City professionals let off steam at Birmingham's Fight Club
"You become a more confident person and can handle yourself better when dealing with people in work. It requires a lot of discipline and commitment and that also makes you more dynamic in your approach to every day life.”
While those who have made the decision to step into the ring have enjoyed knock on benefits at work, they admit they did harbour concerns over how colleagues would react to the news they had taken up boxing. Such fears were, it appears, ill-founded.
Mr Eason, aged 30, added: “I must admit I kept it quiet at first, but then I told a few people and I was genuinely surprised and overwhelmed by the amount of support I had from them. I remember going to an office party and lots of people came up to me to say how impressed they were by what I was doing and the amount of training I was putting in.
There was not one single comment saying ‘are you sure you should be doing that?’”
That sentiment is echoed by Adam Hopcroft, aged 25, a recruitment consultant for Michael Page Recruitment.
He added: “The qualities you are taught in boxing match closely with those required in recruitment consultancy. Both are very competitive environments. You need to be determined, driven and disciplined. My boss and everyone I work with have been nothing but positive about me and other colleagues getting involved in the sport.”
Although those taking part in white collar boxing believe it has made them more active and alert in the workplace, the stance of the British Medical Association (The BMA) has not budged in the last decade. The organisation continues to lobby for a complete ban on the sport in the UK. It claims the long-term risk of brain injury are just too great.
However, former Moseley Rugby Club player Mr Eason, says the benefits far outweigh the risks.
“The injuries I’ve sustained from rugby I could never sustain from boxing,” he said. “Boxing is you against one guy using only his two fists. In rugby you have impacts on every part of the body.”
Mr Hopcroft added: “Statistically you get far more injuries in other sports than you do in boxing. We take every precaution to make sure the sport is regulated properly and safety is our number one priority. We make sure we only match members up for a fight against people of a similar body weight and standard. If there is any doubt about health or ability I will not put them in the ring. It’s as simple as that.”
Fighting Fit gym has build a strong reputation and is used by both Kerrang! DJ Kate Lawler and celebrity chef Glynn Purnell.
Mr Purnell, who grew up in Chelmsley Wood, said he found the sport gave him added discipline in work and was never concerned that a broken nose or bruised cheekbone may affect his TV career.
“I am surrounded by food all day and training properly for fights has meant I’ve had to be very disciplined in the kitchen,” he said.
‘‘It’s my job to know about food, but I have also learned about diet and nutrition. As far as working on TV is concerned, I think if you do get bashed up a bit, you just look a bit more interesting. So I wasn’t worried about that. If I turned up on Saturday Kitchen with a black eye, it would just give us something to talk about!”
Despite the success of Fighting Fit, Mr Perkins says he is concerned that there is no formal regulatory body for white-collar boxing.
He said: “Someone with no boxing experience or someone who is just after a quick buck can open up a business, call it a white collar boxing gym and put people’s safety at risk.
“All you need is insurance, which again anyone can get. I do hope that the issue is addressed soon.”
But despite his concerns, Mr Perkins is hoping to open a second white-collar boxing gym in Solihull by the end of the year and there seems to be no stopping Birmingham’s ever-growing army of 5pm fighting fanatics.
