Ruimsig kickboxer wins gold

Twenty-year-old JD Moolman entered his first ring fight as a kickboxer during The Rise of the Warriors Fifth Tournament and came out on top.

The tournament is part of the South African Kickboxing Association’s Developmental tournaments.

JD explained how he started boxing at the end of last year and his training progressed to kickboxing three months later.

His coach, Wade Rendall from Triple Threat Dojo, exclaimed that JD did very well during the fight.

“He is quite a grounded student and a very fast learner,” he elaborated.

JD chuckled and explained that at the dojo they call him Anti-Flash.

“It’s because I have really fast reflexes so it’s inspired by The Flash but our gym already has someone called Flash, so we then decided I’ll be the villain aka Anti-Flash.”

He explained that although this was his second fight in general, being his first ring fight it was extremely nerve-wracking.

“It was quite a big stage and there was a large crowd so it got to my nerves a bit, it is still new to me so I’m still getting used to it but overall I had a great experience,” he exclaimed, “with coach Wade in my corner he helped me keep calm and guided me to a hard-fought win.”

Thinking back, JD explained that he has always been a sportsman with a mindset of being the best at what he does.

“There are so many great fighters out there that are on a completely different level to me, I just aspire to be as good or even better than them.”

JD’s goal for the near future is to ‘compete in more fights more regularly and hopefully start going to national competitions’.

“I won’t stop until I eventually win a belt,” he concluded.