A Centretown martial arts gym is sending a team of four fighters to the U.S for an international “Muay Thai” competition.
Muay Thai, commonly referred to as “the art of eight limbs,” is a type of martial art characterized by the use of fists, elbows, shins, and feet in a stand-up position to defeat an opponent. Similar to the sport of boxing, a Muay Thai bout is evaluated by judges who determine a victor based on the number of successful strikes landed or the ability of a fighter to knock out his opponent.
The second annual StriKing Amateur Muay Thai tournament, being held Nov. 7-9 in Muskogee, Oklahoma, will feature fighters from Mexico, Canada and the United States, and is the first tournament of the year for the team at Ottawa Fight and Fitness.
The team, which trains at the club located at the corner of Bank and Gladstone streets in Centretown, has maintained an undefeated record against other Ottawa fight clubs in recent single fight events, such as the “Throwdown in O-town” and the “Chinatown Beat Down,” according to head coach Sacha Hijazi.
Hijazi says he hopes this tournament will be a learning experience for the team, especially for younger and less experienced fighters, such as Derek McConnery, 28, and 19 year-old Kevin-koudbi Lapierre.
For McConnery, it’s his first fight in Muay Thai after playing varsity basketball for Carleton University from 2005 to 2010.
At 230 pounds and fighting as a heavyweight, McConnery says he expects to feel some nerves when he sets foot in the ring this weekend.
“I’ve competed a lot in my life so I think once the initial excitement and nervousness passes I expect to compete hard,” McConnery says. “I’m pretty athletic and big so I hope that and my dedicated training will carry me through this weekend.”
A pair of more experienced fighters, Nick McKenna and Matt Sicard, round out the team making the trek to Oklahoma.
McKenna, fighting as a welterweight at 165 pounds, says he expects to continue his recent success, including wins in both of his matches this year.
“I expect nothing but to win,” McKenna says. “It’s a big part of my life. I’ve made a lot of sacrifices to get here so I expect to go in there, get three Ws (wins) and come out as a champion.”
Just days before the team was scheduled to fly to Oklahoma, and with little left to be done physically to prepare themselves for the tournament, Sicard said: “We are just looking to keep it sharp with our endurance and making sure our conditioning is on point for the weekend.”
The team is accepting donations through their “makeachamp.com” campaign to help cover the costs of plane tickets and hotels for the four fighters and two coaches making the trip.
The team has raised about $1,200 so far, more than half of the team’s $2,000 target, according to the campaign website.
While Sicard and his teammates are focused on winning this weekend, Hijazi insists that, win or lose, it’s important each fighter learn something from the experience. “It’s just a matter of learning. Winning never hurts, it’s always fun, but I found my most memorable fights, and the ones I learned the most from, were the ones I lost,” Hijazi says. “It’s not just about winning or losing but its about how you fight and the things you learn during the fight and growing from it afterwards.”