Kickboxing runs in the family

At the Mile High Kickboxing and Shidokan Club, two fighters like to keep it in the family.

Jo-Ane and Jannie Barnard are the club’s kickboxing duo who have been nothing less than successful in their kickboxing career, and this at a young age. Jo-Ane is a learner at Laerskool Gerrit Maritz while her brother, Jannie, is a learner at Hoërskool Jan Viljoen.

The siblings recently took part in the annual Arnold Classic where Jo-Ane took home the bronze and Jannie took home gold and silver in two different fighting categories.

In addition, both have been chosen to be part of the Gauteng Kickboxing Team. The siblings were also chosen to represent the country in the 10th annual World Martial Arts Championships where 15 other countries participated.

Even though the pair were on the world stage at such a young age, they managed to overcome the magnitude of the event and held the country, town and their club’s name high.

Jo-Ane won the gold in her weight class and earned the title of World Champion in her weight division. Her brother won bronze in his weight class and came third out of the world’s best fighters in his weight division.

The two fighters do more than just themselves proud – they represent their schools, club, town, province and country, and do so with their heads held high.

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