Eight fighters from EPiC Martial Arts, recently travelled to Jesolo in Italy, as part of Team GB to compete in the WAKO World Kickboxing Championships.
Under Head Coach, Andy Cleeves, they had completed a 12 week intensive fitness and training program, to ensure they were all physically and mentally prepared for the challenge that awaited them. The EPiC fighters were: Alex Fellender-Evans, 11, Harvey Tyler, 12, George Sherlock, 12, Terese Redgers, 12, Harrison Doyle, 13, Ellie Doyle, 13, Katie Williams, 15 & Kam Doyle, 17.
With 63 countries taking part and more than 2,000 competitors, this is the pinnacle of the sport, and Ellie had the proud honour of being picked as a flag bearer for the GB team at the opening ceremony.
The five days of fighting started on the Tuesday, with all semi-finals and finals being held on Friday and Saturday.
Club Captain, Kam, was competing in 3 disciplines, Points, Light Continuous and Kick Light and had 3 fights each day. He led from the front, with some phenomenal performances, stopping many opponents early due to his exceptional timing and technique. Fighting the world’s best, he looked another level above, and came away from the competition a double World Champion, and bronze medalist.
Youngest member of the team, Alex, followed up his European Title last year, by being crowned World Champion in his -28kg category, in an all GB final, beating his compatriot convincingly.
Further medals followed for Harvey Tyler, silver, who fought superbly all week, narrowly missing out on the World title to a strong Bulgarian fighter.
George Sherlock, competing for the first time for GB, also won a silver medal. He got through to the final after a nail-biting semi-final against an Italian fighter, coming back from 5 points down, to take the fight to extra time and then winning. The final was against a tough Hungarian fighter, and sadly he could not come back again and lost by a 2 point deficit.
Harvey and George, then had the honour of being selected to be in the Junior Cadet team and won a further silver medal in this event, losing out to a very strong Hungarian team in the final.
Katie Williams, another GB newbie, won a very well deserved bronze medal, losing out narrowly to the eventual category winner, a very talented German fighter. Katie kept her cool in her quarter final, coming from behind to take the fight to extra time and then winning in sudden death.
Head Coach, Andy said ‘being picked to represent your country is a huge honour, then to compete and contend for medals on the highest stage possible is a massive achievement. This demonstrates the high standards we promote at EPiC Martial Arts. I am hugely proud of all 8 fighters and the way they competed and conducted themselves amongst the World’s best fighters’.
