For the Townsman
Huncar’s Warrior Arts sent nine fighters to a Muay Thai and Kickboxing tournament last weekend and they did our community proud.
The competitors included: Nova Bell, Ethan Gottinger, Mathew Gottinger, Dante Young, Lily Rudrum, Seth Ryley, Carter Duncan, Quinn Robertson and Daniel Burgess, all representing Huncar’s Warrior Arts.
They were supported by coaches Joel Huncar, Nat Rudrum and Bryan Cockwell.
The location of the tournament was Team Smandych Muay Thai in Calgary, in the Impact boxing gym. This is Calgary’s premiere Muay Thai gym and because Kru Trevor Smandych is such a well-known promoter over 100 fighters showed up for this event.
The rook was electric, filled with nervous energy and excitement. Fighters warmed up in all corners of the room and the small group from our town quietly took a small space and began to get ready for the day.
After warming up, the first to fight for the Cranbrook Team was Nova Bell. Nova fought hard to take home an impressive 2nd place medal in girls age 9 to 10 kickboxing.
Her fight was not painless and she took some hard shots like a champ. Nothing seemed to phase this little warrior as she answered every punch and kick with two of her own.
But not having a break between opponents proved to be a little much for her and her exhaustion showed in the second round of the championship fight. She narrowly got beat out of first place and showed true championship heart in winning her medal.
Next up were Ethan and Mathew Gottinger for boys ages 9 to 10 kickboxing. Unfortunately, Mathew got beaten out early in a very tight battle with a strong opponent.
Ethan, however, seemed to take his twin brother’s admirable loss personally and fought like he had something to prove.
Every boy who stood in front of Ethan was in for a battle. Like a true Warrior Ethan took very few steps back and pushed the pace.
His strong kicks and aggression made him blow through every fighter who stood in front of him, letting him go home with a very hard fought for first place medal.
Lily Rudrum and Dante Young were the next to compete for HWA in the boys and girls ages 11 to 13 kickboxing event. There weren’t enough girls to separate the boys and girls so Lily had to jump into a very hard division.
Unfortunately, Dante’s first fight was with his own teammate Lily and she had just finished fighting a tough opponent before him. They had a very respectful fight but Lily was just a little more aggressive and ended up getting the win.
Lily had to fight two more times and was exhausted and hurt by the time she went into her last fight. She had just come back from a summer of no training and had jumped into a tournament with very little preparation.
The fact that she came away with a third place medal in a very hard division is a testament to the potential of this little girl.
Not only that but she got a victory over on of HWA’s toughest young fighters by beating Dante Young. Young is a very experienced and accomplished fighter.
The next division had two of the fastest most exciting HWA fighters. Seth Ryley and Carter Duncan were in for some vicious fighting in the 14 to 15-year-old boys Kickboxing division.
Seth had a hard battle that could have gone either way with the boy who would eventually win the division.
Carter battled through some action packed rounds, defeating two very tough opponents in battles that were a total blur of action.
Fists and feet were flying and punishment was taken and given. Carter came away with a hard-earned second place medal and the respect of everyone watching the action in this amazing age group.
Quinn Robertson showed his amazing skills in the boys’ age 16-17 kickboxing division.
Quinn had one of the most technical fights of the day. Beautiful high kicks and vicious body kicks seem to be Robertson’s specialty. He landed some body kicks that made those watching wince and backed his opponent out of the ring.
Robertson owned the ring and was in control through his entire fight which gave him the first place medal and the satisfaction of a great performance under considerable pressure from a very skilled opponent.
The only adult to compete from the local gym was Daniel Burgess who brawled his way to two very hard won first place medals in Novice Men’s Kickboxing and Novice Men’s Muay Thai.
The highlight was when Burgess had an opponent disrespectfully punch him as he went to touch gloves.
Daniel fought hard but his opponent put him to the canvas with a hard uppercut. Burgess came back with a vengeance and clinched his opponent and fed him a flurry of vicious knees which put him down but not for the count.
They began battling again and Burgess again kneed his opponent to the canvas.
Burgess came away battered and sore but satisfied that he proved himself in a very tough test.
It is amazing that this little club from our town is able to prove itself time and time again. Being so far away from a major city Huncar’s Warrior Arts continues to prove that heart and hard work are all you need to build a gym filled with champions.