Chesterfield kickboxer adds more medals to career tally

Aaron, 16, a student at Chesterfield College, returned with a fistful of medals from the German International Kickboxing Championships, where he was part of the England WKU team, and from the UITF European Taekwondo Championships in Poland, where he was a member of the Heart of England team.

Aaron, already a double world champion at both sports, won two gold medals in Simmem, Germany (-60kg light contact and kumate) and a week later won two further golds (-63kg sparring and destruction) and a bronze (patterns) in Strezgom, Poland.

The 16-strong Heart of England taekwondo team returned with 14 gold, eight silver and five bronze medals.

Aaron’s proud mum, Sara, said: “It was an England team to be proud of and had better result than the England football team at their European championships!”

At the kickboxing championships in Germany, Aaron also took part in karate, something he does not even train for.

Aaron, of Chesterfield, won one of his kumate fights inside 16 seconds with two head shots, and won the light-continuous final on a technical knockout.

His 16-second kickboxing victory was due to his fast kicks, which were developed through his taekwondo training.

His career has taken him far afield so far. In kickboxing he has fought in Germany three times, Greece, Spain, the USA and London.

In taekwondo he has travelled to London, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Poland to compete as well as taking part in world competitions.

The teenager trains or teaches every day of the week at one of his sports – he trains at the Kickboxing Academy in Bolsover and at Staveley Taekwondo Club, Chesterfield, as well as joining up with the Heart of England elite taekwondo squad at Alfreton Leisure Centre on Saturdays.

Aaron, who has just completed an NVQ Level 2 in sports fitness coaching, has also started teaching kickboxing at the Bolsover academy, where he has been helping with the coaching for around three years.

He has set his sights on trying to retain his kickboxing world titles at the forthcoming championships in the USA.

Next year will also be a big year for the youngster as he hopes to fight for the men’s team for the first time at taekwondo’s world championships in Argentina.

“My ambitions within my sports are to be the best that I can possibly be and so my focus is on improving my stamina, speed and flexibility,” said Aaron, who started taekwondo when he was six and took up kickboxing five years ago.

“I got the world titles in both sports last year and have managed to carry it on this year.

“I want to try to become world champion again and to hold my titles as well as further my kickboxing teaching classes.

“I want to improve and help everyone else as well.

“It is fun and I get the chance to make new friends. It’s different to what everyone else is doing, like football. I find it a lot more entertaining.”