The Cambridge University Kickboxing Society celebrated a great success with 2 national titles at the University Kickboxing Championships 2009 held in Canterbury, Kent on Sunday 1 March.  Heidi Holmes from Darwin College, fighting in the under 58Kg category, managed to defeat 3 opponents before qualify for the final and winning brilliantly against a very skilled opponent. James Waddell from Magdalene College, fighting in the under 82Kg category, managed to defeat 4 opponents in order to qualify for the final and winning by unanimous decision against a very aggressive opponent.

University Championship 2009

CUKBS had large group of participants including people that just 10 days before were fighting in the Varsity match against Oxford: unfortunately though none of the Varsity winners could make this event. Other fighters representing CUKBS were: Heley Matthews, Leo Schwartz, Sam Goldsheider, Peter Stovall, Frank Gorringe, Dinike Jayamaha and Ian Chau: the last three fighting in their first competition.

The competition hosted over 200 fighters from university kickboxing clubs from around the country and it was a true challenge given the house rules: full contact was allowed to the body while controlled (light) contact was required for face strikes.

Massimo Gaetani, head coach for CARISMA and CUKBS commented: “I am extremely pleased of these results.  At this competition as well as during the Varsity match we demonstrated that superior technique is a winning factor. Now at our second year of collaboration I can see a great improvement in the performance of the individual members as well as a very strong motivation of the team as a whole.    We are already training toward next years competitions”

Leo Schwartz, CUKBS president, added: “We were extremely happy with the way CUKBS performed at the University Championships. All our fighters acquitted themselves with style and showed a lot of fighting spirit. Standing out was James Waddell’s devastating round-kicks to the head and spinning-back side kicks. Heidi also devastated two of her opponents in the first round with relentless combos resulting in two technical knockouts in her first two bouts! We were disappointed to find out that Frank after decimating his poor opponent with obviously superior technical skill was failed by the judges decision but are confident he will prove a fearsome opponent in future years. Finally all our boys in the 82kg and below category did fantastically, all reaching the semi-finals with a good combination of punching and kicking techniques executed in fluid combinations. Many thanks to all those who helped out, the future looks very promising for CUKBS”

We would like to thank Soren for the precious help in dealing with the organizers and support with the coaching, Chris for photos and driving and Bradley for the video filming.