How Luiz Faye released her inner warrior
When the opportunity came to combine her love of boxing with her passion for helping others, Luiz Faye jumped straight into the deep end and never looked back.
Founder and head coach of the only adaptive boxing club in England, Kronik Warriors, Luiz is a real-life warrior, working to open up accessibility and ensure boxing is an inclusive sport for all in her native Manchester.
“The first time I put on a pair of boxing gloves was a pivotal moment in my life,” she said. “That moment changed my life. I felt so strong and I knew I wanted others to experience that same empowered feeling."
First impressions
It was only one day after a session with her personal trainer that Luiz decided to try her hand at boxing, after spending her early years as a swimmer and swimming instructor, but her first taste of the sport left a lasting impression so great she had to act.
“The first time I hit a punch bag I thought ‘Wow that feels amazing’," she said. "Sport had always been a constant in my life but I had never heard about adaptive boxing. I went home and researched everything I could about it but couldn't find a club."
Fuelled by a desire to pursue a new sport and encourage others to experience the same 'high' she felt after putting on the gloves for the first time, Faye embarked on a journey she could never have predicted would lead her to smash through so many glass ceilings.
“I found a coach at an England Boxing Academy, confessed my dream that I wanted to box and use that to get fitter, stronger, support my mental health and one day to help others," she said.
“After that the two of us together became this force, determined to make boxing inclusive and accessible to anyone who wanted to try the sport.”
Looking out for others is in Luiz’s DNA, having spent 10 years as a police officer until 2017, and the Mancunian has effortlessly continued that mantra while shaking up the boxing world for the better.
In 2019 she became the World Boxing Council's first female adaptive boxer and coach, and a year later she was one of only two wheelchair users to qualify as an England Boxing coach.
So when the pandemic hit, Faye’s gym closed down and she realised the number of people who would miss out on being active, there was only one thing to do - start running online boxing classes.
“Boxing is a sport often recognised as one for the hard to reach communities and these communities were being even more isolated by the lockdown, so I set up my own classes," she said.
"I said I would do it for 10 weeks and here we are four years later. Through Kronik Warriors and our coaching sessions I get to see the gold medal moments in people’s day, every day.”
Release your inner warrior
Kronik Warriors’ classes can be adapted to suit varying disabilities for full or part-time wheelchair users, and Luiz takes pride in the fact the club has been built by disabled people, for disabled people.
The human embodiment of the club’s key strap lines, ‘release your inner warrior’ and ‘embracing life’s challenges one punch at a time’, Faye has also learnt a thing or two of her own since founding the club.
“Physically, boxing has taught me just how resilient you can be,” she said. “I use the skills I’ve learnt - core strength and breath work - every day.
“When I go for job interviews I treat the question as the punch, take a breath, and respond as if it’s a counter punch.”
More than giving Faye the chance to share her expertise and profound passion for creating safe and inclusive spaces in the boxing sphere, founding Warriors has given her the time to reflect on how far she’s come on her personal journey too.
“When I first started looking for a club there was nowhere to go, now I’m the go to person," she said. "I am so proud of how far we have come and all we have achieved, and I hope we will see more clubs follow suit across the country."