BY GABE HART
PHOTOS BY TRUNETTA ATWATER

FEATURED IN VOL 6, ISSUE 2: home and garden

A cage is not a place of comfort. It is a place that confines and holds and traps living things. Its steel is unforgiving; the metal shaped to imprison. In professional and amateur fighting such as mixed martial arts or kickboxing, cages are used symbolically. Two men enter as equals, but one leaves a winner and one leaves defeated. Though cages made for fighting do not hold anyone against their will, they can be just as uncomfortable and unforgiving to the people fighting inside.

On a cold night in early January, after I spent my own three rounds fighting in the cage, I sat on the third row, my face swollen and red, and watched Devante’ Chaney glide around the same ring where my feet had felt like concrete. I saw him strike quickly with a jab and back out. I saw him throw a left kick and follow it with a teeth-chattering right cross. It was all so fluid and fast. After one round, anyone in the Civic Center in Jackson, Tennessee could tell that Devante’ Chaney was a talented fighter who fought with an effortless violence. If they left the fight that night only knowing that, they would have missed out on everything that Devante' is outside of that cage.

Born and raised in Jackson, Devante’ attended Andrew Jackson Elementary, Tigrett Middle School, and graduated from Jackson Central-Merry in 2014. Like most kids, Devante’ dabbled in sports, but never quite found his niche in that arena.

“I played a few sports in high school, but I always ended up quitting because of the lack of one-on-one coaching. It just wasn’t fun,” he explained.

Devante’ also faced another challenge that is common to the adolescent experience — bullying.

“I never fought in high school or middle school, but I was bullied. I didn’t know how to defend myself, so my grandmother put me in karate. That was kind of my introduction to martial arts,” he said. “Growing up, my mom was a single parent, so bullying was difficult to deal with because I wouldn’t want to tell her about it because he had a lot going on.”

The trials and tribulations any middle school or high school student experiences can seem overwhelming. Most of us wouldn’t go back to that time in our lives if given the choice, but formative experiences have the potential to worm their way into our subconscious. Devante’s experiences seemed to do just that.

Devante’s dislike for team sports in high school was because of a lack of one-on-one coaching. When he was bullied in elementary school, his grandmother enrolled him in a martial arts class in order to defend himself. These two challenges that Devante’ faced as a student could have very well led him to where he is now — positively impacting kids and adults through one-on-one training.

Devante’s first steps on the road to becoming a trainer began in a very inauspicious way. He attended a fitness class at 9Round Fitness and was instantly hooked.

“I went to 9Round and did a thirty minute workout and fell in love with it. From there, things just started falling into place,” he explained.

After working out a few times at 9Round, Devante’ began working there as an employee. From there, he moved to Solus Performance Training as a trainer, followed by a time as a manager at Total Fitness Kickboxing. Every story has a turning point, though, and Devante’s happened in an unexpected way.

“After Solus, I went to Total Fitness Kickboxing and was a manager there. Funny thing about that was that I got married and went on my honeymoon and when I got back, they fired me. It was crazy, but really it was like a new beginning,” he recalled. “After being fired, that’s when I took things on my own. I really learned what faith was at that point. I started really believing in myself.”

It was then that Devante’ really started focusing on who he was as a person and how he wanted to move forward as a trainer.

“My brothers and I were drawing one day, and I had an epiphany. I loved the word ‘prodigy,’ but I felt like it was used a lot, so I looked up synonyms for it and found ‘golden child,’” he explained.

Golden Child would be the cornerstone of Devante’s brand that he would begin to build and also work into his training with his younger clients. He knew there would be more to add, as well, and serendipitously found another piece of the puzzle through a friend who was helping him design his original Golden Child logo.

“I have a friend who is a graphic designer, and he put ‘Born With A Purpose’ (#bwap) underneath the design and I put two and two together,” he said. “A little while later, I found this quote: ‘Life isn’t about discovering yourself; it’s about being who God created you to be.’ I combined all of that, and I had my brand. The mission of Golden Child and #bwap is to help empower our younger generation to follow their passion, focus on being creative, and enhance their education while providing them with the resources they will need.”

BORN WITH A PURPOSE

Through the Golden Child brand, Devante’ has created coloring books for the “Keep My Hood Good” program in Jackson. He has visited local elementary schools to give students some training tips and talk with them about finding their purpose.

Combining his talent for boxing, kickboxing, and training, Devante’ saw his one-on-one training take on a new meaning as he worked with middle school and high school students from all walks of life.

“I try to use this brand when I train others, especially kids,” he said. “I try to keep them on the right path because it’s really easy to get knocked off.”

Devante’s training does not stop with kids, however. He also has a growing list of adult clients he trains. Some of these adults are just wanting to lead a healthier lifestyle, but a couple of them are also training for actual fights.

“My clients love [one-on-one training]. It’s more in-depth. You can teach them things they don’t see. In boxing, form is very important. I can help them better understand how to flow through a combination if I’m teaching them one on one,” he explained. “I’ve just started training two people for fights. That’s different than just training someone for fitness. I’m obviously more physical with my clients who are training for a fight. They need to build up a tolerance for punches and have quick reaction time. I have to teach them to try not to get angry when they get hit.”

While training clients for a fight, Devante’ also has to keep himself sharp for his own next fight. He was scheduled to fight in June at Hub City Brewery, but the event has been indefinitely postponed because of the COVID-19 virus.

Moving forward, Devante’ wants his brand to grow so he can continue to positively impact more people.

“I want this brand to get big, but I love the process. I like to see growth. It’s going to take time, dedication. It’s going to take a lot both mentally and spiritually to keep driving and keep going,” he explained.

Devante’ will undoubtedly continue to build his brand inside and outside of the cage. He loves the process and the work. Golden Child is his purpose, and he plans to pass it on to as many people as he can.

Learn more about Devante' on Instagram: @Goldenchildofficial_ | @ultraelitefitness

GABE HART is an English and Language Arts teacher at Northeast Middle School. He was born and raised in Jackson, graduating from Jackson Central-Merry in 1997 and Union University in 2001. Gabe enjoys spending time and traveling with his daughter, Jordan, who is eight years old. His hobbies include reading, writing, and playing sports, even though he’s getting too old for the last one. Gabe lives in Midtown Jackson and has a desire to see all of Jackson grow together.

TRUNETTA ATWATER Founder of Fancy, Trunetta is a photographer, coach, and truth-teller. She specializes in challenging entrepreneurs to bring their creative ideas to life through photos. Her philosophy is to empower creatives to be fearless in their businesses, to be real with their audiences, and to maximize opportunities to promote their products and services. She believes creative businesses thrive as a tribe and it's her passion to lead entrepreneurs to their full potential through expressive photography.