The second edition of the RCFA Winter War Championships was held with great success last weekend, with 140 fighters from around the country and abroad taking to the octagon at the Oewersig Hall on Saturday March 2.

The championships were organised by the Ring Contact Fighting Association’s (RCFA) local dojo, the White River Gryphons.

They were held for the first time in 2022 and were an instant success with RCFA dojos and fighters from all over South Africa enjoying the tournament.

The intention was to make it an annual event, but the Winter War took a break in 2023 due to scheduling clashes with other local events. In order to avoid the same problem this year, organisers moved the Winter War Championships to an earlier slot on the calendar – the beginning of March.

This proved great timing, as it’s a great way for fighters to shake off whatever weight they may have picked up during the festive holidays, in preparation for the event. This in turn puts the fighters in prime position to take on the rest of the year, which is most important as the RCFA Open World Championships are set to be held later this year.

On Saturday a full day of action lay in store for audiences and spectators. The main card’s events were only scheduled to start at 18:00 though, and these included a fight for the national title in the under-63kg super featherweight division. Fought at the end of the night, the title bout was a battle between defending champion, Brian Ntiwane, and title hopeful, Alwyn Deetlefs.

Scheduled to be a 10-round fight of two minutes per round and a one-minute break in between rounds, Deetlefs was determined to make quick work of acquiring his first national title. It took him only 77 seconds to dethrone Ntiwane and make the national title his through a first-round knockdown. Deetlefs will now be the holder of the title until next year’s RCFA Winter War Championships.

The remaining results from the main card were:

• Senior female open millenium
Marzanne Rademeyer won the bout against Letani Jacobs

• Senior male millenium under 75kg
Alwyn Verster won the bout against CG Steenkamp

• African stick fighting demo
Frik du Preez won the battle against Etienne van Eeden

• Exihbition male senior close combat under 65kg
Uli Ruthven won the bout against Duvan Vermaak

• Senior female semi-contact sport boxing under 90kg
The bout between Eliz-Marie de Jager and Karin Coetzee was declared a draw

• Senior female millenium under 65kg
Charné Mac Vay won the bout against Veruschke Lubbe

• Senior open male middleweight full contact sport boxing under 76kg
Gerhard van der Westhuizen won the bout against GJ Muller

• Senior male full contact low kicks under 66kg
Sizwe Nkosi won the bout against Paul Sanderson