Hayes, Picard golden at kickboxing nationals
What started as a weight loss venture has led to Ali Hayes winning a national muay thai kickboxing championship.
The 25-year-old Peterborough woman was one of two Kawartha Combat athletes to win gold medals at the 2016 World Kickboxing Federation (WKF) Canadian Nationals for Kickboxing and Muay Thai in Ajax on Sept. 17 and 18.
Brennan Picard, 16, was the other gold medallist. Brett Blackwood, 25, won a K1 silver medal in B class for competitors with 5-9 fights.
Hayes, who competed in the 54-kilogram division, originally joined Kawartha Combat four years ago because her husband, then boyfriend, Tory Hayes was friends with the owner Kevin Henry. She never intended to compete in the beginning.
“I was 20 pounds heavier and I wanted to do something that would make my self-esteem better and I’m someone who likes to learn things,” she said. “I loved it. I just got hooked immediately.”
She and her husband own a Dempsters franchise and deliver bread to area grocers at night. By day, she is a student studying a health, nutrition and wellness through a Durham College online course. She also spends six days a week, sometimes seven, in the gym. She says she’s attracted to the discipline required by the sport.
“I think I need that in my life and Kevin is really good at making it fun. You want to have fun while learning something new,” she said.
Hayes sparred one day with a woman who was a world champion and held her own. It motivated her to try it for real.
“In January I went full force into training and I haven’t really stopped,” she said.
She won the WKF Ontario championship in Brampton in May with a pair of wins. She won her first fight at nationals and her opponent for the final, coincidentally another Peterborough athlete – Janet Heeringa from Ludus Mixed Martial Arts – withdrew because of injury.
The titles are gratifying, Hayes said.
“It means all my hard training paid off,” she said. “It’s nice to know I can have that title and, obviously, be proud of it.”
Hayes credits sparring with men as one reason for her success. There are no women at her level in the gym so she spars with men out of necessity.
“The guys don’t go easy,” she said.
Hayes and Blackwood will compete at the Muay Thai Canada Nationals in Toronto on Nov. 12 and 13. Picard will fight for Team Canada from Nov. 6 to 11 at the WKF World Championships in Italy,