(L to R) (back row) Mikail, Jack, Oliver, Yifei and Christopher. (front row) Daniel, Antonio, Muriel with head coach Massimo and corner assistant Mila.

On Sunday the 29^th May CARISMA sent a team of 8 keen kickboxers to the Swaffham Beatdown 3, a kickboxing competition organised by Trevor Davis who is the head coach at the Swaffham Kickboxing Academy. It was a great day for CARISMA with a rich collection of wins and proud moments to bring home.

Daniel Coward, Antonio Pintilie and Jack Sheehan won brilliantly their first ever fight. Same for Muriel Gehring who recently joined the club while studying in Cambridge; she accepted to fight twice and won with relative ease both the first and second fight of her kickboxing career. Christopher Jackson, the more experienced CARISMA athlete at this event, also accepted a double fight who he secured both victories with unanimous decisions. Yifei Liu accepted a boxing fight due to lack of opponent in kickboxing; he draw against a visibly more experienced opponent. Mikail Sheikh lost again fellow CARISMA fighter Antonio who had to put serious effort to secure this victory. Last, but surely not least, Oliver Wilson lost his first fight against a taller, heavier and visibly more experienced opponent who nonetheless had a good run for his money.

Massimo Gaetani, head coach for CARISMA, commented “I am so proud of these great results and the amazing experience that these fighters had, some as young as 14 years old” and he added: “after 2 years of slow or no activities due to the pandemic we are back to training as hard as ever and bring home great results from these regional competitions”.