Phillips’ 40 years of excellence
With the Covid-19 pandemic forcing a lockdown in the country, Phillips shared words of encouragement.
Raymond Phillips has been involved with martial arts for over 40 years and he has not lost the passion for it.
The veteran trainer/administrator has not looked back since the day he first got involved in the sport.
“My dad had a business in a building and downstairs was a karate club,” he tells of how he joined in.
Over the years he has had many highlights as he has won numerous championships as a competitor.
“You always remember your first championship,” he said.
He has also been coaching as the owner of Xtreme Kickboxing Technologies (XKT) for more than three decades. In that time he has guided many fighters to glory.
He remembers the fighters fondly.
“As a father and a trainer I’ll always be proud of when my son (Ryan) won the world and national championships,”
Of course there have been others who went far in kickboxing and mixed martial arts with Phillips guiding them. The likes of Jake Els, JP Kruger, Tumisang Madiba, Francois Groenewald and Andrew Mariner have all had the local man looking after them.
In the meantime he has also started working as an administrator. He is a director of International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) and Mixed Martial Arts South Africa (MMASA).
The dream of the IMF is to have MMA as an Olympic sport.
“We will get there. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) can’t deny us,” said Phillips.
“We have met all their standards at our events. We also have Olympic style drug tests.”
So what does Phillips prefer between coaching and administrative work?
“I miss the coaching but somebody has to do the job (at IMMAF and MMASA),” he responds.
With the Covid-19 pandemic forcing a lockdown in the country, Phillips shared words of encouragement.
“Everybody wishes this for this coronavirus to be over so we can carry on with life,” he said.
“What’s important is that we mustn’t give up. We must stay positive and keep training.”
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