It’s the willpower to work hard, even when you know that, physically, the odds are against you.
Xtreme Kickboxing Technologies’ (XKT) kickboxer and Brakpan resident Ryan Phillips overcame an illness that kept him out of training for three weeks, and proved exactly why he is the champion kickboxer that he is.
He had only four days to train and prepare for the South African Amateur Kickboxing Association’s (SAAKA) South African Championships, in Pretoria, recently.
The current Ekurhuleni Sportsman of the Year showed a lot of courage to go into his fights when he was not physically ready — and to emerge victorious.
Phillips stuck it out to win both the semi-contact and light-contact divisions.
His father and mentor, Shihan Raymond Phillips, of XKT, did not want his son to fight at the championships, but Ryan told him that he had worked hard for this opportunity and should at least give it his best shot.
His experience and guts proved to be the deciding factor as he stuck to his guns and picked up two national titles in Pretoria.
He has successfully won a South African title every year since 2004.
The XKT club itself became a member of SAAKA only in 2004, and since then has grown in leaps and bounds.
Some of the other fighters from XKT’s Brakpan branch who earned medals at the national championships are Sensei Matthew Dalton (silver), Vincent Whitley (silver and bronze), Frans de Bruin (silver and bronze) and Shihan Raymond Phillips (gold).
In the team events, Raymond was part of the “Ou Toppie” team who fought against the senior teams.
This team is made up of high ranking shihans (fifth to seventh degree black belts) and the experienced “Ou Toppies” also won the national title in their division.
