It is said that a family that trains together, stays together. For Wilhelmina and Shaun Lombaard this has proved to be very true.
The 34-year-old Mina, as she is known to her friends, explained, “When Shaun was about four years old, he was being bullied at school. We went to the school to address the issue on numerous occasions, but nothing really came of it, so we decided to get him involved in kickboxing.”
The now eight-year-old Shaun was very excited to start his new journey at Team Rage Kickboxing Club but because he was still very young and small, the club’s coach, Darin Opperman, said he was willing to train Shaun on condition that one of his parents be present at training.
“Seeing that I was there anyway, I decided to train as well. The rest, as they say, is history!” Mina said.
She added that although Shaun is developing into quite a good kickboxer, he still needs to train very hard. “He has obtained his orange belt and already has done a few competitions where he performed very well,” she said.
Mina successfully graded for her black belt last year. She is also the assistant coach at the club.
She concluded by saying that even though some might believe kickboxing to be a violent sport with many injuries, she and Shaun enjoy doing it together. “It is not only a sport to us, but an opportunity to spend some quality time together and strengthen our mother and son bond. I am always there to help and guide him when he is not sure about something,” she said.
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