Kicks Kickboxing
Kickboxing originated in the mid-seventies in America under the guidance of the PKA (Professional Karate Association). It was initiated as a result of the frustration felt by many martial artists with the Karate Tournament Circuit. Initially known as Full Contact Karate with most of the original champions coming from a Karate background; Bill “Superfoot” Wallace, Joe Lewes, Benny “The Jet” Ugiduez it increasingly came to be known as kickboxing. Though some saw it as detrimental to traditional karate as it combined a mixture of styles and disciplines, others felt it opened the door to a more practical form of fighting.
Kickboxing came to the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and established itself as a demanding and exciting sport. Though martial arts are usually thought of in terms of a style or a system, kickboxing is an eclectic martial art that gives credit to most of the fighting arts in its application. The hand techniques of the boxer are combined with the kicks of many different martial arts from the orient.
Chris Kent, the founder of Kicks came from a Karate background into Kickboxing. He was the first British PKA Champion retiring undefeated after three years of competition, and rated 6th in the world.
Chris Kent is a 7th Degree awarded by the ISKA. In the eighties and nineties he was a major participator, promoter and teacher of kickboxing in the UK, Europe and the USA, though he has taken more of a backseat in the last few years. His fighters have toured world wide and been televised on SKY and EUROSPORT.
Fighters have included Professional Welter Weight World Champion Nick Clark and Professional Super Welter Weight World Champion Jim Caldecourt, Professional Super Welter Weight Intercontinental Champion Tom Montgomery, Amateur World Champion Anthony Hogbin, and Amateur World Flyweight and Professional European Champion Tiffany Williams.
Kicks was one of the first clubs to develop a grading syllabus and we offer a variety of classes to accommodate those from Beginners to Black Belt. Our classes are taught in a safe and structured way and meet the needs of both those who want to compete and those who want to train in order to improve their strength, suppleness and general levels of fitness.
We are very fortunate at Kicks Kickboxing to have always had a line of instruction which comes from our Chief Instructor Chris Kent and are proud of our achievements over the years. Chris Kent is still actively teaching; and both Juniors and Seniors are able to benefit from the strategic and technical nature of his classes. World Champion Jim Caldecourt is our main Brighton instructor and has been with our club right from the start of his training and fighting career. His invaluable knowledge and expertise is available to all levels and abilities due to the range of classes he teaches. He is part of the kicks grading panel and is also an ISKA Qualified Referee and Judge and can be seen on the circuit in this capacity.
Also teaching at Brighton Kicks, and at external clubs and venues, is European Champion Tiffany Williams. Tiffany specialises in Womens Only Classes. She also teaches mainstream grading classes, sits on the grading panel and enjoys ensuring students work to their maximum capacity. Shane Kent has been training, absorbing and studying martial arts all his life and instructs both at St Bedes School as well as running an energetic Circuit Class at the club every Sunday. Also on our Brighton team is Natania Lomberg who teaches at several outside venues as well as running our popular junior kickboxing on Saturday and specialising in Junior 1:1 sessions.
At our outside Kicks Clubs we have Instructor Mark Cox who has a longstanding popular Kicks Club in Peacehaven, and Donna Torrance and Clifton Davis who efficiently run the London Kicks, and regularly attend Brighton Kicks for training and grades. Also on our team are loyal and long standing Brighton Kicks Competitors and Members; Shah Amin and Peter Muffett who are always happy to step in when needed as fully qualified cover instructors.
Below is the list of the tiles won by Kicks Kickboxers over the years.
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1979 – 1982 |
2003 2004 2005 2008 2011 2012 2013 |
