Mari-Louise van Staden: My Kickboxing Dream

My name is Mari-Louise van Staden
and I would like to tell you a little about myself. I was born in Pretoria and I have
stayed here my whole life. I am 14 years old and in Grade 8 at Tuine High School
in Pretoria Gardens.

A few years ago, I lived for dance
and music, I attended dance classes and became very good at it. One day I
decided to join my two brothers and my mother at their kickboxing classes and
that was the end of my dance career.

Soon I found myself competing in
competitions. Two years later, I earned my Gauteng North colours (2004) and
become SA Champion in two modes.

I qualified for the SA team but due
to the shortage of sponsorship, I missed out on the trip. In 2005 I represented
Gauteng North again and won two gold medals at the SA Championship and qualify
again for SA colours.

It was a dream come true in May
2006; my mother, brother and I flew to Greece to represent my country at
the WPKA Championships, and we all received our SA Colours.

I was very proud to wear the Green
and Gold, my own Springbok colours. The standards were very high over seas and
I fought against girls from Ireland,
Wales and England and
walked away with two silver medals. It was a great honour and great experience.
Greece
is a lovely country with great places to see.

I started to do Full contact
kickboxing at the beginning of this year and enjoy it so much that I started to
do Thai boxing also. I was invited to participate in Cape Town at an "All Girls"
tournament in celebration of National Women’s day and won a gold medal. It was
the first ever "All Girls" tournament held in South Africa.

At the end of this year I will grade
to junior black belt, and one of my goals is to start my own club and teach
other girls my skills.

At the SA Championships in Durban this year I won
three gold medals and became the SA Champion in three divisions – Light
Contact, Full Contact and Thai Boxing. I also received a silver medal in Semi Contact.

I hope to qualify again for National
Colours in 2008, the team will be announcing in November this year. To obtain
your National colours is a very costly affair and due to the fact that
Kickboxing is new and unknown sport sponsorships are not freely available, and
my parents have to provide.

When people hear that I do
Kickboxing they can’t believe it, a small girl like me in a hard and tough
sport like Kickboxing. They ask me time and again if I am not afraid to get
hurt, but Kickboxing is a very safe sport due to the fact that very strict
rules concerning safety are applied. We must always wear our safety equipment;
head gear, mouth guard, breast & Groin protection, gloves, shin guard and
kickers.

Since I started doing Kickboxing, I
have become very confidence in life, and due to the fact that we train so hard (sometimes
5 times a week), I am mentally and physically very fit. Recently, I entered
road running events to improve my fitness.

When I am not training I love to
spend time with my family and visit my grandparents in Durban. I love to do things with my friends
like ice-skating, swimming, dancing, fishing, boat riding and bike riding.

My message to all the girls out
there, take a chance and start doing Kickboxing. I am sure you will like it,
and soon Kickboxing will be a big part of your life.