A review in nightcourses.com

dabhal

This would be funny if it wasn't so ill-informed

Kickboxing

Posted by Nighthawk

Move over Damien Duff. Keith Wood ? Forget him. Sonia who ? There is a real Irish sporting god. His name ………..

Roy Baker!

Our Roy has been the World Kickboxing Champion three times in recent years and he's not the only success story the country has produced. Throughout the nineties and beyond, Ireland has been ranked in the world's top ten. Why the stunning silence from Des Cahill and his ilk at RTE ? Could our Dessie be scared of our kickers in green?

In "Choosing a Martial Art", admittedly not everyone's favourite volume for the coffee table, several questions are posed of the aspiring martial artist. These soul-searching questions include: 'Would you prefer more kicking than punching?' or 'How much damage do you want to take (or dish out) ?' If it's damage you're seeking, the same book describes kickboxing as "being renowned for the devastation you can inflict upon your opponents"

Nice sport!

Just a quick look at the rules for kick boxing gives you an idea of what these men and women are in for. Under Rule 2 of the Amateur Rules of the International Kick Boxing Federation [ www.ikfkickboxing.com ] you will find:

" Fighters may strike with Punches, Kicks, Knees and Elbows:
- Kicks & Knees are allowed to both legs
- Kicks may strike body and head
- Knees may strike to the Legs, Body and Head
- Etc etc etc"

Dessie, I see your point. Why on earth would anyone want to take up this sport? Well, I checked to see what Roy Baker's club - Bushido Kickboxing [ www.bushido.ie ] - would say about the benefits of their sport. They gave the benefits as including a cardiovascular workout [jaysus, my heart doubles its rate just thinking about it], the development of muscle tone [ assuming there are still bones to bear the muscle] and concentration [you better believe it mate] My favourite though is this: "Kickboxing is considered to be calming and relaxing, focus is often on helping body and spirit feel centred and connected to each other" Well, knock me down with a feather ! Bushido has workshops - known in the sport as dojos - in Leixlip, Lucan, Celbridge, Cork and Maynooth.

Kickboxing promotes itself as being available to all ages and temperaments. It points to its 'Semi Contact' form of the sport as being by far the most popular form in Ireland. Though a quick peek at the scoring system for the so-called 'Semi Contact' version is far from reassuring:

"Kick head: 2 points; Kick body: 1 point; Jumping kick to head: 3 points etc "

Neither, as a parent, would I be reassured by advice to instructors from the Irish Martial Arts Confederation: " instructors need to ensure that young bones do not engage in impact repetition that might damage the growth plate on their bones"

Nice to know they care.

Good grief!

Hawk.

Millionaire

Personal Opinion: back years now approx 10 years when I used to go to those kickboxing group training, there would be lots of Bushido guys there...brilliant at fancy points fighting , flashy moves and suits...I just never considered this stuff to be "real kickboxing" ala full contact, heavy sparring etc. In fact I really resent the way they seem to have hijacked the name "kickboxing" I think what they do is more Amercian Style Sport Karate (they all seemed so sporty points tourney orientated)...tag points fighting and all that....

vasch_ro

what they do is kickboxing , both semi contact and continous light contact.
but make no mistake Roy Baker is a genuine champion and the real deal
when it comes to semi contact sparring he is without a doubt one of the worlds best in his weight division.

If there was any justice he would be a sporting god, but due to the lack of mainstream recognition that martial arts gets in Ireland he is not a house hold name.

while it says head kick etc , there is little or no contact involved , the move is pulled short , this is particularly enforced with kids.

Tim_Murphy

Talking about Roy Baker & Co and then mentioning the IKF rules is pretty misleading.
That said, they are excellent point fighters and if Roy had won a fraction of what he has won in nearly any other sport then he would probably be a household name.

Millionaire

Yes I seem him years ago at loads of tourneys. An outstanding competitor and martial artists.