“I battered the fella, he had nothing coming, he got tired! At the end of the day my fitness won it for me,” Gold medal winner Joe Pigden says with a big grin.
Warrior Martial Arts is a Freestyle Kickboxing school based in Bromley, Kent. The club competed in Crawley for the Wolf Pack UK Interclub on Sunday 6th February, and eclipsed the competition in their fights, sweeping 3 golds and a silver just in the time I was there. “It’s been very rewarding watching everyone compete and earn their medals. Even if they didn’t earn it’s been very rewarding watching them come out of themselves in their fights,” Coach Linda Brown says. “The atmosphere is completely different here, because the pressures on a little bit more, so it’s nice to see what they’re like under pressure… and they’ve all performed amazingly,” she nods.
“I feel great. It was awesome. I am just incredible,” says gold medal winner Finlay Stark. His competition lies on the floor with his feet elevated on a chair and his head cradled in his arms.
“They asked if he wanted a second round with me, and he said no,” he explains. “I battered him!” Finn says emphatically. “My confidence has been boosted massively,” he says, after explaining that he didn’t come here thinking he was going to win. The benefits of healthy competition are clear; “I think a lot of people got a lot of experience at a lot of different ability levels, and I think that it shows that whether you win or lose you learn something, so I think it’s been a good day.” Coach Asil Miralay says. “It’s super rewarding to see them do it, because it’s a challenge. And they have to put themselves up for it—it’s one thing for me to challenge them in the class and make them spar, but this is something where they have to put their name forward and they’re the ones at the end of the day who step on the mats. So I’m super proud of everyone who took part today, they’ve been awesome.” Az says, gesturing at the club dispersed across the hall. “Everyone fought really well. Very impressed and proud of everyone.” Alan Goldwater smiles, explaining how it is “very rewarding just to see how they’ve grown as individuals and as fighters” --a sentiment shared by Linda. “Win or lose, like I said, we’re so proud of them.”
“The best moment was when the three of our kids all fought together, and you [could] see the big change…literally, it was only like one point between each of them in the scores,” Alan explains, saying “it was really good to see how each of them have excelled in their sport.”
The mood was certainly high, with Josh saying "I feel absolutely wrecked...but I don't even feel like I've been hurt to be honest, but clearly I have if you could see my face right now!" He goes on to say "I feel over the moon, I feel very satisfied," about winning his division. Josh's opponent, silver medalist Giorgio, says "To be honest I feel like he deserved it, fair play to Josh, it was 50/50 both of our fights so I feel like 1,1 is the right result...I'd do it again."
Silver medalist Sam Hayes was full of adrenaline, noting that “I beat the hell out of a GB nationals [fighter].” He goes on to say “I feel good. Very good…I fought adults, and I won against one of them,” he nods, but isn’t satisfied. “Next time I’ll come out with a gold medal, I promise you.”
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