Book 15 with Tom
There is an IBF world title belt sitting behind me.
It has been signed by world champion boxers. People who reached their A game, entered the ring and discovered exactly what preparation feels like when the bell finally rings.
The belt was donated to Through the Ropes. We will take it on roadshows so people can see it, hold it and have a photograph with it.
But the belt is more than memorabilia.
It is a clue.
What happens before you enter the ring?
The name Through the Ropes comes from that moment when a boxer lifts the ropes and steps inside.
To everybody watching, that may look like the beginning.
It isn't.
The real work started long before the lights, the crowd and the bell. It happened in training. In repetition. In the difficult mornings. In the small decisions nobody applauded.
And once the boxer is inside the ring, preparation is not the only thing that matters.
They need somebody in their corner.
That is the thinking behind Through the Ropes: prevention and intervention.
What can we build around somebody before life becomes overwhelming?
And when they are already in the thick of it, who is still standing in their corner?
Boxing is the vehicle, not the destination
Through the Ropes is built on the vision of my friend Michael Katsidis, a three-time world champion who understands what boxing training can give people beyond the ability to throw a punch.
Discipline.
Fitness.
Confidence.
Accountability.
A safe way to test your limits and discover they may be further away than you thought.
Those things can matter whether somebody is living with depression or anxiety, being bullied at school, experiencing domestic or financial abuse, moving in and out of custody, or living with disability and assuming opportunities like this sit beyond their reach.
Age, gender, size, strength and starting fitness should not decide who gets access.
This is not about turning everybody into a fighter.
There is no bout waiting at the end of the programme.
The boxing provides a structure through which people can become physically fitter, mentally stronger and more confident in their own ability to keep moving.
The opponent is not the person across the ring.
Often, it is the belief that nothing can change.
Why it cannot depend on one gym
There are excellent boxing gyms across Australia, and plenty of good people already using sport to create social impact.
The problem is scale.
A programme built around one remarkable trainer and one physical location can only reach the people who can get there. Even the most committed coach cannot stand in twenty gyms at once.
That limitation matters because the people who may benefit most are not neatly gathered around one postcode.
Through the Ropes is therefore being designed as a structured programme that can operate nationally.
A network of accredited mentors will work to the same ten-week framework and plug into local gyms and communities. The location may change, but the promise does not:
Wherever you are, somebody is in your corner.
Ten weeks, revealed one week at a time
The programme builds gradually.
Participants begin with week one. Only week one.
They train, reflect and record what is happening through a digital diary. They can write about the experience, document challenges and upload short videos on the days when motivation has wandered off without leaving a forwarding address.
The mentor provides accountability, but not judgement.
Complete the first week and the second unlocks. Then the third. The physical work and boxing skills increase as the participant's capability grows.
That sequence matters.
When somebody is already overwhelmed, handing them the full staircase is not always helpful. Sometimes they only need to see the next step and know somebody will notice when they take it.
Lived-experience videos will sit throughout the programme, allowing participants to hear from people who have survived difficult circumstances and found a way forward.
There will also be access to complementary professional support, including dietitians, neuroscientists and bulk-billing GPs. It is there when useful, not force-fed.
Think buffet, not compulsory banquet.
Graduation should be a beginning
Ten weeks can change a great deal.
A participant may be fitter, more disciplined and more confident. They may have proved to themselves that they can keep a commitment on a day when every internal voice suggested otherwise.
But we do not intend to shake hands at week ten and disappear into the sunset.
Graduates become part of a community. The next step might involve:
- finding employment
- starting a business
- becoming more financially stable
- building a healthier circle of friends
- continuing with boxing; or
- carrying the habits into another sport or part of life.
For somebody caught in a cycle of reoffending, isolation or destructive relationships, the people around them after the programme may be just as important as the programme itself.
The ten weeks create movement.
The community helps protect the momentum.
This is a movement, not a building
A Through the Ropes gym is opening in Melbourne and will provide a home for the pilot programme.
That gym matters, but the ambition is larger than a set of walls.
The pilot gives us the opportunity to test the programme, learn what works and build the evidence. From there, the aim is to take it across Australia through the mentor network.
Then, why stop at Australia?
The challenges this movement addresses are not uniquely Australian. People in the UK and around the world also need practical ways to build discipline, strengthen mental health and find a corner that does not empty when life becomes difficult.
This is still before the official launch. There is work happening behind the scenes to turn Michael's vision into something structured, accessible and capable of travelling.
I am not a world champion boxer.
I understand the sport, I enjoy it, and I can see what its discipline can do for people. My role is to help make the vision real and support it wherever I can.
Because the strongest intervention does not always begin in a consultation room.
Sometimes it begins with a pair of gloves, one manageable week and somebody saying:
You're not doing this alone. I'm in your corner.
Welcome to Through the Ropes.
Watch the Through the Ropes series on the Mr Purple YouTube channel.