Everyone that does something exceptional does it their own way. This series of ‘Training with…’ articles seeks to find out the individual details that make Australia’s best fighters tick. Wayne Parr lets JARROD BOYLE in on a few of his secrets. Continue reading →
Darren ‘The Riddler’ Reece has been one of the key players in Australian Muay Thai. He began as a distinguished fighter and progressed to training some of Australia’s most skilled and most popular fighters. Last issue we spoke to Eugene ‘Boom Boom’ Ekkelboom, and this issue JARROD BOYLE sat down with Chris ‘Tiger’ White to talk world titles, bronze medals, winning big in Thailand and the changing of the guard. Continue reading →
If there was one incident that made me wonder about people who make fighting their profession, it was the day I found myself in the shower with Alistair Overeem. Continue reading →
For a Thai boxer, Eugene’s Ekkelboom’s career started relatively late. It is, however, studded with impressive highlights. He can also lay claim to a remarkable piece of trivia; the only bone he has ever broken is his nose. Continue reading →
Lucy Tui and I commentating for 'Eruption' in 2010
International Kickboxer Magazine Vol.18, No.6
For Lucy Sassen Tui, fighting was in her blood; her father had been the New Zealand heavyweight amateur boxing champion in 1954. She was one of nine children, closest in age to her brother, so she found herself joining in with the boys at playtime. “I was very sporty,” she remembers. “I did a lot of athletics while I was at school, and I held the record for the 100-yard dash as a teenager.” This was an excellent base for her martial arts training, which began like so many other kickboxers – in Kyokushin karate.
Every fighter who is exceptional does it after their own fashion. In a fundamental sense, this is logical. The easiest fighters to read are the textbook ones; you can read them because, well, their technique looks exactly like it should. A lot of the time, the most dangerous people are unorthodox, because they don’t look like anything you’ve seen before. This principle holds true not only for the way a fighter executes technique, but also penetrates all the way into training. This series of articles will spend time with several exceptional fighters and come up with the goods on what makes them unique. A good part of it is physiology and talent, but it has everything to do with doing things differently. Continue reading →