If Buffy’s fight scenes had you dreaming of becoming a martial arts master, then kick-boxing classes could be the answer. Ann Chadwick meets kicking king Dave Hyett to find out more about the fun way to get seriously fit. WHEN the karate kid grew up, he became a kick-boxer. I’m not talking about the character in the cult Eighties movie of the same name, but Guernsey’s very own karate kid, Dave Hyett.
Like the fictional character, Daniel, Dave was little. He couldn’t defend himself and was bullied at school. So he took up karate.
It wasn’t a spiritual journey. Unlike the movie, Dave never met a Far Eastern guru with a goatee. He wasn’t told to wash cars in circular hand movements, or stand on one leg like a flamingo, kicking a leg up, and landing on the other. Nor did he snip at bonsai with his nail scissors. But it did transform his life.
‘It gave me self-confidence more than anything else. I think it’s one of those things, if you really get into it, you grow as a person. I ended up wanting to learn everything I could.’
Now, at 32, Dave has spent just over half his life studying martial arts and is passing on these skills at his classes at Mont Arrive.
Kick-boxing, despite several TV fans’ impressions to the contrary, didn’t originate from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but from karate.
It developed during the mid-Seventies when karate practitioners became frustrated with its limitations. They wanted kicks and punches to roll with, so ‘full contact’ karate was born, commonly known as kick-boxing.
Even if there are no vampires in your vicinity, kick-boxing is useful - and not for kicking other people’s butts, but your own. We’re not just talking getting into shape here either.
‘Your personality changes,’ said Dave. ‘If you’re passive, it makes you confident and if you’re aggressive, it makes you passive. It’s a weird thing.
‘If you are shy, because you’re sparring, you get to confront your fears. You get more self-confidence.’
And this can have a ripple effect on the rest of your life. Dave does a lot of acting (he was last seen in the Gadoc pantomime). He said it gives him more confidence on stage and it’s made him tougher.
‘It sounds weird but my pain threshold is high, so if I get hurt, I generally heal quicker. I’ve only had one serious injury and that was a broken jaw in a tournament last year. That’s because it was a mismatch - he was too heavy.’ A broken jaw? And that wasn’t enough to contemplate yoga instead, I ask?
‘It’s something I love so I couldn’t stop.
I did have a bit of fear, but you override it if it’s what you love. Any sportsman would feel like that.’
And this is a serious sport. Dave is putting Guernsey on the map. He and his team have done tournaments and not just in Jersey. Last year in Canada they teamed up with Jersey and came third in the world.
‘We have trophies - it’s nice to have something, to get something back from it. For a small island, we can still achieve, which a lot of people don’t believe in, but they can.’
Kick-boxing is about empowering his pupils. But Dave insists it is not about promoting violence.
‘It’s about beating their own personal goals.’
Lisa Jones is 21 and started kick-boxing three years ago. She used to live in the UK but went to school in Guernsey. She came back for holidays and ended up staying.
When she was in the UK, Lisa’s best friend’s brother kick-boxed and told her it was good for self-defence. She wanted to know how to protect herself.
‘I was attacked going home once in the UK. I wasn’t hurt but the guy went for me,’ Lisa said. ‘It was just knowing that if he’d hit me, I would have been knocked out and God knows what would have happened.
‘But I blocked him and it was enough to give me time to run. That was part of my motivation for self-defence. You hope you never have to use it.’
She knows a few friends who do it because they were bullied. It’s not about attacking, but about protection.
‘Nobody’s here to be violent or hurt people. There’s not a single person here for that reason.’
Juris Belovs, a 25-year-old Latvian, is also in it for protection. He started training in Latvia three years ago. He’s been in Guernsey for seven months.
‘I used to work in security. And I need to be strong. It’s self-defence and to help deal with other people. And it’s good for getting rid of bad emotions.’
Lisa said, she doesn’t feel intimidated by the macho image of the sport. Despite being the only female there that night, she said there are a handful of regulars.
‘This particular crew never make you feel threatened. They were very welcoming. And they’re conscious you are female and help you. If you were sparring, they wouldn’t train as hard with you as they would with one of the guys. Particularly once you get to know them. They look scary but they’re not,’ she laughed.
As we chatted, the rest of the group was doing a warm-up, although it looked more like a workout. Jogging in a circle, then stopping suddenly and jogging backwards, then hitting the floor to do press-ups.
‘The main reason people do it is for the exercise factor and it’s enjoyable. You build up the fitness,’ said Lisa. ‘The first time I did it I thought I’d collapse at the end, but the great thing is you can take it at your own pace. You build up stamina. Everyone aches for days afterwards. But the best thing about Dave is he pushes you to your full potential.’The other thing it’s great for is stress.
‘You can see them getting it out of their system. It’s done in a safe, controlled environment,’ said Lisa. ‘They’re not going out starting fights.’
Talking to a handful of the men all in their late teens and early 20s, it seems, if anything, kick-boxing puts you on the straight and narrow.
‘It’s given me more confidence in myself, maybe more self-respect and you get fit,’ said 25-year-old mechanic Steve Sarre.
Steve has been competing for two years and when he’s got a tournament, he trains every day.
‘I run three miles in the morning and come here or go to the gym in the evening. I have an early night, rest, get up again for another run, but walk and sprint to shock the system, then up here to do bag work.’
He is dedicated but also strives to keep it in perspective.
‘I take little steps back. Doing it so much, it’s so intense you need a break. When you’re at work, you think of it. You drift into thinking about certain moves.
‘It can be a disciplined existence and impact on your social life. They’re out getting drunk but I can’t do that. Sometimes it’s a pain, but you live with it. I enjoy being competitive. It’s not an easy sport to do. You have to stick at it to progress. A lot of hard work.’
Dave caters for every stage. If you want to get fit, compete or just hit a bag. On Saturdays, he trains a group of women who work for a bank in his beginner’s group, purely as a way to get rid of stress. Friendships are made and it’s a sure way to get fit.
Andrew Beausire, 19, is also a mechanic and has been kick-boxing for just over a year.
‘There’s a sense of taking control. And it’s one of the best forms of fitness.’
And it is always challenging.
‘You have to have patience and listen. It’s a never-ending learning process. You feel more agile, more confident and you get quite a lot of respect competing.’
And like the others, if he walks into trouble outside, he walks away.
‘You keep it in the gym.’
Except, of course, when it comes to vampires.
* Contact Dave, pictured above, for more information on
07781 122 372. Classes are Wednesday at 8pm, Sunday at 5pm and Saturday, for beginners,
Article posted on 29th March, 2005 - 12.00am
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