Sheffields Current Kickboxing Scene

[chefkicker]

Hi Westley I will adress your points one by one .

I respect your views but as a forward thinking person do not agree with all of them.

 

1.I think I, along with anyone that had an understanding of Thai Boxing, would class it as Muay Thai, the fighting art originating from Thailand and before that Siam.

 

Ok so you would class what Woodseats does as MT? Fair enough , you are right but what they practise is a "dutch form" of MT more based towards kickboxing scoring i.e. more like K-1 style. The way forward in my view.

 

 

 

 

2.Thai Boxing should be taught as Thai Boxing, the full range of techniques that can all be used in the ring, and if a gym can also teach them to be applied in different situations also then that is even better.

I think it important that Thai boxing be taught as Thai boxing without any un-needed additions - especially where participants wish to compete, as a stand up art it is considered by many to be complete, I think the proof is in the pudding - watch most Muay Thai bouts that consist of 1 fighter schooled only in Muay Thai and the other having bits and bobs of everything and I think the evidence is clear.

 

That is your opinion and you are welcome to it. MT scoring is not palatable to a western audience which is why K-1 style of scoring/ fighting and training is the way forward.

 

3.I know you have done some Muay Thai training as on your site there is a photo of you at Sandy Holts gym holding some form of certificate, but ask Sandy Holt if he teaches a form of kick boxing or was taught a form of kick boxing by Master Sken and I'm pretty sure you'd get told he was taught Thai Boxing and teaches Thai Boxing - no fancy pants or moon boots round his gym

 

Very true BUT, Neil Holden was taught by Sken and Sandy in MT.

Neil markets his club as warrington kickboxing studios,... and runs the AKA league.

Also not all kickboxing wear padded boots not all kickboxing wear long pants. Referring to an american version known as Full Contact perhaps?

Full contact was born in the 1970's and is the hybrid child of Boxing and Taekwondo.

 

 

4.I guess I wouldn't need to draw a line, Thai Boxing is Thai Boxing and kick boxing is not. Thai Boxing is steeped in history where as kick boxing is only a fraction the age of Thai Boxing (so I guess you could say that kick boxing is a modified variation of Thai Boxing yes..), however I don't think it's essential a gym teaches the history or culture of Muay Thai, there are several very succesful gyms in England that don't

 

Again a good comment BUT specifically what would you call thai and what would you call kick in terms of techniques?

 

Keep it going !

Regards

Farhad

[chefkicker]

There will soon be a new forum coming up where you can discuss sheffields kickboxing scene further.

 

Watch this space

[chefkicker]

The most exciting division has got to be the LIGHT WELTERWEIGHT and WELTERWEIGHT divisions.

 

We have names such as Lewis Stokes, Darren Marsden , Simon Marsden ,Amjed Shaffique, Scott Sykes, Sunny Singh ,Paul Cropper and Rik Veevers.

 

Perhaps to a lesser extent we could have included Wajid Shaffique if and when he laces those gloves on to have a go. He has expressed an interest in

having a go using Sunny Singh as a warm up / target practise for his debut fight in Full contact.

 

Simon Marsden :

The BUMAC king!!! This fighter ruled the BUMAC tournament since the first proper event where he beat Steve Hawker (AFK) in the final, after Steve had KO'd his brother (Darren) with a head kick.

Hi unbeaten record was broken when he lost to Rik Veevers (who is im lead to believe a European Taekwondo champion?) in a battle of epic proportions.

 

On the most recent BUMAC, Simon regained his number one spot by beating newcomer Lewis Stokes in the final.

[chefkicker]

Other light welters/welterweights.

 

Darren Marsden :

The wily old veteran who forgot somewhere down the line to quit.

Darren Marsden first made his mark on sheffield's scene in the BUMAC event.

He holds a win over Paul Cropper(LAU GAR) (the fresh young novice who stopped Rik Veevers after his emphatic win over Simon marsden.).

Darren is fast, has accurate and powerful high kicks with good ringcraft and evasion skills.

Sadly his lungs are not what they used to be and that affects his work rate.

References to his loss to Lewis Stokes (Black Dragons).

 

Paul Cropper :

A relative novice to the kickboxing scene. Paul stopped European Taekwondo champion Rik Veevers inside a minute with a barrage of uppercuts.

Paul fought on the AFK show against a tough london based Afghani lad named Majeid.

Paul lost a close decision but gave a good account of himself.

 

Paul Cropper will face Thaiboxer from the north east named Afjol Miah under K-1 rules!

 

Both of them have good hands so its hard to tell which way this will go.

 

Lewis " THE ELIMINATOR" Stokes

This exciting and popular young fighter hails from the Black Dragon School of kickboxing under the tutelage of Claude Evans.

His appearance on the scene showed him defeating the veteran Darren Marsden in the elimination rounds giving im the name of "the Eliminator".

He has a fast and aggressive boxing style and thankfully the right head on his shoulders.

Lewis' latest outing was against Naz Khan from AFK. A fight that ended in controversy.

Lewis cut down to 60kg ,Naz came up from Featherweight (57k) to 59kg so the match could be made at light weight.

 

Lewis will face Adam Lawrence (Lau Gar) in his next outing.

[chefkicker]

Other fighters in the lightwelter/welter weight divisions include:

 

Sunny The snake Singh (AFK) :

On his first outing in competition he walked through the northern university championships gaining a Gold medal and the title of northern student champion.

A month later he fought on the dinner show in Derby winning his title belt against Sam Gover from Teeside University.

 

Wonderful Wayne Betts (AFK/Marsdens) :

Wayne has his first match on the BUMAC against his good friend/neighbour and instructor Simon Marsden.

He fought on many different circuits mainly the BUMAC as well as the student circuit.

Memorable fights for him have been:

BKO Lightweight title:

Should have won that fight but the decision went to Dave Aitken due to dubious judging.

University events:

Wayne ploughed through the northern university championships in the welterweight division winning GOLD then fought in derby on a dinner show.

Wayne walked through Saf Ahmed from Loughborough to win the British student title.

On the BUMAC circuit, there is no Welterweight division (Like i said Stupid weight divisions , but hey dont blame me, I dont write the rulebook )

Wayne weighs in at 67/68kg and so has to fight middleweight (-75kg) in the BUMAC:

 

He has fought the following in that division:

1. He lost to the finals against the highly rated KO specialist Julian Bramold from Marsdens.

Julian has only ever lost to Jospeh Fanous (AFK) and Hamza Majeid (Kurdistan).

2.He lost to Richard Mayo (Black dragons) again in the -75kg finals of the BUMAC.

3.He has beaten up and coming prospect Daniel Renshaw (Black Dragons)

 

Two more prospects there

[chefkicker]

Other names worth mentioning are:

 

Scott Sykes(SDF) , Amjed Shaffique (AFK)

 

Both of them have interesting fighting records. Coming soon when i have more time to type.

[ETOB]

What????????????????????? Shame on you Farad, I've trained with Darren ( and Simon ) for nearly three years and he is one of the finest martial artists around. Funny thing is, I've never seen you get the upperhand on him when you've come down and trained at Marsden's All Style.

His loss to Lewis Stokes wasn't due to tired lungs, he was trying a change of tactic where you let the opponent give it their all and then come back at them (Mohammed Ali used it a great deal). Unfortunately for Daz, he didn't pull it off.

I think you should appologise for these derogatory comments as you might cause offense.

 

Long live Marsdens All Style ( Home of king Simon and wonderful Wayne Betts).

 

Darren Marsden :

The wily old veteran who forgot somewhere down the line to quit.

Darren Marsden first made his mark on sheffield's scene in the BUMAC event.

He holds a win over Paul Cropper(LAU GAR) (the fresh young novice who stopped Rik Veevers after his emphatic win over Simon marsden.).

Darren is fast, has accurate and powerful high kicks with good ringcraft and evasion skills.

Sadly his lungs are not what they used to be and that affects his work rate.

References to his loss to Lewis Stokes (Black Dragons)

[chefkicker]

ETOB

You have your opinion and are entitled to it.

My comments are not derogatory they are based on my experience as an official.

RE: me or darren getting better of the other, sparring is sparring. i.e. light controlled sparring is playing around which is a learning experience NOT a fight.

Now how can you use Mohammed Ali tactics in a single round light continuous bout???

Your post there just showed your lack of understanding of the ringsport itself.

 

Now if you want to know who would win out of Lewis or Darren in a 3 rounder, Simon has my number and I can make things happen.

[ETOB]

Mmmmm, sparring is playing around?

 

Why the protective head gear and gum shield when sparring then?

 

Is it just to look the part?

 

You could pull the Ali tactic off in one round. Let the opponent think you've got nothing and then bam, the ellement of surprise. Although I must agree it isn't a good tactic for one round when you've got to show everything you're capable of.

 

But I really do think you've been unfair with your comments about Daz.

[chefkicker]

Mmmmm, sparring is playing around?

 

Why the protective head gear and gum shield when sparring then?

 

Is it just to look the part?

 

You could pull the Ali tactic off in one round. Let the opponent think you've got nothing and then bam, the ellement of surprise. Although I must agree it isn't a good tactic for one round when you've got to show everything you're capable of.

 

But I really do think you've been unfair with your comments about Daz.

 

Sparring is sparring and fighting is fighting. End of!

I dont think im unfair about my comments of Darren.

What ever happened in that fight he lost. Fair enough about whatever you said but that didnt happen.

Now would you say that the outcome in a 3 round bout would be different?

Daz is a good martial artist but dont forget he is not 25 anymore (not being disrespectful just being truthful) and doesnt have the stamina of some of the younger fighters.

Now if he did, he would be competing on night shows as opposed to BUMAC tournament.

In fact in my heart of hearts, i think both of them are "overqualified" to be fighting at that level.

Myself and Claude from black dragons only enter novices in that tournament then have them step up for the night shows after having a taste of the mat.