ABSOLUTE ASCENDANCY

Commencing operation . . .

Overview

The Battle of Kent offered novice fighters an opportunity to get some fighting experience in the ring for boxing and kickboxing. I had never fought in a ring before, so this provided an excellent opportunity to test my mettle against an opponent who similarly shouldn’t have had many fights in the ring (max 2). The matches would be three rounds each consisting of one minute with a minute of rest in between. In terms of fights, this would be considered a sprint rather than a marathon, and I honestly think this is better for fighting. When you have multiple rounds that each last several minutes, what ends up happening is that the fighters circle around each other a lot more and the action, therefore, becomes diluted. It also lacks realism. In the street, fights erupt violently and usually end abruptly and I believe sports fighting should try and bridge the gap to reality fighting by implementing shorter rounds, with the emphasis of concentrating the action within a shorter time frame. Fighting shouldn’t be about trying to outlast your opponent in a marathon; it’s about doing the damage as quickly and effectively as possible with the aim of ending the match due to knockout or submission.

Preparation

I trained twice weekly in kickboxing, and of course, I regularly practice on my own at home also. Classes consisted of tough conditioning sessions with one of my coaches, Gerry Moriano and kickboxing drills with another coach, Dimitri Tailandec – both champions of their time. The week before the tournament, we visited an allied boxing gym so that we could get some practice sparring in an actual ring, as usually, I train in a dojo, which is only matted. 

Tournament

A minibus was hired to handle transportation to and from the venue. Upon arrival, the fighters registered and weighed in. My weight came to 61.7 kg, and I submitted my application form at 62kg, so no problems. We entered the gym, and there were two rings set up for the fights, which was great as it sped the day up considerably.

On the wall, there was the list and order of fights. Unfortunately, my match was the very last! While it is true that going first isn’t so great either, it is far better to fight earlier than later as I had to sit through many hours waiting for my fight to come up. During this time, waves of anxiety and nerves tried to wreak havoc against me, but I managed to subvert the worst of it. At least I got to experience what the heavyweight fighters’ likely experience in a Koshiki Karate tournament as those fights are done by ascending weight. I couldn’t really see any particular ordering for the battles in this tournament, except that most of the kids’ matches were prioritised. Most of our group had their fights right at the back end of the line-up, which was a considerable mental disadvantage our group had to overcome. 

Some of the fights were spectacular to watch. The kids were out for blood, no joke they were more savage than some of the adults! Even so, some of the adult fights were downright brutal. I saw a match finish when one of the fighters swept their opponent’s legs, and the guy did a half spin and crash-landed badly. I think he landed awkwardly on one of his legs or something, but the fight ended after that. I also witnessed a well-placed front kick to the face, which knocked the guy’s head back as he stumbled into the ropes. Nasty stuff.

My Fight

Eventually, my time to fight arrived. My coaches were busy cornering the other fighters so I was only able to do some light stretching before the combat began – ideally I would have liked to have smashed some pads beforehand, but as there were three other fights from my crew before mine, the timing was tight. I entered the ring, and Gerry gave me some advice to lead the bout with a double jab, cross combination and I so really wanted to do it, but I had already decided that I would lead with my crescent kick as I wanted to get some more battle experience with that particular technique. The ref called both fighters to the centre and explained the K1 rules. She also mentioned that our match was the last bout for the day and that all eyes were on us.

Great, just what I needed, even more pressure.

The fight began, and the video is below. I will highlight some parts of the battle with timestamps also.

I did indeed lead off with the crescent kick, but I should have listened to Gerry because the opponent just caught my attack and off-balanced me. He somehow managed to catch my leg while attempting a spinning back kick, which was pretty incredible; hats off to my opponent Paul.  While it is true I technically stopped him from completing his spin attack, it was still a morale drop for me. Not a good start as he was able to capitalise on capturing my leg, although he did illegally hold onto it for too long. Don’t worry; I do the same thing back to him later on, not maliciously but opportunistically.

The most demoralising thing that can happen in a fight is getting knocked out. After that, it’s ending up on the floor, whether the opponent tripped you over or struck you down. Then it’s straight up getting hit, and finally, it’s getting your attacks negated. After he neutered my lead kick, I decided not to throw another crescent kick for the remainder of the fight. So sad about that but oh well it happens.

Anyway, we had a few exchanges after that, but then at around 44 seconds, he tried to spinning back kick me again, while I threw a low kick to his leg. I caught him in mid-spin and sent him crashing into the ground which was really nice. 

At around 1:10, I got a beautiful string of attacks off against my opponent. Just as the round ended, he countered my low kick with a devastating three punch combination, which cracks my neck. I’m sure my chiropractor will be pleased when I next see him (turns out he actually was pleased with my neck upon my next visit, I must have lucked out, and the punch was more beneficial than harmful). I gave a short nod of acknowledgment as the bell sounded. During the interval, Coach Dima emphasised that I needed to work harder and put more effort into the second round. He wanted me to use my fists more and box the guy, but I’ve always been a better kicker than a puncher, so I ended up sticking more with my legs.

2:12, I feinted a step in, then stepped back and threw a nice low kick into a cross punch, one of my favourite combinations especially for closing the distance; which is what I needed to do as Paul had a greater reach with his arms and was slightly taller than me. At 2:30 I actually heard coach Dima telling me to put my guard up so I adopt a high guard and it was the right call as it would have been mission-critical if he landed another three punch combination to my face. I usually don’t hear any external shouting while fighting, but I guess this was an exception. He then told me to box so after I closed the distance with my high guard, (I had to eat a punch or two along the way) I tried to box him for a bit at close range which I think was reasonably effective. I ended with a knee strike which I think struck home, though I’m not really sure. A couple of more exchanges ensured, and my opponent ended the round with a nice twist kick to my stomach.

Back at my corner, Coach Dima tells me to use my flexibility to kick high, and Gerry wants me to aim low and hack at his legs. I decided to go with Gerry on this one as I was pretty tired and my opponent was fast like me. Hitting him in the head with a kick would not be easy, but hacking the leg should be fine. I, fortunately, do manage to fully recover my breathing during this interval but not with much time to spare.

The third round begins, and I lead straight off with a fully committed low kick which does land, he swung a wild hook, but I spun out of range. I tried to use a twist kick to close the distance and follow up, but he grabbed me and almost threw me out the ring! We had a few more exchanges, but at 4:10, he struck me hard with a hook, which caused me to raise my guard, and I subsequently took two roundhouses to my newly exposed mid-section. Kudos to Paul as that was another brilliantly executed combination, and although it didn’t immediately have any effect, I was pretty short on breath after my follow up attacks.

We clinched more and at 4:30 the ref broke us apart and warned us that there were only 10 seconds left in the fight.

One final assault . . .

I decided to go for broke. I threw a low kick which landed and followed up with a cross punch which also connected and launched him backward. I pursued him with a knee strike as he hit the corner and the bell resonates, concluding the fight.

A devastating finish to one hell of a tight fight.

Conclusion

I had forward momentum on the punch and knee strike, and I felt the impact of each of them. What a way to end the final match of the day. It was like a fight between an Imperial Tie Fighter and a Rebel X-Wing. Incredibly fast-paced, firing off barrages of shots and constantly outmanoeuvring each other. I walk to the centre of the ring to await the referee’s decision. At the time I thought I got wrecked in the first two rounds and although I did make a counterattack in the final round, I didn’t think it wouldn’t be enough to turn the tables. The judges thought otherwise, and the referee raised my hand up to declare my victory. In hindsight, after watching the video, it appears that we were roughly neck and neck until the last few moments of the final round where I managed to pull ahead slightly but significantly.

I was internally surprised when my hand was raised, but I accepted the decision, bowed to the crowd, gave my thanks to my opponent and his corner man then made my way back to my corner. I thanked both my coaches and told each of them that I couldn’t have asked for two better guys to support me. I walk down the steps, bowed and gave my thanks to Shihan Ciaran before returning to the rest of the group. Thanks so much to everyone who came down to support and for the tournament organisers for making a successful event, even though they put my fight right at the end! We got some photos taken, and then we packed up for the return journey, stopping off at a service station for some food before heading back to the dojo and home.

Mission complete – Overlord Drakow signing out.