When it comes to sport, children often take the lead from their parents but for dad Steven Brown it was a case of “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” So when son Connor started kickboxing classes at the age of five, the Lochgelly dad decided the best way for the wee lad to improve was if he joined as well. Six years later the dad and son duo are both black belts – and the best of friends.
Steven, 28, explains how it all started. “We had tried Connor with other activities including football and street dancing but he didn’t really like them,” he says. “Then we saw an ad in the paper for Fife Kickboxing and Self-Defence Academy in Dunfermline and asked him if he wanted to try it out.”
The little boy loved the first class and has been hooked ever since.
“Craig Reid and the other senseis (teachers) made him feel so welcome that he didn’t really get nervous,” Steven recalls, who started learning kickboxing shortly after Connor.
“I thought that if I knew how to do it as well I’d be able to help him train and practise at home – and I ended up loving it too.”
Kickboxing is a martial art in which you use your hands and feet to score points on your opponent to win. With many different styles to choose from, Connor and Steven are trained in freestyle kickboxing – mainly semi-contact fighting to score points – and continuous fighting.
The twosome are already black belts – Steven has reached his 1st Dan black belt while Connor has attained his first star junior black belt. “After black belt, adults go up in Dans and the kids gain further stars on their belt until they qualify as adult kick boxers,” Steven explains. In a Mr Miyage moment, he adds philosophically: “For me and Connor, reaching black belt is not the end goal, it’s just another step forward.”
Competing regularly in competitions spurs them on to keep improving and Steven, a roofer, spends most his free time practising and training.
“I arrive home from work, get washed and changed and then head straight back out. Sometimes I don’t even have time to eat,” he admits. Weekends are spent going for a run, or taking part in squad training or competitions.
“I love meeting members from other clubs and training and sparring together, meeting new people with the same passion as me – Connor says it’s like one big family,” beams Steven.
As well as keeping the two of them strong, fit and healthy, kickboxing also punches above its weight when it comes to teaching discipline, respect and confidence.
“Connor sometimes takes the warm ups and cool downs in class and his confidence has come on in leaps and bounds,” says the proud dad. “It really helps with school as well, standing up in front of his class to speak.”
But perhaps most importantly, the father-son bond has been strengthened by sharing a common interest. “I think doing this sport together has definitely brought us closer together,” says Steven. “I get to share in his accomplishments and he in mine, and understanding the effort he puts in makes me a very proud father. I am always surprised at how far he can push himself.”
Next up for Steven and Connor, a primary 7 pupil at Lochgelly West Primary School, is a competition down south so they are training hard for that. Steven also has his second Dan coming up and Connor his second star.
Although kickboxing as a sport is originally derived from Japanese martial arts, today’s modern version is a popular entertainment sport all over the world so Steven is extra thrilled that Aberdeen has been chosen as the home for the World Kickboxing Championships (WKC) in 2020. He also believes it will spur on amateur kickboxers like him to aim for the top.
“Having the best fighters from around the world in our back yard is a great achievement,” he says. “I’ll definitely be training to aim for this – it’s something I’ve never been able to do before as it costs so much to go abroad for these things.
“It has given Scottish fighters a massive opportunity to prove we can fight it the top level.”
www.fifekickboxing.co.uk
