Over the weekend, the Ascend Martial Arts team travelled up to Fortitude Valley to compete on Honour Premier League, a prolific Muay Thai show with a reputation for exciting Muay Thai bouts.
Ricco Caunter, Russell Smith and Coach Michael Woodward all competed on the show, and all put on a stellar display of Muay Thai skills and prowess. Everyone's matches were highly competitive and technical.
Ricco went into a two round Muay Thai war with Paiton Helig. Paiton was an experienced striker with ferocious kicks, however Ricco brought the fire, unleashing a barrage of strikes that rocked Paiton on several occasions and even left some remarkable welts on the right side of his body. However, after an incredibly tough second round, Ricco was unable to continue the fight in the third, awarding the victory to his opponent. Despite taking the loss, Ricco showed incredible skill in the Muay Thai ring, and truly made everyone from Ascend proud.
Russell engaged in three rounds of absolute Muay Thai Mayhem with his opponent Jacob. A highly technical Muay Thai practitioner, Russell put the pressure on with some dangerous kicks and occupied centre ring to start the match off. Unfortunately, Russell was struck with a blow that broke his nose, causing it to bleed profusely. This bleeding slowed Russell and served as a major nuisance as the fight went on. Despite this broken nose, Russell went on to complete all three rounds of his fight, and continued to put the pressure on Jacob. However, as Muay Thai values visible damage above all else in its scoring system, Russell was handed a decision loss. Despite the loss, Russell demonstrated a level of courage and grit that was second to none.
Last into the ring was Michael, who was matched up against home crowd fighter, Rylie Warman. Michael took charge in the fight with a flurry of outside leg kicks, teeps and crosses. Rylie made attempts to close the distance and clinch several times throughout the fight, however Michael broke away at the earliest opportunity. After three rounds and many leg kicks, Michael walked away with a decision victory.
Overall, it was a highly successful night of Muay Thai, and the Ascend Team performed extremely well. Whilst not everyone won on the night, the confidence that the fighters gained and the skills that they put on display are triumphs in their own right.
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