Well, this Peaceful Warrior gang is here, too. I was a part of something, and it wasnвЂ™t something bad. A lot of the people here, I knew them, from school, but I didnвЂ™t know them as, like, a person. вЂњIвЂ™ve liked boxing since I was little, and I like the people that IвЂ™ve met. вЂњThatвЂ™s when I knew this is going to be hard work. вЂњI did good, but it felt like I got beat up,вЂќ Cole said with a sheepish laugh. Most of them find out how different boxing is from street fighting quickly enough, the first time they spar. ItвЂ™s a good feeling, though.вЂќДЄnd even though itвЂ™s still fighting, itвЂ™s a whole new universe for kids like Molnar, who used to frequently get in trouble for вЂњthe same thing youвЂ™ve always heard about SchenВectady. If youвЂ™re getting whupped, youвЂ™re by yourself.

YouвЂ™re going against somebody youвЂ™ve never seen in your life before, and itвЂ™s no street, where you have your friends to just jump in. вЂњIвЂ™ve been here training for it for awhile. вЂњIвЂ™m anxious for it,вЂќ said Molnar, a middleweight. Winners will qualify for the regionals in Lake Placid next month. Some of the Peaceful Warriors will get their first taste of a real bout tonight, when Kittle will host a JunВior Olympics card between the Adirondack and Niagara assocВiations at Crosstown Plaza at 6. TheyвЂ™ve talked to Union College about getting some college students to tutor the boxers. The Peaceful Warriors have about 10-15 regular boxers, which is about all the program, which meets at the gym three times a week, can support.

You canвЂ™t come here if youвЂ™re having behavior problems.вЂќ вЂњBelieve me, weвЂ™re not going to let the program go down, itвЂ™s way too productive, attendance, behavior, grades, right down the line. The funding didnвЂ™t, and Jeff and I both liked the program so much, so we said, вЂDonвЂ™t worry, weвЂ™ll find a way to fund it.вЂ™вЂ‰вЂќ Kittle said. They hope to present evidence to the school district, perhaps next school year, that the program works, so they can get funding or some form of sponsorship.ДЇor now, they do what they can through pancake breakfasts, help from community groups like the Rotary Club and the shepherding influence of Kittle and Jeff Christiana, a real estate broker and boxing enthusiast who owns the gym. Medina and Wylie, an Empire State Games boxer who has been coached by Kittle, are recording data on attendance on a weekly basis, and grades and incidents of bad behavior monthly. вЂњBefore, in English, I had two FвЂ™s, and I went to a B-plus,вЂќ said Rahmar Cole, an 18-year-old senior at Schenectady High. So for reasons X, Y and Z, others dropped from the program, and they go back to their not coming to school, failing grades, etc.вЂќ Came to school every day, no behavioral incidents. вЂњWeвЂ™ve seen kids that started, that were significant, significant behavioral issues and academic failures, began with the program. вЂњWe have also seen negative correlation between non-participation in the program and a negative increase in the three areas. вЂњWhat we have seen is a direct correlation between active participation in the program and positive outcomes across all three areas,вЂќ he said. Medina said the boxers who have stuck with the program have shown dramatic improvement in the three areas that are at the heart of the Peaceful WarriorsвЂ™ mission statement: school attendance, academic achievement and anger management. Medina and Wylie see enough hard cases at the high school that most of their boxers are students there, kids with problems that Medina and Wylie want to turn around by getting them into the gym and the ring, where discipline, poise and respect for yourself and others are paramount.Д®ye-opening. Peaceful Warriors boxers must follow strict rules, though, that are consistent with standards coach Vince Kittle has set for all the boxers that come through his Schenectady Youth Boxing gym on Albany Street. The fact that they both work at the high school is incidental everyone is welcome to the Peaceful Warriors, which is not affiliated with the school district. Molnar, a 16-year-old junior at Schenectady High School, measures all those things now, and much more, through the Peaceful Warriors program started last fall by Rafael Medina and Nate Wylie, a psychologist and social worker, respectively, at the high school.

You had to measure everything - your punches, your footwork, your defense, your wind. What a departure from his previous, extensive fighting experience, when the only thing he was afraid of was not to swing a punch. The first time Mike Molnar got in the boxing ring to spar, вЂњI was afraid to swing,вЂќ he said with a chuckle.

Peaceful warrior gym