Assistant coach at Indian senior women boxing team Mahavir Singh talks to Eram Agha about his experience of training Mary Kom and winning the prestigious Dronacharya Award
Inside the boxing ring, women are as good as men in packing a punch, but the rules of training change when the object of attention is a team of women pugilists. Assistant coach at Indian senior women boxing team, Mahavir Singh, has been the guard and guide for Vikas Krishan Yadav, Shiva Thapa and woman champion Mary Kom. His experience tells him that what goes with one group wouldn’t necessarily suit the other. On the occasion of receiving the prestigious Dronacharya Award he opened up on the rigours and the rewards of his job, and what makes women training a more responsible project. In his opinion, a boxing coach is not qualified to train women if he is patience-deficit because every minute of surveillance and observation is important.
“They are more prone to physical injuries than men because of hormonal differences between the two genders; we as trainers have to take care of women’s safety. I just have to instruct and demonstrate a particular action for men, but with women we have to instruct, demonstrate and then make them practice under our observation. Every minute of attention counts,” he says, and adds, “We start with heavy training with men, but with women we start with light training and go step by step.”
When asked about the region that produces maximum potential women pugilists. He says right now the women boxing scene is dominated by women from North East of India and Haryana. “Hisar is the breeding ground of women boxers and a lot of women from the North East of India come and stay there to pursue their pugilistic dreams. What I like about women boxers from NE is they are obedient. They take rules and instructions like sanctimonious dictates. I find them to be naturally blessed with stamina and strong bones,” he says adding, “Mary Kom is blessed — the kind of mind and body synchronisation she has is hard to find in any other player. Even after rigorous training we don’t know how many will actually have the kind of stamina she has. She is tenacious and strong-willed about achieving her goals.”
What he hopes for women punch queens is, “weight category should be increased, it will be a great move for women boxers across the world, especially India as we have some of the best women boxers,” he signs off.
let’s weight and watch!