More to boxing than throwing fists for New Taipei teens

New Taipei''s Sansia District is home to a youth boxing team that''s produced hundreds of accomplished boxers, including some who went on to make the national team. But when the team was founded eight years ago, its only purpose was to steer teenagers away from crime. Today in our Sunday special report, we meet the man behind the team, a former national team boxer himself who knew the sport could lead to a better life for troubled teens in his community.

Shouting orders as he leads this group of young people is boxing coach Chen Che-yu. He is an instructor for youth throughout New Taipei City’s Sansia and Yingge districts, where he teaches them to box.

Chen Che-yu
Boxing coach
These youngsters all enjoy causing trouble for others, or getting in fights with people. By training them to box, you can show them that boxing is actually a valuable sport, and teach them to respect their own fists. Then they won’t raise their fists in front of others at random.

Through teaching boxing, Chen brings out these youth’s innate talent in sports, which he hopes will provide them with emotional support. Aside from being a boxing coach, he is also a social worker focused on youth problems. Some of the youth he works with are from the indigenous people’s village, Sanying.

Sanying Village is located along New Taipei City’s Dahan River. The majority of the village’s residents are Amis who moved here from Eastern Taiwan, settling near the Sanying Bridge. They used wood panels, metal sheeting and discarded building materials to build simple homes, and sustained themselves through farming and odd labor jobs.

In 1994, the village fell under new flood-prevention laws. The villagers’ homes were deemed illegal structures, and they were required to be torn down by law.

After the village was leveled, the government built a public housing complex in Sansia, with units rented out to the villagers. Although the new building offered good facilities, villagers were soon struggling with the expenses of rent and city living. Some of the parents became so busy handling those expenses that their children fell off to the wayside.

Chen Che-yu
Boxing coach
Youth issues are actually quite serious here. When we first went into the community, that first day, I saw a security booth that they had destroyed.

In a community filled with dropouts, violence and other youth problems, social workers are burdened with a heavy responsibility.

Ninth grader Lin Chiao-hsun is the youngest child in a family of five. Her mother runs a betelnut stand, and her father works at a panel molding factory. The two parents work hard to make the money needed to raise their brood. Speaking about her family, the mother says she is grateful to have the help of a social worker, so her children don’t pick up bad behaviors.

Rabi
Lin Chiao-hsun’s mother
It’s hard work managing them, and hard work teaching them, because if they are involved in anything I have to rush to the school at once. My oldest son won’t tell me what’s on his mind, so I have to rely on Che-yu and others to help me speak to my son.

Lin followed in her brother’s footsteps and joined the boxing team. The team members are as close as family, and nearly all their free time outside of class is spent together.

Chen’s service to the community starts in the day and continues into the night. After Chen teaches the group boxing, he visits the community’s families at their homes.

This family has seven children, one of whom is a rising star at the boxing gym.

Wen Tsai-yueh
Parent
In the past he would have temper tantrums, but now he does his best to stay levelheaded. He also doesn’t raise his fists randomly. It might be that Coach lays down the law over there.

Chen is from the Atayal indigenous tribe. In 2012 he retired from the boxing national team. After he finished his mandatory military service, he worked as a manager at a public housing complex. At this job, he often saw young people skipping class or fighting, which made him recall his own past behavior.

Chen Che-yu
Boxing coach
Many people say inappropriate things about indigenous people, like: “You guys all drink too much.” Or “You guys like to gather on the side of the road.” They say these things that make us feel uncomfortable. Actually, what I see in these kids is the shadow of our past, the unequal treatment.

After his contract at the management job was up, Chen joined a social work organization. He started teaching a boxing class, and began participating in the lives of the community’s youth. However, not long after he started the class, the organization he worked at went through restructuring, and Chen was dismissed with severance pay. He then found himself living off of unemployment