MINNEAPOLIS - There's an effort to help Twin Cities youth, who may have started down the wrong path, make things right again. It all starts in a boxing ring.
"It helps them by building their esteem and their confidence," said Sankara Frazier, founder Circle of Discipline.
The Circle of Discipline is a boxing gym in Minneapolis for inner city youth that has been around for more than 22 years.
"If you could climb up that ring and face your opponent by yourself and be willing to get knocked on your behind that's going to build their confidence," said Frazier.
Head coach Sankara Frazier says boxing helps train youth to fight temptations and helps them become mentors and ambassadors in the community.
"You know you kind of have to take the tough approach,” said Frazier.
“We've had a lot of people who have come out of here and have been very, very successful at what it is that they do,” said Frazier.
Jamal James who's been training at the gym since he was five is now a mentor to other youth. James and other mentors who have been through this gym all have different backgrounds, but the Circle of Discipline has always been a constant in their lives.
"How it works is that you have some body that shows you the boxing skills, training exercise. It's not just a gym where you come in and meet the coach. We have a young men's group. We talk about problems they might have at home or in school,” said James.
The lessons at the gym help youth stay on the right track.
“It's funny when you leave the gym it's like you feel like you are doing the wrong thing that's how right it is around here,” said Samuel Michael, a mentor at Circle of Discipline.
There are more than 60 members of the Circle of Discipline. The gym primarily works with youth but anyone in the community is welcome.