Autobiography - 3 | Boxing

Q: Welcome to our third chapter of Sensei's life history. Good morning, Sensei. In the last clip, you told us about your Indian martial arts trainer and his sudden death. What happened next?

A: He passed away after the car accident I mentioned. He was paralyzed in the hospital and unfortunately, he died. This marked the end of my Indian martial arts training as a child.

I almost forgot to mention that before starting Indian martial arts, my father briefly enrolled me in Tai Chi. We moved houses often, and in our next neighborhood, we had a Chinese neighbor who taught Tai Chi Chuan. It was only for a couple of months, maybe two and a half, because I found it boring. I constantly complained to my father that I didn't want to go, so he let me quit. It was slow, and I had to train with older people. After that short stint with Tai Chi, I began training in Indian martial arts until my teacher's passing.

We moved again, making it approximately nine houses I lived in as a child. My father always sought better living standards and neighborhoods for his children. In our next neighborhood, we lived near a military camp.

Introduction to Boxing

My father, who worked for the British army, introduced me to British boxing at the military camp. This was my first encounter with a foreign martial art; the rest had been primarily Malaysian. I don't necessarily consider boxing a martial art, as it's more of a sport. But back then, I didn't differentiate between the two. I was fascinated and started boxing with a very good British teacher, whose name I unfortunately don't recall.

I was a cadet in the army camp, training alongside British kids. I even won a few tournaments within the cadet group. I was improving a lot, and later, I became fascinated by Muhammad Ali's footwork in the early 1960s. I remember watching his early fights, starting with his bout against Sonny Liston when he was still Cassius Clay. His name change to Muhammad Ali was a huge deal in Malaysia. His fights were shown on TV, and I would study his footwork, trying to emulate his movements.

Resuming Boxing Later in Life

After Malaysia gained independence, the British went back home, and my boxing training ended. This was in the 1960s. However, I resumed boxing in the 1970s. I was fortunate to train with Ramli, a Malaysian boxer who was on the Asian boxing team. I trained with him alongside my colleague Tony. I introduced Tony to karate and also invited him to box with Ramli. I am not sure of the extent of his achievements, some people say he was an Asian champion and some say he was only a team member, but he was certainly a very good boxer.

By that time, my footwork was much more mobile, thanks to my karate training. I wasn't stationary anymore. I had initially boxed as a left-hander but after starting karate and returning to boxing, I switched to a right-handed stance. This made it difficult for Ramli to catch me. I was proficient with my jabs, flicking them at his face. He preferred close-contact fighting, using what we now call a peek-a-boo style. He would urge me to come closer, but I disliked close-contact fighting, possibly because of his bad breath, so I preferred to maintain distance and strike from afar. He even complemented my boxing skills and asked how long I had been boxing for.

I trained with Ramli for about two to three years, not for competition, but simply for enjoyment. I even incorporated some kicking techniques from karate into my boxing. When I first came to Germany and Switzerland in the early 1970s, I started kickboxing, combining karate and boxing techniques. That was my boxing journey.

Q: Do you remember your first fight in boxing?

A: Yes, it was in the military camp. The fights started with three rounds and eventually increased to five rounds. They were amateur fights.

Q: Did you like it?

A: Yes, I was winning most of the time. I utilized footwork, mimicking some of Muhammad Ali's movements and incorporating some Indian footwork, which is similar to Manny Pacquiao's movement. This helped me with dodging and weaving.

I think my boxing style was a mix of Chinese, Indian, and Western influences. I never liked standing still; I was always moving. Even later in my karate tournaments, I wasn't always stationary. Initially, I stood my ground, but later on, I incorporated movement into my tournament fights.

Q: Thank you.

A: I hope the viewers enjoyed this small glimpse into my boxing career.

Q: Okay, goodbye.

A: Thank you. See you in my next chapter. Take care. Bye.