Peter Pan and the Lost Boys

Whilst working with a boxing club in Hull I have been documenting my observations with film, photography, text and sound. This chapter, although experimental in output and a work in progress, is where I present my findings so far. My aim is to further develop my relationship with the boxing club and those who attend there. Below I have included documentary films and texts of my first two visits to the boxing club. More to follow…

The Street - 1 minute 15 seconds

The street is long cold and dark, dim yellow street lighting punctuates moments here and there, some lights are out. A tall man in a black tracksuit and baseball cap passes me and Mike on the left, he seems to be in a hurry. As we approach the junction on the left the first man runs towards another man who is similarly dressed, this second man is holding a third man by the neck, the third man is screaming and in distress. The first man pulls the third man to the ground, the third man is now shouting “just take it just take it!” The similarly dressed men start to kick the third man in the head as he attempts to conceal his head with his arms on the ground. Mike and I have stopped walking by now, my heart is beating fast, I look to Mike who says “wait”. I hear the third man whimper and scream, the two men similarly dressed say nothing, cold and empty, silent, animal like and physically aggressive. I look back at Mike who again says “wait”. The third man gets up in between the flailing arms and legs and runs across the park and over a small fence. The two men spot they have an audience and run the other way. The third man gives out an uncontrollable scream of relief as he runs off into the distance out of view. The two men are gone. I look at Mike who says “let's go”.

We Enter The Gym - running time 5 minutes

We enter the gym. I stand still and silent. I am stunned by the palpable and overwhelming sense of calm, silence, organisation and purpose. Music is playing. Stood face-to-face are 15 pairs of men, 30 in total. A sparring night. All men locked in focused habituated one-on-one physical conflict. A body movement performance. An arranged experience for all. Consensual and egalitarian somehow. All men are different shapes, sizes and abilities. A dance of violence. A form of silent communication. There is no speaking at all. Body and facial expressions are exchanged. Hits, kicks, grabs and blows. Each participant is clearly reading the responses they are receiving. Aggressive and tentative. Active and passive. Each participant is attempting to control and assert dominance over the other. Each participant is attempting to defend themselves. Each participant is scared and this fear is feeding their focus to survive the fight and so on. Each participant is calm, full of adrenaline and functioning within the frequency of this beautiful brutality. The practice of physical and mental skill. A loud knock sounds. A bell rings. All men stop, touch gloves, some cuddle and laugh. All change partners. A bell sounds and a recorded voice says “round 6”, and then the dance starts again.

Controlled Violence with Mike & Mel - running time 6 minutes 10 seconds

What makes men angry or violent? The expectation of who they are supposed to be, who they are trying to live up to, who’s around them, what environment they've grown up in. The situation they are in. “Are you happy in your relationship” “No lets act out”. “Im stressed because I've got loads of kids”. Life in general makes people violent. Or actual illness. General frustration. If its in you naturally then your gonna be a randomly violent person who is perceived as on the edge at any point who could just snap. It all comes down to situation. Violence comes from mental illness. A massive part of it comes from a lack of confidence. Short tempered reactions. Because they are scared. People only act out because they are scared, I know this. Scared of whatever they are scared of and they don't know how to act on it so thats the outcome. What role the men play in a community? The worker Bee, keeping everyone afloat while Mam is at home. Playing the traditional role. Its changed a lot now, they are becoming aspiring leaders, the catalyst for getting troubled youths off the streets. Coaches. Like me personally I work as a success coach. My personal experience in the community is helping the youth, weather it be male or female, on deciding what they want to become through through different training, through controlled violence. Teaching controlled violence. When you show youths the effect of violence and how easy it is to be the perpetrator of violence the guilt that comes after that, you realise that to put that on anyone becomes and massive detriment to your own character and you would end up feeling very guilty about it. My role is to teach young males and females how to control their thoughts and feelings, and there own anger, and manage it through showing them exactly where they would end up if they didn't manage it. By teaching them how to do it correctly, they would therefore never use it in real life scenarios, apart from in a competition element. The realisation that they get when they understand what it is to be hurt and that it is to hurt somebody, is the biggest element of what turns it around in their head. And I can say that because it happened to me as well. I never wanted to go out and be violent with anyone but as soon as I started training violence and fighting as a profession and even as an amateur I quickly realised how horrible it is to have that set upon you when you don't want it. Because any person who has ever been in a fight in their life, remembers every fight they have been in because they’re harrowing scenarios. The image that you get left with and the feeling you get left with if you are attacked or started on in the street no matter what age you are. I can remember every fight or every conflict I've ever had with somebody based on the amount of adrenaline and fear that runs through you in that moment. By learning to control the fight and flight element, you then realise what kind of detriment it can be to put that on somebody else.