Two menacing dragon tattoos cover the arms of Adelino Da Costa. They represent, he says, honor and power.
But when he is at Punch, the stylish Upper East Side kickboxing gym he has owned and run since 2007, they are usually hidden under a long-sleeved T-shirt. That seems perhaps appropriate for a high-end fitness destination with padded red floors and recessed lighting, located on Madison Avenue next to a store that sells $20,000 chinchilla coats.
“You walk in, and you know everyone and they know you,” he said as he pointed to dozens of black-and-white portraits of regular clients who pay $145 for a training session with him or one of his 13 trainers.
Almost 100 of those clients have agreed to help him build a school in his native Guinea-Bissau, one of the world’s poorest countries, by pledging between $25 and $1,000 for each fight he has in the tournament.
Mr. Da Costa, 32, a former national kickboxing champion of Portugal, retired from fighting professionally in 2002 because of a shin injury. That was the same year he arrived in the United States, and he turned then to being a trainer.
The championship, where about 450 fighters will meet in Richmond, Va., will be his first competition since retiring. He will raise more than $40,000 just for stepping in the ring, and more than $120,000 if he wins his three fights. He has set up a foundation to handle the money.
Mr. Da Costa was born on Jeta, an island in the Bissagos archipelago off the coast of Guinea-Bissau in West Africa, but moved with his family to Portugal when he was 12.
“The place was called Marianas, near Lisbon,” he said. “It was very tough. When it used to rain, I had to move my bed so it wouldn’t get wet. I had to fight and defend myself every day. That is why I think what people need in life is comfort and warmth. And that’s what I was looking for in my gym.”
One of those sponsoring Mr. Da Costa in the tournament is Jennifer Cacioppo, 38, a homemaker. “I would do anything in the world for Adelino,” she said.
She started training with him just after he arrived in 2002. “He could barely speak English,” she said. “But I could just tell that he was so nice and sincere but also focused and driven.” Mr. Da Costa eventually learned English by renting subtitled movies.
To prepare for the tournament, he decided that at 5 foot 9, he should compete in the lightweight category. That meant dropping to 140.5 pounds from 162 in five weeks.
A typical day in his training has started before 5 a.m. with a breakfast of three dates and water at home in Palisades Park, N.J., and then an hour’s run around Central Park. He has gone to work as usual, with clients at Punch, but at 1 p.m. he has gone to his old boxing gym, Ardon Sweet Science, in the Sunset Park neighborhood in Brooklyn, for intensive training.
Lunch has been a small portion of tuna or chicken and salad. He has returned to Punch to train more clients and end the day with another one-hour run in Central Park. Dinner has been the same as lunch, but on Fridays, he has fasted all day.
He plans to return to Guinea-Bissau for the first time to set the school building in progress. That trip will come soon after the country, torn by two recent political murders, goes to the polls on Sunday. “Building the school is a big motivation by itself when the country is in trouble like this,” Mr. Da Costa said.
On Wednesday, he climbed into a ring at Punch to practice with Aquilino Delgado, 28, a muscular trainer there. At first Mr. Da Costa barely threw a punch or a kick, content to block. But when an alarm beeped to signal the second round, he shed all traces of his smile, rolled up his sleeves and started throwing and landing punches.
Afterward, when Mr. Delgado was asked to name Mr. Da Costa’s greatest strength as a fighter, he said, “He has a heart like a lion, and that will always carry him through.”
Mr. Da Costa, across the ring, did not notice the compliment. He was talking with a client as he covered his tattoos once more.
Mr. Da Costa made his weight and when he stepped on to the floor of the arena, he "felt ready," he said by phone from the tournament. He received a bye in his first fight when his opponent dropped out. He moved directly to the semifinals.
"I felt very good even after seven years away," said Mr. Da Costa. "I controlled the fight and didn't get hurt." The bout went for all three permitted rounds without a knockout and the three judges convened. "When I went back to my corner everyone was confident and telling me I'd won. But they gave it to the other fighter in a split decision."
He has raised more than $80,000 for the school-building project. "I feel like a winner anyway," he said. "And I am ready to do it again and I'm not going to wait that long. This cause has got me back inside the ring again, back where I belong."