Israel Adesanya ambassador for new anti-violence charity

By Christopher Reive

Eugene Bareman understands the irony in his latest venture.

The head coach from Auckland’s City Kickboxing gym has revealed he is among the founders of a new charity, the Walk Without Fear Trust, aimed at eliminating the impact of street violence in New Zealand.

“A message of anti-violence coming from someone who makes their living in combat sports may seem like a paradox to some, but nothing makes me more qualified to understand the power of violence,” Bareman said.

“I understand more than most [that] unsanctioned, meaningless violence causes harm to society.”

It’s a venture that has been launched after Lifau ‘Fau’ Vake, a pupil at the Auckland martial arts gym, died following an attack during a night out in Auckland in 2021.

Vake’s death rocked Bareman, the members of the gym and its wider community, and the group was strong in its intention of trying to do something about it.

Former two-time UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is an ambassador for the Trust and said the City Kickboxing team had never been the same since Vake’s death.

“Fau’s death is a reminder of the tragic consequences of street violence. We can’t continue to allow this to happen,” he said.

However, King’s bill was voted down at its first reading - on the wrong side of a 63-57 vote - with Labour, NZ First and the Green Party MPs all against.

Less than 12 months later, in May 2022, Vake and his brother James were attacked by a group of four men outside a bar on Symonds St. Prosecutors repeatedly pointed out the Vake brothers did not throw any punches themselves and were not the aggressors.

Justice Sally Fitzgerald noted a blow caused Vake to fall to the ground, where he subsequently hit his head, causing a brain bleed that led to his death in hospital nine days later. The man who landed the blow was sentenced to two years and nine months for manslaughter; the judge noting Vake had no opportunity to avoid the punch and that the offender was not threatened by Vake. Others involved in the attack on the brothers were sentenced to home detention.

There have been several other instances of coward punches leaving victims with serious injuries in recent years. In March 2022, a man was left on the pavement in Nelson with a fractured skull and a brain aneurysm after he was the victim of a coward’s punch while he was attempting to break up a fight.

In October 2022, a man ended up on life support after being struck outside a Christchurch bar.

Bareman said he founded the trust to promote awareness of the consequences of one-punch and coward punch attacks, as well as other forms of social violence against victims and their families.

“A coward’s punch leaves no opportunity for a victim to defend themselves, and this has devastating consequences – in some cases, lifelong disabilities or even death.

“It is an abhorrent crime and needs to be stopped immediately.”

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission