Tyson Hirscher came back shinning in gold after competing in the 2018 Muay Thai Canada National Championship.
The competition ran from Oct. 20 to 21 in Markham, Ont., where the 22-year-old received gold in the Heavyweight B Category by winning his two fights.
Hirscher had no problems in the ring, his first fight was against Isaac Weber and won by a unanimous decision. In the finals, he fought Curtis Westcott and won by a second-round technical knockout.
“It was a good time for me,” he said about being able to win both of his fights.
Hirscher said he’s not the typical guy who most would expect to be in the ring, especially because of his calm demeanour.
“When I get into the ring I’m definitely a different person for that six-minutes or whatever it is in the ring,” he said.
Practice is the best way for Hirscher to improve on his craft at Rocky Mountain Martial Arts Family Centre, and when he’s not working he can be found in the gym or kickboxing at least two to three times a week.
Hirscher started martial arts training eight years ago with Taekwondo, but six months later he started Muay Thai kickboxing.
“It’s a good way to push yourself. So, I started to go to the full-contact competitions because I found there was more of a challenge with full-contact opposed to light-contact,” he said.
This is the second national competition that Hirscher has been in where he was able to showcase how he is one of the best in Canada.
“It’s an honour to be part of it and push myself to see how far I can take it,” he said.
“I’ve had a lot of success so far. It’s more fuel to the fire to see how far I can go with it.”
Like many athletes, the dream is to compete for their country on the world’s highest stage in the Olympics, but Muay Thai is currently not part of the Olympics but has been gaining a lot of support for Olympic recognition.
The International Olympic Committee voted in 2016 to give Muay Thai provisional recognition of the sport, which means it will lay the groundwork for the sport to apply for inclusion into the Olympics.
“If that becomes the case then this Muay Thai Canada National Championship will be the gateway to the Olympics. That would definitely be a dream goal,” said Hirscher.
Muay Thai is a martial art that originated in Thailand and is known as the “Science of Eight Limbs” because of its techniques of using fists, elbows, knees and shins as weapons.
Hirscher is preparing for his next fight on Dec. 1, he will be in Airdrie, Atla., which will be an amateur Muay Thai fight.
“It’s another fight to get more experience under my belt,” he said.
For those who are interested in getting into Muay Thai, Hirscher says not to care how good you are but to keep at it.
“The biggest thing is the perseverance, just keep trying. If you like something just keep pushing and great things can happen if you put your mind to it,” he said.