing professional and the medical professional and of the importance of specialized training as a ringside physician. "Sometimes you have a doctor who doesn't know the basic aspects of boxing medicine and his presence at ringside is just because he's a medical doctor. The Association of Ringside Physicians, of which he is a director, is trying to have all ringside doctors certified, and in conjunction with the American College of Sports Medicine, an online examination is offered."
Dr Inalsingh's daughter, Shivana Inalsingh is no less intelligent than her father. She comes from a dissimilar field, but they have similar concerns. In a man's world, Shivana Inalsingh more than holds her own.
"I'm here with my father," she said when we met in Panama. "I'm a member of the WBA directorate and I'm on the Medical Advisory Committee. We look at the practices that can improve this sport by bringing in different practitioners and different stakeholders who can identify areas in need of development and come up with solutions."
"We're looking at various things to integrate inside and outside the ring. We're looking at boxers and different situations. Some of it focused on the environment and others related to important aspects of weight management, what things need to be changed in the sport, what things we need to address, or at least pay attention to, because we have to be responsive to things that are happening in the sport."
I asked Shivana what she would say to those who want to ban boxing.
"In the last ten years there has been a lot of development and research that has gone into protecting the boxer," she said. "The shift has gone from the promoter towards the safety and health of the boxer, and we've made a great step by looking at not only what's happening in the ring, but paying attention to what's happening outside the ring. We're looking at protecting the boxer and looking at longevity and health. What is the quality of life they're going to enjoy after they retire?"
I asked about her method, Shivana said, "The past president Mendoza really recognized that need of shifting the perspective of this sport and focus of this sport to place more attention on the boxer, who, if they weren't here, we wouldn't be here. I think it's important and I'm glad I've been given the opportunity to be one of the first people involved in that holistic background who's been part of the World Boxing Association. It's an important step because we need to educate not only the coaches and discuss things among the executive members, but also educate the boxers how they can protect themselves when they enter the ring."
Boxing is a hurt business. "That's a fact of the sport but we're making important strides," said Shivana. "Compared with MMA and other contact sports, boxing is the ballet of combat sports. You really do need a high level of fitness, and it's that level of fitness that's going to get you to the next level.
"So I think it's important that we're able to address these needs and recognize that there are other sports that are just as dangerous, maybe more so, but we have to do our best to insure that we protect the health and safety of the boxer.
"A lot of people look at boxers and boxing as a sport where people move up through economic ranking. And yes it's an opportunity for upward mobility and at the same time it's important to empower boxers to not only do the right thing for the sport, but do the right thing for them."
Recently appointed as director of the WBA Female Championships Committee, Inalsingh said, "It is my intention that the sport be recognized for the empowerment and real opportunity for equality that it also brings to women."
I mention that boxing, like life, is full of contradictions.
"It is true," she said, "but maybe with a shift in consciousness, boxing may change. You never know. We have more rules and regulations that have been implemented to deal with the changes compared with a hundred years ago when there was little in place. So we've had a big transformation in terms of this sport. I just think we need to focus more on uplifting the athletes and allowing them to recognize that not only are we looking at what's happening inside the ring, we have to pay attention to what's happening outside of the ring. That's why it's important that ringside physicians are certified, so they can observe signs of distress. It's important for referees to know signs of a concussion. An early stoppage could save a life. We need to have more ringside officials operating at a higher level."