A bridge to the other side
Bjarne has had a troubled life and spending time behind bars was the tipping point. Boxing gave him a way out and a chance at a different life.
One main boxing ring sits in the hall, on the wall next to the timer are two framed jerseys of fighters who have trained here. Old fight night banners stare down at you. The quiet and calm soon changes in no time as people begin to fill the hall, Loud music that makes you want to move your feet comes through the speakers, footsteps follow as warm-ups begin, a few laps in the hall as the trainers yells out instructions to the boxers “faster faster” this is Hornslet Bokseklub (Hornslet Boxing club). This boxing club is a second home for Bjarne Newby, a 26 years old amateur boxer in the 75kg middleweight division. He has travelled a long way to get here both literally and in every other way possible.
Being Young
It was in 2012, at the age of 16 while Bjarne still lived in Hornslet, the place where he grew up with his mother and sister. His childhood friend introduced him to the Hornslet Boxing Club. Bjarne recalls his first time at the club “I came with the mindset to fight, I quickly realized that boxing wasn’t fighting. I thought I was tough but I got beaten up by a much younger guy. This encounter was both humbling and an eye opener for me.” At the club the head trainer Arne Lund made room for everybody, their background didn’t matter. “When others wouldn’t give me a chance Arne gave me more chances than I deserved” Bjarne said.
Boxing mentality
For Bjarne, boxing was a way to escape. But he soon discovered he loved the sport. He needed the structure and discipline that boxing provided, having a coach to instruct, guide and motivate him. Also, boxing provides a sense of belonging. Bjarne has made a lot of friends in the last 10 years. Boxing is a demanding sport, both physically and mentally, it requires a lot of discipline and focus. Bjarne is well aware of this “Boxing requires much of me but it has also given me so much more. I was never motivated about school; it was through boxing that I found out what I wanted from life. Boxing has been the bridge for everything, how I think of myself, what I want to be educated as, how I meet people. I am a different person.Boxing did that,”Bjarne said. In the last 10 years, he has many achievements he can be proud of as a boxer. With over 30 fights under his belt, Bjarne found a place on the Danish national boxing team and became a youth trainer at the Hornslet Boxing Club. He is in the process of getting educated as a pedagogue which is an educator caring for children and young people's well-being and development. “Over the years, my mother has come to accept my choice to be a boxer because of how much change she can see in me.”For someone else some of these achievements may seem basic, but for Bjarne he had to fight to get his life back on track.
Dreams
“It was clear from the start that he had talent for boxing. I tried my best to encourage and help him,” Arne said. There was a time when Bjarne broke his arm but would still show up for every training session just to watch us train. I like how committed and hardworking he is, he never relied on his talent alone. Bjarne is a success story for me, for the club and everyone around knows it.”
Training kids
“I like the way Arne subtly plants little ideas and suggestions about things he thinks I should do without him compelling me like a father would. I would usually reflect on these ideas and suggestions; he has helped me over the years. I never thought I could train children, my coach Arne told me I would be great at it. I decided to give it a try, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I have been doing this for 2years and I have two certifications as a youth trainer. I want to pass on to the young people some of what boxing has given me too, whether they choose to become boxers in the future or not. Bjarne trains young people from age 6-18years. Bjarne has been able to move forward in his life because of the thinking he got from the boxing club. The combination of the boxing training and also the lessons of his trainer Arne. “I also want the kids to use what they learn from boxing in their life, the discipline, the focus, the hard work. I teach something in boxing that they can use in their life. I don’t care much if they remember me, I want them to remember the lessons they learned and maybe associate it with the boxing club. Someday when they are doing an assignment and they are tired and don’t want to do it, they remember what they learned from boxing and they do their assignment and maybe they become successful in life with the type of thinking they got from training.”
