Annual Manual
by Erin G. Edwards
Industrial parks can make strange bedfellows. I find myself passing signs for both Death Row’s House of Horror and last month’s Iraqi Election polling venue before finally spying the sign I’m looking for: Boxing Resource Center. Meeting me is the gym’s founder, Christy Halbert, a Ph.D., former professional women’s heavyweight boxer, Williamson County native, published author and Olympic-style boxing coach. And although Halbert is as nice as she can be, I decline an offer to step into the ring with her just yet.
Open to men, women and children, the nonprofit Boxing Resource Center brings Halbert’s talents and dreams under one roof, where she hopes to give amateur boxers a center to hone their skills, non-boxers an opportunity for out-of-the-ordinary workouts, and kids a safe environment in which to explore the sport. Where her true passion lies, however, is in reviving and developing the women’s boxing movement, a movement that faces plenty of barriers but is not short on aspiring athletes.
Boxing was made official for women in the United States in 1993 by USA Boxing, the national governing body for Olympic-style boxing. It is a sport that lacks school participation, developmental infrastructure and still struggles to overcome tough sociological barriers and safety concerns. In addition, this year the International Olympic Committee denied women’s boxing entry into the 2008 Summer Olympics.
This blow, pardon the pun, to women’s amateur boxing was significant, Halbert admits. In opening her gym, She hopes to help grow participation in the sport (she estimates there are approximately 3,000 female boxers nationwide) and develop the talent pool. Already, Halbert’s if-you-build-it-they-will-come philosophy seems to be working, as three Olympic hopefuls have recently moved to Nashville to train under Halbert’s watchful eye. “Whether you are looking to get into the ring or just get a great workout, joining the gym is really becoming part of the Olympic dream,” Halbert says, “because the money from the memberships will help us to train Olympic hopefuls. That’s what makes this place unique. Where else can you train next to someone who might represent the U.S. in the Olympics someday?”
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After four years of looking for the right venue, Halbert still marvels at her luck at finding the 12,000-square-foot former book bindery. A Crayola-colored assortment of bags of various shapes and sizes—slip bags, double-end bags, heavy punching bags and speed bags—hang under bright lights. Richard, the resident boxing dummy, possibly named after someone’s ex, looks like a sitting duck near the expansive mirrored wall. This being an Olympic-style boxing gym, Richard sports head-gear for safety and doesn’t go bare-chested. The centerpiece of the room is a blue, elevated 16-foot ring (20- and 18-foot rings are on the way) flanked by a cardio-workout space, an area for soccer skills training and a research/study room equipped with several PCs. The gym, open since August, is remarkably clean and organized, with the predictable modesty of a nonprofit.
Halbert, 35, says she landed in her career through “bizarre circumstances.” Having finished her volleyball career at Western Kentucky University, she sought to fill the athletic and competitive void left in many college athletes after graduation. Halbert ended up writing her master’s thesis on boxing and eventually joined the professional ranks—a decision she sometimes regrets. “Pro boxing is all about getting the knockout and drawing blood. That’s not what Olympic-style boxing is about. Olympic-style, or amateur boxing, is much safer for participants. Success is merit-based rather than marketing-based, and I prefer the scoring system. It relies on a technical point system rather than which boxer can best impress the judges.”
Although Halbert claims that she never had that “killer instinct” for the pros, she went 5-0 during her professional career, when she boxed in the 180- to 190-lb weight class. One of only a handful of women to earn the highest level of boxing coaching certification, Halbert coached the U.S. in the first-ever Women’s World Championships held in 1997. Recently, she published The Ultimate Boxer, a book that goes beyond boxing basics to explore the strategy and scientific principles of the sport.
When asked why anyone would box for recreational purposes, Halbert cites a recent poll by ESPN.com that compared attributes like endurance, agility and nerve required among the world’s most difficult sports: boxing topped the list. “Sometimes people need mental stimulation to go along with their workout,” Halbert says. “If the toughest part of your current workout is taking off your sports bra, then you need to give boxing a try. I guarantee you’ll feel it the next day.”
At the gym I also meet Andy Long, a 35-year-old policeman with martial arts experience whose main goals are to improve his fitness and shed some weight. While Long and I don’t talk sports bras, he says that boxing also gives him the opportunity to sharpen his self-defense skills, his agility and his hand-eye coordination. “The great thing about Christy,” Long says, “is that she explains what each drill is accomplishing. I also know that she takes safety seriously and that this place has credibility, given her background.” Long trusts his coach, who, as I observe them, wears him out in a series of two- to three-minute drills. “Come on now,” Halbert teases as Long throws an uppercut between huffs and puffs. “If boxing were easy, everybody would do it. Watch your distance…don’t smother those punches.” Co-ed sparring is often a necessity because of numbers, Halbert says. “In boxing gyms, race, gender, sexuality, all of that is put aside. A boxer is a boxer. Instead, what a coach thinks about is how experienced are they? Are they a novice or are they experienced?”
Carrie Barry, one of Halbert’s elite boxing protégés, ranks among USA Boxing’s most promising athletes. After competing in Taiwan with Halbert one winter, Barry says she immediately quit her job in Kansas and moved to Nashville just to train with her. Halbert is unique, Barry says, because she is very cerebral in her approach to boxing, which you don’t see very often. Lots of the coaches in boxing are just about hard hitting. With Christy, you study your opponents, you study film and you study all aspects of the sport.”
Barry agrees with Halbert that boxing breaks from the same boring routine. “Boxing takes your whole attention; it works your whole body. It’s interactive, and the gym is noisy, so it provides activity for all your senses. It’s also a great conversation-starter outside of the gym. I have people tell me, ‘I’ve never met a female boxer before.’ ”
All in all, Halbert has big dreams for the Boxing Resource Center, and some of her goals are already becoming reality. She has hosted one women’s tournament and plans to host many more bouts for men and women in the future. In addition, the center recently earned a grant from the U.S. Department of Education to launch a tutoring program for at-risk youth—appropriately titled “Hit the Books.” Much of the center’s success, however, will depend on support from financial sponsors and getting bodies through the door to train. To that end, the Boxing Resource Center will hold a grand opening celebration and silent auction on Jan. 21 from noon to 5 pm.
The Boxing Resource Center, located at 418-D Harding Industrial Dr., is open Monday through Saturday or by appointment. For hours and information, visit www.boxingresource.com or call 331-9779. To learn more about women’s amateur boxing or Nashville’s best and brightest female boxers, visit www.usaboxing.org.