Kickboxing cop packs a punch
Local Hawks officer shines in SAPS National Kickboxing Championships.
It takes hard work and dedication but Sgt Michelle Esterhuizen isn’t afraid to put in the hours.
Not only is she an officer for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) or Hawks as they are known, based at the Germiston Police Station, she is also a mother of four, a wife and a kickboxer to be reckoned with.
Esterhuizen, a Witfield resident, has been based in Germiston since 2009 and her job entails investigating serious commercial crimes, fraud and corruption.
“I enjoy my job immensely,” she said.
“I came to South Africa in 1996 from Northampton in the UK and got involved with the police by becoming a reservist in 1998.
“By 2002 I had become a permanent SAPS member.”
Married to Stanley, Esterhuizen has four children namely, Holly (20), Thomas (19), Daniel (16) and Stephan (8) and told the GCN that she manages to fit in everything she needs to by making sure every minute counts.
She has been doing kickboxing privately for four years and is trained by JP Kruger at the House of Tinkerbell.
“I was incredibly unfit and decided to start running,” Esterhuizen said.
“I used to do kickboxing years ago but got lazy and then a friend encouraged me to start training again to help me with my fitness.
“Now when I walk into the gym it is like my second home and the people are my other family.”
Esterhuizen trains twice a day, six days a week.
She trains at home in the mornings from 5am to 6am and then on a Monday and Wednesday afternoon she has kickboxing training and on a Tuesday, Thursday and Friday afternoon she goes to gym, on Sundays she runs 10 to 15km.
All this discipline has paid off as Esterhuizen recently won two gold medals (against female SAPS members) and one silver medal (against a male from an invitational club), as well as two trophies (one for best female and the other for most improved female in kickboxing) at the SAPS National Kickboxing Championships which took place in Durban.
“I compete in light contact kickboxing and last year I achieved a third position at the championships so I am very happy with my achievement this year,” Esterhuizen said.
“I was actually surprised by my results, I didn’t expect to do that well.”
Esterhuizen added that the SAPS encourages its members to take part in sport and now she needs to train especially hard to maintain the standard she achieved at this year’s championships as people will be training in order to beat her.
She has the following advice for people wishing to get fit and active.
“When you start it’s not easy but you need to keep going and pushing yourself.
“You will soon get more energy and it will become an ‘addiction’ and something you enjoy doing,” she said.
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