A Kelowna musician is adding boxer to his personal resum茅.
Neville Bowman is a talented musician and has recently challenged himself to shed his instruments in favour of gloves and step into the boxing ring in support of local charities.
Fight for the Community III is a local charity boxing match where sa国际传媒渢hree-round heroessa国际传媒� train and fundraise to support local outreach programs and recovery homes for addicts in the community.
sa国际传媒淚 think itsa国际传媒檚 about getting people to focus on their physical health as well as their mental health,sa国际传媒� Bowman said.
sa国际传媒淎ddiction recovery is about learning about yourself I think, and boxing is like that too. Fighting might be the dumbest thing for a piano player to do, but itsa国际传媒檚 the most insane, awesome thing Isa国际传媒檝e done in a long time.sa国际传媒�
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Put on by local boxing gym Los Gatos Locos, the sa国际传媒渢hree-round heroessa国际传媒� are tasked with raising $1,500 during their months of training with coach Geoff Lawrence. The money is put back into the community and donated to Okanagan recovery houses Ozanam House, Karis Support Society and Freedomsa国际传媒檚 Door. The money helps keep the doors open and allows those living in the programs to then join the boxing gym.
Bowman, whosa国际传媒檚 also a personal trainer, said boxing provides a physical distraction to the recovery home residents that take part in the boxing training.
sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 a really good way to get people something other than the usual go-to, whether itsa国际传媒檚 drugs or alcohol. This a very real issue in Kelowna, and to just throw money at people, doesnsa国际传媒檛 necessarily help them,sa国际传媒� he said.
sa国际传媒淏oxing offers something else and a different focus in life.sa国际传媒�
The fight takes over Rutland Centenniel Hall July 6.
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With his fundraising complete, training all but wrapped up and his fight booked for Saturday night, Bowman is drawing confidence from his experiences as a performing musician before his first ever fight. Bowman said there are many comparable traits when going from pianos to punches.
sa国际传媒淭he parallels to music are there, to go through the motions to rehearse or train, you have to trust that process. The discipline it takes to be good at both (music and boxing) is very similar.sa国际传媒�
Hesa国际传媒檚 performed live before, but when the starting bell dings in a entirely new arena, he hopes hesa国际传媒檚 ready.
sa国际传媒淎ll the stuff you learned, unless itsa国际传媒檚 really drilled into you, it will go out with the first punch,sa国际传媒� Bowman said.
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Bowman is careful to which charitable endeavors he chooses to as he needs to be 100 per cent committed. When he heard from friends that more sa国际传媒渢hree-round heroessa国际传媒� were needed, he made the jump. Supporting the growing issue of addiction and mental health in Kelowna while promoting physical fitness through boxing was something he felt he could help with.
sa国际传媒淚 would recommend the training to anyone, itsa国际传媒檚 wonderful. And the self learning and mental fitness is really valuable to everyone and addiction recovery is about self learning,sa国际传媒� Bowman said.
But as for the actual stepping in the ring to fight, Bowman said hesa国际传媒檒l comment on that afterwards.
More of Bowmansa国际传媒檚 story can be found .
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