When Will MacMillan threw his first punch, he was surprised how good he felt afterward. Now he’s hoping to bring emotional release to locals through “contact therapy” boxing sessions.
The first time Will MacMillan threw his fist through a wall, he thought he had been saved.
That gaping hole displayed 17 years of aggression that had been boiling inside him — until he hit a “breaking point” his senior year at Athens High School.
“Growing up, I didn’t realize how much of an anxious, stressed-out kid I was,” he said. “When I got older, I realized that I had been a nervous wreck.”
MacMillan was set to attend Ohio University to study psychology in the fall of 2006, where he would drop out three years later after completing two years worth of classes. Anxiety, in part, was still holding him back.
He was too “hands-on” to sit in a classroom while he had a punching bag waiting at home.
It took a while for MacMillan to realize he didn’t have to associate the desire to hit something with the stigma of being “violent.”
When he had company over, he would bring out boxing gloves and focus mitts so his friends could throw a few punches, too.
Now, at 27 years old, he’s taking that practice out of his living room.
A month ago, MacMillan started a group called “Contact Therapy,” which meets each Tuesday and Thursday on College Green at 7 p.m. to hit focus mitts.
Roughly three people attend each “session,” where MacMillan guides them through boxing combinations.
When MacMillan was sidestepping around the green Tuesday evening, arms raised and prepared to swing, some students stopped to watch. With every good hit, MacMillan would laugh.
“The whole idea of hitting something and getting hit back, better than hitting a punching bag, is a great stress relief,” MacMillan said. “It’s a great outlet, and when I found it, it kind of saved me. I want to share that with other people.”
Four locals
attended Tuesday’s session, mostly
MacMillan’s friends.
For three of them, it was their first time.
The only other experienced hitter was 26-year-old Alyssa Cardwell.
“Sometimes you need this, to come out here,” Cardwell said. “I’ve always wanted to hit shit, I’ve been known to hit shit. It’s empowering to know that I can do the same things (the guys) can do.”
When Cardwell threw a heavy hit to MacMillan’s mitt, the three men in attendance cheered, wincing slightly. Cardwell gave a wide smile.
The Athens Police Department, which frequently receives calls to break up bar fights Uptown, doesn’t see a problem with a little controlled hitting — especially if it can prevent crime.
“When we get there it’s just them, and they’re mad.”
Usually, Harvey said, the subjects are upset about something that wouldn’t set off your “average person.” They’ll be more emotionally involved, leading them to tear up their own home, or put a fist through their wall. He said, however, that those cases are rare.
“I do know from talking to landlords and managers that there is a lot of damage done to rental property, and some of them are attributed to things like this,” Harvey said. “People just want to punch a hole in the wall.”
MacMillan said that some of that aggression stems from people not having the confidence that they can defend themselves — emotionally or physically.
Right now, all of his sessions are free. He’s “between jobs” having previously worked at Uptown bars and restaurants.
He’s even been taking house calls, realizing that many aren’t comfortable throwing their first few punches in public, especially since such a release can be emotionally revealing.
“I’ve got a friend who recently lost a sibling,” MacMillan said. “I’ve been planning on going to his house. That would be a closed session … If he’s getting really into it, and he needs to break down or have a cry or something — that’s part of it. When that happens, I’m more than happy to help.”
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