Welcome

”You have to do something physically to reach them mentally, and because of where we're at, fighting
was the thing" (Adonis Frazier, in CityPages 020503).

Physically-Mentally-Spiritually

In 1999 I spent five weeks in Minneapolis, USA, while doing a project study on homeless youth. By chance, I discovered a boxing gym in one of the roughest areas of the city, where I ended up training several times. Circle Of Discipline had great atmosphere, and even if I was the only white man in the gym I had a feeling of being welcomed and of belongingness. I trained as I wanted, got to know the fighters and trainers, and the only scary part was running to and from the gym at night.
Warming up, I ran past razzias on the corners, and afterwards back home in dark alleys - even faster! The other part of the building was home to a huge rollerblade and skate hall, and all together, this house was attractive to a wide audience [of youth]. Marvelous preventive work in a run down area. Not long after my return to Norway I learned that The Circle of Discipline was in fact established as a preventive effort in regards to gang related issues, violence and drugs - elements that seem to be everyday reality in this area.
The point was to establish this in the core of the problem itself.
Today, more than ten years since established, the Circle of Discipline is a vibrant, colorful and active environment - a break from the hard day, where in addition to boxing, you'll find regular hip-hop concerts which bring the community together and contribute to developement and strengthening of the community.

Underdog

This was the inspiration for trying to establish something similar in Trondheim, even if the social factors are far from the reality in Minneapolis. In other words, my vision is to establish a center, a drop-in center for youth in the center of Trondheim, with boxing as primary activity, but of course there will be lots of different projects as well - for variety.

Comeback

A return to a former position or condition (as of success or prosperity)
In short, this is a program meant to reduce violence and act as a preventive strategy towards violence, through improving lives, reflections, practical and personal help and activity. The change in attitude over time throughout this process can be assessed by implementing an evaluation tool.

Me, briefly

Med faglig bakgrunn fra Idrettsvitenskap, en utdanning som barnevernspedagog, og senest en videreutdanning til Utviklingsagent, har jeg et faglig mangfold. Det er dette mangfoldet som fikk meg til å begynne og eksperimentere med disse sidene.
Mer om meg [HER]

-:MAIL:-
John A. Aasen, Trondheim
[Uppercut 2005]