How Zen & Boxing Offer Clarity in a Chaotic World

Seven-time world boxing champion Michele Aboro joined Michael Kangen of Daihonzan Chozen-ji for a livestreamed conversation about how Zen and boxing can offer calm in the midst of turmoil—and how their training has overlapped over the past decade.

They also share information about our upcoming program in September 2020 for training deeply in both boxing and Zen at Chozen-ji in Hawaiʻi.

Michele Aboro

Michele Aboro is a seven-time world champion boxer and kickboxer. Over the years, Michele has included meditation as part of her training regimen. After retiring undefeated, Michele founded Aboro Academy in Shanghai with her partner, Masca Yuen. For several years, it was likely the only boxing gym in the world offering boxing classes preceded by 45 minutes of zazen.

Screen Shot 2020-04-20 at 4.29.20 PM.png

“'Wow, I could have died. I'm still here.' I hope people take that out of the pandemic and put it to good use.”
— Michele Aboro, quoted in "Resilient Athletes: After Lockdown, Boxing Pioneer Rebuilds in China", ESPN.com

Daihonzan Chozen-ji

Since its establishment in 1972, leaders from Hawaiʻi and around the world have come to Chozen-ji to pursue the deepest spiritual self-discipline, or shugyo. Our approach to Zen training is extremely physical and rigorous. In addition to training in zazen (seated meditation), students also train in martial arts such as kendo and hojo, and in fine arts such as calligraphy, tea and ceramics.

Michael Kangen, Chozen-ji’s head priest, first met Michele when she came to sit zazen with him in Shanghai. Together, they’ve experimented with combining boxing and Zen training for almost a decade. Michael was also the first student to learn and teach Mu-I Tai Chi developed at Chozen-ji.