DG Boxing Coach

23/05/2025

Jessica will be the opening artist at this year’s Leigh Folk Festival. She’ll be on stage from 11.20am.

 

28/04/2025

The Healing Power of Boxing

From the moment I started boxing, I knew it would become a significant healer in my life. It gave me back my sense of identify which had long been repressed. Suddenly I was doing something just for me. I was able to push my body to limits I never thought possible and in doing so I also built a tower of mental strength around me. Boxing was my solace and my comfort when the rest of the world felt like it was spinning off its axis.
I never made the connection between boxing and grief though until I began training a client who had experienced the very worst kind of loss. While the sport helped me to navigate a painful divorce, and kept me grounded during the darkest of days, it never occurred to me that it could also be used as a tool to support those who had suffered something as overwhelming and all-consuming as the death of a loved one.
Swiss-American Psychiatrist, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross first identified the five stages of grief in her 1969 book ‘On Death and Dying’. One of the stages she centred on was Anger. She wrote, “Anger is a necessary stage of the healing process. Be willing to feel your anger, even though it may seem endless. The more you truly feel it, the more it will begin to dissipate and the more you will heal.”
If this is so, then it follows that a better way to approach healing is to channel rather than suppress intense emotion. While all forms of physical exercise are proven to create a sense of well-being there seems to be something about boxing that stands out. Yes, going for a run or taking a Zumba class will give you a hit of endorphins (natures natural painkiller) and a shot of serotonin to improve your mood but boxing also seems to tap into the more primal parts of the human psyche – the parts that signal us to either stay and fight, or to run for the hills. Standing toe to toe with your demons and punching the hell out of them is perhaps the modern-day equivalent of our ancestors fending off the jaws of an attacking predator..
While nothing can ever fully quell the pain of bereavement, expelling your emotions via your fists can be cathartic. I have witnessed first-hand the power of boxing as a tool for channelling grief. Long-time client, Myriam Lamerton experienced unimaginable loss when she lost her newborn twin son and her husband in just a short space of time.
“I was drowning in grief. The pain was unbearable, and I struggled to find a reason to go on.�Finding my boxing coach was a life-changing moment. More than an outlet, boxing reignited my spark, gave me strength, and helped me survive.”�Grief will never disappear, but I’ll always have boxing to help me cope.�Boxing is more than a sport—it’s a way to face pain, process grief, and find strength in the struggle. Every punch is a release, every session a reminder that I can keep going. It has given me confidence, resilience, and a space to channel emotions that words can’t express.�Grief never truly fades, but boxing helps me carry it.“

Check out the below organisations which aim to support the bereaved through boxing.
https://www.thelossproject.com/
https://glovesforgrief.org/

Empower your journey through grief with Gloves For Grief's boxing community. Experience support, healing, and strength in every punch.

28/04/2025

It’s amazing how one picture can say so much about a person. The mother and the fighter harmoniously intertwined ❤️

03/05/2024

When someone tells you that you can’t do something, just smile, say, “thank you” and do it anyway!

19/04/2024

13/02/2024

Weight training has grabbed the headlines more than ever in recent years. Influencers everywhere are telling you to drop the cardio out and lift heavy instead. And whilst I absolutely agree that strength training should feature in your routine, I would also like to give a shout out to the lesser lauded cardio.

I can say from personal experience that I’ve never been so fit, so strong, or so ripped as when I was in training for a fight. Fat loss was never my goal during these periods - lifting the belt was - and yet fat loss was a natural and welcome bonus.

Don’t get me wrong, fight camp is tough. It is intensive and gruelling by its very nature but the payoff is great - cardiovascular fitness can win or lose you the bout, hence the saying, ‘train hard, fight easy’. While strength and conditioning is a part of the process, it’s the lung-busting sprints, the intense bag work, and the long sparring sessions that whipped me into such good shape.

I’m not suggesting that you rush out and sign yourself up for a fight, or even put yourself through an equally intense training regime. I’m merely highlighting how strong this type of training made me, and why you shouldn’t dismiss the power of cardio, especially where boxing is involved.

27/01/2024

Ironing: A Waste of Life

The average person spends around one-hour per week ironing. That’s four-hours a month, 48-hours a year, 2,400 hours of your lifetime that you’ll never get back - bonkers!

I have developed a special system that will help you to increase your domestic efficiency and allow you to spend more time on things that actually bring you joy. I like to call the system ‘Bin the Iron’. It involves a complex process of removing your iron from the cupboard and placing it carefully in the bin. Once the iron is stowed carefully inside the refuse vessel, go ahead and don your favourite apparel, leave the house and go do something lovely instead.

You’re welcome!

07/11/2023

💗 Mumming 101 💗

I’ve been boxing for ten years. I’ve got a belt. I’ve got medals. And yet my teenage children still think I’m lame. Last night for instance I said to one of them, “Bruh, are you going to tidy your bedroom?” She side-eyed me with a look of simultaneous horror and pity. “Mum, you’re so cringe!”
“Yes Fam!” I said, “and if you don’t tidy your room, I will shout ‘I LOVE YOU, BRUV!” at the top of my lungs when I drop you off at the school gates tomorrow!

Her room is now tidy 😌

02/11/2023

One word for this man: Legend!

Kirk is by far the fittest, strongest 70-year old I have ever come across. Despite having sparred for years he had never competed, until Saturday night when he participated in his first skills bout with a much younger opponent. Being an ambidextrous fighter made Kirk a very awkward target and his stamina and strength made for a superb fight.

Kirk also entertained the crowd with his walkout - shuffling down the runway on a zimmerframe before tossing it into the crowd and strutting his stuff! Well done Kirk, I couldn’t be prouder. 👏

01/11/2023

Ultra proud of this lady. Through thick and thin she has stuck to her training and given her heart and soul to the sport. At aged 51 she has achieved her first win and fought with the heart of a lion to get there. Well done Keeley 👏

29/10/2023

This weekend I had the opportunity to corner a number of fighters at a fantastic show run by

(pictured) won her bout but the event reminded me that facing up to the possibility of defeat takes immense guts. Losing in front of your peers, your family, your mentors is soul destroying. Suffering a defeat in the ring exposes the rawest, most vulnerable part of yourself, and it’s a visceral disappointment that lingers long after the roaring crowds have left the building. But with defeat comes growth. There is an opportunity to appreciate and respect our own infallibility.

A persons self-worth should never be tied to the outcome of a bout, and whether it’s a win, a lose, or a draw, the utmost respect is owed to anybody who steps into the ring.

21/10/2023

Hello. My name is Deborah, and I’m a southpaw.

Growing up left-handed was filled with challenges. I still bear the smudge marks on my left hand from the inky fountain pens smeared across the pages of my school books. I’m certain I would’ve gotten straights A’s in my GCSE’s had the examiners been able to read my handwriting.

Even dining out has proven stressful over the years. Have you ever sat next to a left-handed person in a Chinese restaurant? It’s a constant battle for chopstick domination.

Being a leftie in a right-handed world is tough. We are a minority; doomed to navigate this topsy turvy world as inconvenient outcasts.

But there is one thing in which us southpaws do have the upper hand (no pun intended) - boxing. Being a minority in this sport is an advantage. We are able gain an abundance of experience sparring orthodox fighters while they, on the other-hand are less likely to have encountered the same number of southpaw opponents.

When asked what it’s like to fight a southpaw, my former sparring partner answered simply, “irritating and awkward”! And that’s just the way we like it.

Part of our power lies our right foot. It gives us the ability to keep our orthodox opposition from gaining dominance in the ring and also operates as a fabulous trip hazard!

Despite this, living as a southpaw can be a lonely place. I see the nervous glances - the eyes darting around the gym as they desperately try to avoid my gaze when it’s time to pair up for a pad session. Nobody wants to hold mitts for a leftie.

However, I’ve learnt that being different is a blessing. The trick for anyone who goes against the norm is to take those perceived weaknesses and make them your biggest strengths.