Using boxing to fight against violence is the innovative idea brought by Jean-Marc Ismaël through his project “Noble Art and Citizenship”.
A former top boxer, he is now fighting crime in Saint-Martin. His story begins in Guadeloupe, his native island, where as a child he discovered wrestling while playing with his uncles on the beach. Very early on, he developed a passion for Qwan Ki Do, a Sino-Vietnamese martial art, and became French champion in the early 90s.
Assault Educational Boxing, a revelation
At 17, he turned to English boxing, but it was in the educational boxing assault (BEA) that he found his true calling: “This discipline is the basis of all combat sports. The goal is to keep control over the power of your blows, you are not looking for a KO. You have to be technical and tactical. Aggression is punished, you can only win by scoring points.”
Admitted in sports studies In Toulouse, he then divided his career between competition and coaching during twenty years in metropolitan France. It remains to this day the first and the last Frenchman to have received the Golden Gloves in University Assault Boxing (2003-2004)Now based in Saint-Martin, he wants to make this sport a weapon against violence and an educational tool.
Fighting violence differently
Born without knowing the identity of his father, he grew up in a family marked by secrets: “Despite my requests, my family always hid from me who my biological father was. It was very frustrating to grow up in lies. I know that in the Antilles, many families suffer from silence and lack of consideration towards children”.
Through “Noble Art and Citizenship”, he wishes training young people to educational assault boxing and allow them to become fighters, referees or judges, while teaching them essential values such as respect, self-control and self-esteem. With ten years of experience as a socio-educational facilitator, he observed the benefits of this sport on the young people he supported: “The BEA requirements encourage young people to understand that there are limits that must not be crossed. They thus integrate civic values more easily and naturally integrate into society.”
For Jean-Marc Ismaël, the priorities are attention and intention : “Knowing what I do and why I do it is essential. It is the foundation of my project. Because I see a lot of rebels without a cause who do not even know why they are violent.”
Source: Faxinfo https://faxinfo.fr/en/portrait-jean-marc-ismael-lart-de-transformer-la-rage-en-discipline/
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