Jungle war in Newlands
Spectators got their money's worth when they witnessed a jungle war.
It was Jungle War at the Danie van Zyl Recreation Centre this past weekend.
The event pitted South Africa’s young kickboxers against their Namibian counterparts. The international competition was hosted by the Ring Contact Fighting Art International (RCFAI) and the youngsters who impressed have a chance to earn their Martial Arts South Africa colours.
Those selected will be participating in the Battle of Atlanta event in June this year. Chairman of RCFAI, Master Joe Viljoen attended the matches along with executives from the South African and Namibian national teams. Sports heroes Hekkie Budler and Brandon Mashele also supported the day’s matches. Athletes as young as seven participated in the different matches on display, such as semi contact, full contact and low kick. They were judged on points.
“I want to get as many people as possible involved in a sport that did so much for me. Our goal is to develop hand-and-foot coordination, self-discipline and confidence. We also wish to develop trainers, managers, promoters, judges and referees. It does not matter if you are an individual trainer, promoter or organisation, RCFAI accepts all serious participants to stimulate participation in the art across the world. The aim is for all organisations to work together towards a common goal,” said Master Joe.
From becoming the first kickboxing world champion in South Africa to training many point fighters and world professional kickboxing champions, Master Joe has had a long and adventurous time in martial arts. As a young man he started off with amateur wrestling, judo, boxing, royal ballet and modern dancing.
He combined parts of these arts to defend himself against school bullies. Master Joe was then introduced to the Kyokushinkai style of karate, which is a full-contact style, and trained up to third-degree black belt. In 1984 he combined all the above-mentioned arts to form his own style called Ring Contact Fighting Art. In 1989, Master Joe won the WPKA middle-weight world title against Christopher Baxter from the USA and became the first kickboxing world champion in South Africa.
He has trained and managed five world champions, namely Shorne Moorcroft, Edward Makabella, Tollie Enslin, Boeta Austen and Jakes Els.
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