Ian Kingston keeping West Cork kickboxers fighting fit during lockdown

THE show must go on, and not even a global pandemic can stop Ian Kingston and West Cork Kickboxing Club.

A local sporting institution that is synonymous with success, over the years its members have won 14 world championships and 11 European championships, as well as dominating the Irish kickboxing scene.

Even though sport has been put on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the club has worked hard to keep its members active as founder Ian Kingston and coach Tony Stephenson have delivered weekly online kickboxing training sessions.

On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, Kingston trains the club’s advanced juniors and seniors, while on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays Stephenson holds the kids’ classes.

Also, the club is not charging its members for these online training classes but instead, at the end of the three months of online training, they have asked everyone to make a small donation to Marymount Hospice.

‘The whole idea behind it is to keep everyone connected to the club, to keep a good structure to their training and to keep a structure to their daily life during these anxious times, which is very important to any athlete’s life,’ Kingston explained.

‘Most of our kids train one or two of the sessions with Tony and the advanced juniors and seniors have a plan for five sessions during the week, three online with me and two running sessions on their own.’

As expected, Kingston’s online training sessions, held on Zoom, are challenging. He mixes up his classes between strength sessions, a circuit class, aerobic conditioning, speed and endurance running and a session that focuses on technical and tactical work. Kingston’s strength session, for example, includes work on kick control and a 600-rep challenge (six exercises x 20 reps x five sets). Also, once every four or five weeks, they hold fitness tests to keep everyone focused and competitive.

The hope is that when the members returns to training as normal in their headquarters in Skibbereen, West Cork Kickboxing Club athletes will be fighting fit and ready for action.