Whilst the Nation waits with baited breath for the Olympic Games to get underway, one local lad has been making a name for himself in a sport that won’t feature at London 2012. Sam Camp of New Mills was recently the recipient of an impressive accolade as he was crowned World Association of Kickboxing Organisations (WAKO) Junior Boys British Kickboxing Champion at the under-63kg weight division last month. The Championships took place in Birmingham and the 18 year old admits to being apprehensive about his chances beforehand, ‘I didn’t think I had a chance, I was going for the experience more than anything. There were a lot of top fighters competing from across the UK so it was a shock to win.’
This is not Camp’s first taste of success however, in February of last year he won the World Kickboxing Council (WKC) English National Championship and also picked up the Silver Medal at the Martial Arts Illustrated Open Championships in the Men’s under-63kg weight division. Sam’s desire to improve and progress since these tournaments has resulted, not only in his Gold in Birmingham but also valuable experience at the WKC World Championships in Cadiz, Spain, where he had the honour of representing his country. ‘Although I didn’t manage to win a medal I was extremely proud to represent my country. I was in awe of some of the great fighters that competed and one day I hope to emulate their successes on the world stage,’ Camp revealed. ‘It was a learning curve for me and hopefully I’ll get the chance to compete at that level again and bring home a medal.’Sam’s success has not come without sacrifice and the local lad is well known for his hard work and dedication that sees him train under the guidance of coaches Rick Allsop and Chris Boughey up to eight times a week. ‘I started the sport as a way of getting fit as I was in the process of applying for the Royal Navy,’ explains Camp, ‘It was something a bit different so I gave it a try and I haven’t looked back since.’ Once a keen footballer and cricketer Camp has demonstrated his commitment to his progression as a Kickboxer by putting those hobbies on hold and focusing on his training at North West Chinese Kickboxing gyms in Buxton, Chorlton, Glossop and his hometown New Mills, under the watchful eyes of his coaches, for whom Camp has the utmost respect. ‘They’re both exceptional martial artists and I’ve learnt a lot form them. I’m very grateful for what they have done for me so far and the best way to repay them is in medals!’
At the London Olympics we can expect to see Britain’s finest martial artists in Judo and Taekwondo take on the world and attempt to make their mark on the Olympic scene but why is there no room for Kickboxing at the pinnacle of world sport? ‘I think Kickboxing suffers from not having one set governing body, there are variations on the rules which would make it difficult to define as one event,’ says Camp. The British Champ goes on to explain that it is a great spectator sport and he feels that Kickboxing getting overlooked for the Games is resulting in a lack of media exposure for the sport. ‘If it ever was accepted as an Olympic Sport I’d love to compete, it would be the ultimate honour but I have a long way to go yet.’
In the coming months Camp aims to step up his training regime and fight at a higher level with more experienced campaigners of the sport in the men’s category and this ambitious young man is setting himself no boundaries as he maintains his overall aim is to one day win a World Title. Watch this space.
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