Bengal Bouts participants persevere valiantly
Bob Kennedy
senior
In the far corner of the Notre Dame Boxing Room, in the basement of the Joyce Center, there's a poem by Teddy Roosevelt handwritten by someone onto a large poster board. The poem is called "The Man in the Arena." It's a poem any fairly athletic student has probably heard countless times in his life, whether from a hockey coach in high school or a social dance instructor freshman year. Its point is fairly simple, as Roosevelt wasn't Wallace Stevens, and can be summarized in three lines. "The credit belongs to / the man in the arena / who strives valiantly." It's not really a highlight in any American poetry anthology or anything, but it's a good read, especially for any of 100 or more Bengal Bouters every year. In fact, written above the poem on the beat-up poster board is a personal message from one of the boxing coaches to the boxers: "This is each of you."
The men of Notre Dame who box for two months every spring semester epitomize Roosevelt's idealized man in the arena. To participate in the Bengal Bouts program is, first and foremost, not a pleasurable physical experience. It is a commitment to a challenging five-week training regimen to prepare for, at best, about 20 minutes in the ring. A typical day lasts anywhere from two to three hours and involves distance running to gain stamina, push-ups, sit-ups, jumping-jacks and more to build strength and endurance and an almost endless repetition of shadow boxing, work on the heavy bag and sparring to perfect the technical aspects of the science that is boxing.
The program is not a particularly pleasant mental experience either. Some boxers will tell you how disappointing it is to lose precious afternoon napping time. Others will tell of the sacrifice of time and effort that would normally be devoted to their studies or to service. Finally, and most intriguingly, most will tell you about the critical comments and vicious glares they receive from roommates, classmates and teachers because of their participation in such a "violent" sport that should be reserved for Neanderthals.
But not one of the boxers would trade his experience for any other at Notre Dame. That is a fact affirmed by the gentlemen who participate in the Bengal Bouts year after year, even after getting pounded on like Danny LaRusso in a Kobra Kai Dojo. In my four years of boxing at Notre Dame, through the example of coaches and fellow boxers alike, I've discovered the meaning of words such as passion, dedication, intensity, competition and sportsmanship. Boxing is certainly an individual sport; there are, as the saying goes, "no timeouts and no excuses."
In the face of pain and suffering, this sport, more than any other, forces the athlete to ask himself constantly, "Are you going to give up or are you going to persevere?" Indeed, the boxer cannot look to anyone but himself. Yet the team element of Notre Dame Boxing makes this question easy to answer. All of the boxers train together and daily prepare for fights alongside their eventual opponents. In this way, for the boxers, the question, "Will I persevere?" answers itself. The Notre Dame boxer need only look to his teammates to know the answer.
The boxing, however, is just the physical manifestation of what Bengal Bouts truly is. It is a charitable venture designed to help people in need. The annual tournament raises incredible amounts of money and the Boxing Club sends every cent to the Holy Cross Missions in Bangladesh. Last year, the Club raised more than $75,000 and this year the goal is $100,000. In Bangladesh, the value of such figures increases tenfold. The profoundly positive effect of the Notre Dame boxing program will never be fully felt by any of us in South Bend, but those who have been to Bangladesh, such as Coach Tom Suddes, have seen the impact firsthand and seem overwhelmed by what the money produces.
On a personal note, I will not be fighting in this year's Bengal Bouts, so any of you who were lining up for tickets to see me get my face bashed will just have to hold on to that dream. I was injured in a sparring session a couple of weeks ago and am unable to fight. I regret that I will not have the opportunity to be "the man in the arena" one more time, but I write this as a tribute to the boxers who will. You truly spend yourself "in a worthy cause," as Roosevelt says. Please buy tickets to the fights or just donate a few dollars even if you don't want to go. Your donation, like the Bengal Bouts, may not seem significant, but it is.
Bob Kennedy
senior
off-campus
February 17, 2002
All Viewpoint Stories for Wednesday, February 20, 2002
