WINDY CITY GYM
BY WALL DONE, 13/10/2011
The more you sweat, the less you bleed. That's a proverb about training for war. But right now, it's probably taped on the wall of a few boxing gyms across the nation. At a time when a lot of people think of the gym as something with juice bars, valet parking, built-in TVs on the elliptical trainer, boxing gyms, real ones, stand out. Chicago's Windy City Boxing Gym was one of the nation's oldest. In 2006 it was forced to close its doors and find a new location.
The gym operated on the second floor of a red brick warehouse for more than 30 years, and when you walked in, it was like stepping back in time. The wooden floors were warm from thousands of hours of shadow boxing. Old stationary bikes lined up against the poster-covered wall. Punching bags were wrapped in duct tape, and if you hit them hard enough, bits of dust scattered in the air.—npr
In 2004 photographer Kai-Uwe Gundlach was doing a shoot for HP. He was so impressed with the location, atmosphere and people involved that he couldn't resist to stay longer and document it just for himself. These images are some of his personal work.
All images © Kai-Uwe Gundlach
