Should other countries implement a 'Prison Fighters' program like Thailand?

[wanderingfighter]

Not to disagree with you but following Buddhism didn't help them stay out of prison. You can use the same premise for many of the disadvantaged youth around the world who have made it out of the 'gutter' to compete on the world level. Mike Tyson for example with Gus. Hopkins is a great example of an ex con turning his life around.

My point was with most modern day athletes moving towards better paying & arguably less dangerous sports' NFL, Rugby etc and there being a lack of depth and talent could it be further sourced from prisons with a boxing program that gave them a chance to fight their way to freedom. Boxing installs stuff like discipline and respect that could help prisons deal with life on the outside. Obviously it won't work for everyone as you only have to look at today's current crop of talent to realize it is up to the individual on how they choose to behave.

The difference here is that for the most part the lower class Thai shabu peddler who's in prison is likely to have strong family ties. He's likely to be spiritual or have some belief in a higher power, possibly even respectful to elders and other people and perhaps he's likely to be driven less by his ego. If these habits or beliefs are not visibly there, they are likely to be dormant and could be triggered via deep inner work. It's engraved into them since they are kids. I have spent a lot of time in slums in Thailand and I got to see how some (not all) parents connect with their children. Thai culture places a very big emphasis on these beliefs. Therefore if he's truly rehabilitated via martial arts practice the odds are that he would practice the right path after release from prison. When I say right path I mean that odds are that he would be a functional member of society even at the lowest economic levels.

The average "disadvantaged youth" who's in prison in the US would try to fight you over you staring at him. This is probably worse if he's been recently released from prison since the broken rehabilitation system environment only makes things worse. Don't believe me just take a ride on the L train in NYC sometime this summer and get out in some of those subway stations at night and go have a drink. The average "disadvantaged youth" in the US treats other people like dirt and that includes the elderly and weak and possibly his own family. It's all about "me" "me" and today's American society is riddled with anxiety, fear, consumerism and hate. The odds heavily favor that if you grant a former street meth or crack peddler freedom over a boxing match, you'll just be adding another meth or crack peddler to society 2 weeks later.

Also I think we are not talking about the Mike Tyson's and Hopkin's here. Those guys built championship habits since they were 7 to 12 years old. They went into prison with established habits and previous student to master relationships with their trainers. I think they are outliers in some ways.

With these prison matches in Thailand we are talking about people who fundamentally have broken habit routines and are being rehabilitated via Buddhist philosophy and training at a late stage in their life. These are the 25-40 year olds who would probably never win a 'worthy' match at the big stadiums in Thailand. The same fighters from a western boxing perspective would default into fighting 4 rounders at the lower venues in under card matches or being stepping stones for young men who started developing at 10 years old.

I doubt that the average 25 to 40 year old prison fighter without an amateur background and a properly developed cardiovascular system would ever be anything more than fringe contender at his best in western boxing. Habits make winners, not talent and sadly habits cannot be 'totally' replaced. They can be masked by working hard at rewiring our responses to the cues that trigger them, but in order for that to happen deep work needs to be done and it won't happen only via boxing training.