MIAMI.- Hialeah Mayor Esteban Bovo welcomed members of PlayBoxing, a boxing academy sponsored by the city whose method stimulates the personal development of children and has also produced its first champions, to his office.
“I had the pleasure of meeting Maury Ramos, the founder of the academy, several years ago. He showed me the program he was developing and I found it very healthy. PlayBoxing does not educate children to fight, it is simply a form of exercise that is useful for both children and adults,” said the councilor on Monday, July 15.
The new thing about the school is that, in addition to being the first boxing academy to work with the city, it implements a system where children learn boxing technique through numbers, mathematical signs and musical notes.
Ramos, the creator of the method, said that children are very familiar with the keyboards of mobile phones and computers where numbers and symbols appear. He uses this already-incorporated knowledge to teach different techniques. “What I do is use this symbology to improve the neuromotor system, helping them to process thoughts better, improve self-esteem, balance and concentration in learning.”
Ramos said he has created a comprehensive evaluation system that aims at self-improvement through learning not only the technique, but also the history of boxing, so that the child becomes “his own champion.” Ramos, who has a degree in Sports Science, believes that it is more important to develop the person than the professional, “because no one is a better professional than a person,” he said.
PlayBoxing Academy, founded eight years ago in Hialeah with the goal of developing non-contact boxing, at the request of students and parents, prepared and presented a team for the first time this year at the Sugar Bert international tournament, where the children obtained victories in all the categories in which they participated, putting the name of the City on high.
Damian Oquendo, 12, a two-division champion, recalled that when he started boxing he was an obese child; now he is very athletic. “I weighed 110 pounds and I was 9 years old. Two years later, I weigh 80 pounds despite having grown.” Meanwhile, Charlie Toya, 12, also won in two different divisions. He says that in December he will compete in a national competition where he hopes to win first place.
“For me as mayor, it’s something I’m proud of. We have kids who have swum in our pools and gone to the Olympics, we have kids who have done karate here and are in the Olympics, we have kids who have made it to the Major Leagues in baseball and now these kids. They’ve all come out of our parks. It reflects the city’s commitment to investing in its youth and its families.”
(email protected)
