Keller @ Large: The Good Fight
BOSTON (CBS) - "These kids grew up in the same neighborhood I grew up in, and they're going through the same struggles I went through," says Dorchester native John "Doomsday" Howard, a star of the wildly-popular Ultimate Fighting Championship Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) circuit.
So Howard came to the Huntington Avenue YMCA Thursday night to give back to them, through the auspices of Level Ground, a two-year-old local group that uses MMA instruction along with mentorship programs, academic help and job assistance to help kids escape violence, poverty and despair.
"It's that mentality of grit, that mentality of resilience, that enables them to overcome any obstacle," says Ali Fuller, Level Ground's founder, as Howard put a group of kids through their paces under the watchful eye of Huntington Avenue YMCA Aaron Donahue, a staunch backer of the program.
And the students say it's working.
"I can expand my mind to a whole 'nother world, and I can focus and try new things," said Julio Nunez.
"It changed me in a lot of ways," added William Graustuck. "It took me off the streets from gang violence and all of that."
"I learned that I have to keep myself healthy and that will help me support my family and make my parents happy for me," said Maureen Renelien.
"I was always going through a lot of issues when I was younger at home," said Alisandra Quinones. "Mixed martial arts was an outlet for me to express how I was feeling, take all of that negative energy and put it in a positive way."
And after more than an hour of MMA instruction and individual conversations with the kids, Howard left them with this inspirational message: "If my butt can do it, going from Burke to Madison to the streets and everything, not only can you all do it, y'all can do it better."