Fitness and confidence gained through boxing have transformative power for Wallaga Lake women
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On a clear autumn morning at Camel Rock beach on the New South Wales far south coast, Troyleen Parsons pulls on a pair of pink boxing gloves.
"I feel like a different person when I've got the gloves on. I'm more confident within myself. I know what I'm doing, and what I'm aiming for."
Ms Parsons is among a group of women from the Wallaga Lake Koori Village north of Bermagui who come together for a weekly training session with boxing teacher Amanda Hicks.
As they have worked on their fitness and technique, they have all seen a transformation. Not just in their health, but in their entire outlook on life.
"When we first started, it was a bit confronting because we didn't know how to come out of our shell," said Kerry Parsons, who is now in her third year of training.
![Kerry Parsons Portrait of woman outside a colourful weatherboard background.](http://web.archive.org./web/20190602202936im_/https://www.abc.net.au/news/image/11164186-3x2-700x467.jpg)
"We always hid in our houses and weren't out doing stuff in front of people. It was like a 'shame job' for us.
"But now, we're singing out to our aunties and sisters that walk past when we're out there on the community to come along and join us. We get out there and we do it."
The boxing classes are part of the Dead or Deadly program, run by Waminda South Coast Women's Health and Welfare Aboriginal Corporation from the Illawarra to the far south coast.
Waminda successfully applied for a grant to run the program, which includes exercise classes, fitness checks, support to quit smoking, and nutrition advice.
Government funding for the program ends this month and Waminda is seeking funding for the project to continue.
At Wallaga Lake, Waminda is working with the Ngarrdi Women's Group, which was founded to advocate for services to improve the health, wellbeing and confidence of women and mothers in the community.
Ms Hicks has been teaching boxing for close to a decade, and a lot of her work is focussed on vulnerable and marginalised women who are dealing with challenges such as domestic violence, mental health, and drug and alcohol addiction.
"When I first learnt boxing, I discovered a strength in myself that I hadn't really felt before," Ms Hicks said.
"It was raw and vulnerable, but also very empowering. And I wanted to share that.
"Many of the people I train have experienced pain, grief, and trauma. Often they show up to boxing because they feel weak, and they need to feel strong."
Kerry Parsons said that most of the women in her class had experienced domestic violence.
"When we started the training, a few of us ladies were thinking, 'Where was this 20 years ago?'" Ms Parsons said.
"This would have been a handy skill for us to have had when we were younger."
For Ms Hicks, boxing is not so much a tool for self-defence, but more about personal empowerment.
"If you hold a higher value of yourself, your choices are guided by that," Ms Hicks said.
"There's a level of skill required in boxing, and a level of commitment.
"When someone applies that commitment and discipline to master the techniques and their own body, there's a gracefulness that comes out. They carry themselves differently."
For Veronica Parsons, the hardest part was the physical pain of training.
"When I first started, my legs were hurting, my back, my arms," Ms Parsons said.
"But I kept going because I had people there telling me not to give up."
![Liza Morris and Veronica Parsons Portrait of two women touching their fists together.](http://web.archive.org./web/20190602202936im_/https://www.abc.net.au/news/image/11164266-3x2-700x467.jpg)
Kerry Parsons said the most powerful part of the training was the connection the women had built as they encouraged each other to stick with it.
"We all look out for each other and that's where our strength comes from. We lift each other up."
Topics: indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, aboriginal, koori, health, womens-health, bega-2550, bermagui-2546, wallaga-lake-2546