In May 2022 four young people from Respect Martial Arts Academy, who operate from Aylesbury, qualified to represent England at the International Combat Organisation (ICO) World Championships held in Hungary in October 2022.
Casey 9yrs, Kainaath 12yrs, Josh 15yrs and Hasham 16yrs were extremely excited to have earned this opportunity. This was a major achievement for the small club. It was a huge deal for the Sensei, Gregg Oliver, to take the children abroad to compete for the first time as a club. The children showed huge commitment in order to represent England. Along with their normal daily training they attended England training camps at the weekends, as well as other competitions across the UK.
Kickboxing is a self-financed sport and the trip to Hungary to compete at the World Championships was costly. The club heard about William Harding’s Charity and made an application for a grant towards the cost of the children’s expenses. We were lucky enough to receive the full amount requested.
The group competed in a mix of Kata, Points, Light Contact and Ring Divisions across two days. Their performance was outstanding. Between the four of them they came home with 9 Gold medals, 3 Silver medals and 2 Bronze medals. All four of them came home a World Champion!
As a small club from Aylesbury we are extremely grateful for the chance given to us by William Harding’s Charity.