Boxing hits Rankin Inlet

Rankin Inlet residents are putting on the gloves, moving their feet and throwing a jab as they try boxing for the first time in the community.

“It’s kind of panned out exactly how I had it in my mind,” said Abdallah Butt, who runs the program.

Butt moved to Rankin Inlet four months ago to work as a lawyer but started teaching boxing soon after.

The weekly sessions bring out eight to 12 people consistently, he said.

The program is offered from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Simon Alaittuq School gym.

Butt set up the program because of his own love for boxing and the benefits he sees the sport giving to those who participate.

“I think it builds a lot of resilience [and] discipline,” he said, because boxing is an individual sport that requires the boxer to be committed to getting better.

Despite the sport’s individual nature, having everyone practise in the gym together does build camaraderie, Butt said.

Butt’s boxing background started nearly a decade ago. He quit his competitive sport, archery, to go to law school. To fill the void archery once occupied, he took up boxing.

He said he likes that boxing being an old sport, there have been techniques and skills to learn that have been developed over centuries.

“It’s a really enjoyable sport for me,” Butt said.

To organize a program in Rankin Inlet, Butt had to write a proposal and lesson plans for the hamlet. It’s set up to be no-contact, which means no sparring or fighting with another person.

Instead people hit pads and focus on technique. If the program is successful and people are able to build up enough of the basic skills, sparring might be possible in the future, Butt said.

Around 12 people show up consistently to Butt’s lessons but there is room for about 30 people to participate. Since the program runs from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., it is difficult for some people to show up, Butt said.

“Hopefully once that changes we can get more people to show up,” he said.

On top of good exercise, Butt said boxing can be healthy mentally as well.

Showing up consistently, challenging yourself and improving the sport can lead to having a better outlook mentally.

While it sounds cliché, being able punch away at padding can be a way for people to get out their frustrations, Butt added. He said he has seen it throughout his time in boxing, where someone will join the sport with frustration to vent.

“And then what happens is they end up just falling in love with the sport,” Butt said.

“It turns into something constructive and positive.”

Hamlet recreation co-ordinator A.J. Curley also expressed excitement about having a boxing program in Rankin Inlet.

“We both thought it would be good to have something that has never really been here,” Curley said.