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FEATURE ARTICLE
Boxing Edition: Ding Ding!! Alexis Pritchard An insight into the mind of a fighter, how we as physiotherapists can help influence a more optimistic recovery mindset and a few cents on career progression from Olympic and Commonwealth boxer Alexis Pritchard. Growing up, little me dreamt of being a doctor, I had my sights set on being a paediatrician and if mum and I hadn’t immigrated to New Zealand in 2000, it is highly probable that is what I would now be. As much as moving to a new country felt like an adventure to the then sixteen-year-old me, I didn’t realise how tough the transition would be. Being a conscientious and diligent secondary school student became less of a priority and a gap year after high school felt far more exciting than the prospect of more study. I had plans of working over the summer, saving enough and doing a quintessential O.E. like all other young New Zealanders did but I didn’t do that either. Instead, I found myself walking into a boxing gym in central Auckland and getting swept up into a whole new world, I was 19 years old at the time, working as a bartender and my self-confidence and self-esteem certainly needed work. I was searching for something but could not articulate exactly what but when I hit the boxing bag for the first time I found what I was looking for. I felt powerful, I felt strong, I felt capable, I felt the joy of movement and I was hooked. I had no intention of being an athlete let alone a boxer when I started but it just felt right so I kept going back to that boxing gym for the next 16 years. I proudly represented New Zealand at the 2012 Olympic Games and the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games. You don’t always end up where you think you will – and that is absolutely ok. If you have never stepped through the ropes and got yourself punched in the face, we have experienced boxing very differently. As a spectator, what you see is people punching each other. You see blood, black eyes, cuts, split lips and you may even see knock outs. This is the outer picture; what is inside is so much more. To me boxing is art. It is beautiful. It is brutal. It is violent. It is challenging. It is pure. It reveals your soul. It reveals what you are made of. Everything about you is tested over and over again. Your will, your heart, your courage. Your ability to rise. Boxing is not for everyone. You must face your darkness, your demons, your insecurities and your self-doubts. It makes you go to places you didn’t think you could go. If
you are not willing to figure that out and struggle through the pain of it, you will not last, you will not succeed. Boxing will chew you up and spit you out. You need to conquer your own fears, doubts and insecurities before you can ever overcome and beat an opponent. If you are not able to stop the negative voices inside your head you are beaten before you ever step into the ring. This is where the beauty lies for me. Cam, my boxing coach encouraged me to get going with higher education or at least find a more suitable job (than bartending) if I was going to take boxing seriously. I needed a better routine and fewer late nights. As a young athlete I ended up at the physio clinic a few times, these interactions sparked my interest in the idea that I could be a physiotherapist so after completing a Bachelor of Sports Science at Auckland University I went straight into physiotherapy. I found my groove at AUT and thrived in my studies. I had a great group of university physio friends, we shared knowledge and work, we tested each other, we supported each other, we knew we would all be CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE >>
