Team EKA at Revolution High Peak Championships September 2019

The morning of the championships was rather calm for us, as we chatted over breakfast and took our time, then my phone started buzzing, not everything was going so straight forward for the rest of the team. Jayne, Aaron’s mum had ordered some new gloves for him that didn’t arrive in time (thank-you to Tash for lending him hers) and then on the morning of the competition she came out to be greeted by a flat tyre which they got sorted but then hit road closures on the way down with a satnav sending them in circles and Lead Instructor, James had a poorly son, Ethan, to take care of and then took a wrong turn on the way down. Thankfully the diversions finally got them there and in plenty time and James made it in time for the action.

Aaron competed for the first time at the World Kickboxing Council Open European Championships in July enjoying the thrill of competing. He registered for both light continuous and points fighting, and that’s what was first up for Aaron. I was full of admiration for Aaron, who has no points fighting experience and we don’t focus on it at EKA, yet he wanted to test himself at a competition. Unfortunately, because Jude was competing at the same time, I missed both Aaron’s points fighting contents, but I have seen the video of his 3^rd / 4^th place fight. Aaron’s opponent started aggressively and steamed into a 5-0 lead however Aaron settled into the fight and found his rhythm trying to use his reach and scored 2 points with a kick to the body. The gap increased to 7-2 but Aaron never gave up and fought back with spirit to land cleanly twice in quick succession to take the score to 7-5. The fight ended 8-5 and Aaron showed a lot of heart to keep going, hopefully along with Tash he can inspire more members to compete in points fighting, it will make the trips to competitions more worthwhile and maybe add it as an option at future Fight Clubs.

Following his K1 experience Jude came into this competition feeling more relaxed and confident but remaining focussed and grounded. Naturally the pre-fight nerves kicked in, but this certainly didn’t show in his fighting. In his first round, fight Jude started off feeling his opponent out, looking loose and composed. He then picked up the tempo blitzing his opponent with fast boxing combinations and throughout the fight Jude used his speed to evade and avoid strikes and landed well-timed front kicks and jabs to counter oncoming attacks to earn a, well deserved win.

Jude’s opponent in the final was younger than him, he had stepped up in category and was very apprehensive about facing him and showed lots of courage taking on Jude. Before the final, Jude like a true gent chatted with his opponent and put him at ease promising to keep the fight light contact. True to his word Jude showed an incredible amount of control and respect, pressuring his opponent and landing strikes but keeping it very light to win the fight and become the Under 16s over 65kg Hight Peak Champion. Top stuff Jude!

Aaron had the opportunity to get his own back on his Points Fighting opponent as they were matched up again for the Light Continuous under 12s 50 – 55kg. Aaron tried to force the tempo, throwing big kicks and applying pressure pushing his opponent off the mat a few times. However, his opponent stood strong and relaxed countering and landing some effective combinations which swayed the judges. This was only Aaron’s second competition and he is doing great, with more practice and experience a win will be just around the corner for him, well done!

Leon was full of smiles leading up to his fight but when it was time, he certainly had the bit between his teeth on the front foot looking aggressive and landing combinations whilst holding a strong guard and staying loose. The judges ruled against Leon, his bigger opponent was able to absorb some of his strikes and use his size to overpower him at times. However, it was a real close bout, and the best I have seen Leon fight, he showed great improvement and fought more naturally, and it made for an entertaining very close fight. The smiles that we had before his fight returned to his face afterwards which was nice to see, great stuff Leon.