Mr. & Mrs Bawden

Everyone at Wicker Camp would like to congratulate Sam and Jemma who were married on Friday 4th April in Essex. Sam is one of our Instructors and he now lives and works in Essex and is sadly missed. He has a beautiful wife, Jemma and a fantastic son, Matty and they make a lovely family (pictured). We want to wish them happiness, good health and a long life together.

Junior Thaiboxing Show Manchester

Jaz Meates 46kg (English Champion) fought at Ordsall British Legion Club against Georgie 'boy' Powell from Staunch Muaythai in London. Georgie had a few fights experience on Jaz (13f to 10f) who was taller and 1kg heavier.

The fight was over three rounds and Jaz took control from the very start. He started landing some strong solid leg kicks and by the 2nd round they were visibly hurting Georgie. Georgie was a strong fighter especially in the clinch where he dominated the fight. Jaz used good footwork to keep scoring and moving and by the end of the fight had won unanimously.

Another strong performance from Jaz who is eager to fight at the next Wicker Camp Gym show. Well done.

The Ladykillers II - Feb 2008

Congratulations to Helene Garnett who won in the 5th Round at the Ladykillers II show in Manchester on 16th Feb 2008.

Some comments posted online:

"Helen garnet v Zoey Mason. A composed performance from Helen throughout, Zoey never stopped fighting but Helen was always just a step ahead. She picked it up in the last round and forced the ref to stop the fight after landing some bit heavy head shots."

"but fighter of the night for me was Helene Garnet, i was looking forward to seeing her fight so much. She is just pure class-credit to Zoe Mason who took some punishment in the face, Zoe did well-she just kept going and against a less powerful opponent probably would've won easily but Helene has ridiculously strong punching power for someone her size. Zoe was visibly upset at the stoppage but Helene showed true sportsmanship and went straight over to console her." - Marianne, www.teamphoenixuk.com

"Helen Garnett is such a nice down to earth lady outside the ring but when the 1st bell goes she is possesed by the evil devil of mashdown-ness she was fantastic and a pleasure to watch as always.....got to give props to her opponent for stepping up to the plate i dont think she was as experienced but put in a good account of herself against IMO the best pound 4 pound female fighter in this country....would love to see Helen fight for a world title on the next LadyKiller show." - Liam, Badcompany

"Well done to Zoe Mason and the Touchgloves team for taking such a tough fight against Helene Garnett who punches like a heavyweight!!! Well done Zoe." - Kevin Dorman

"Helen Garnett was impressive as always, and agree that she definitely deserves a world title shot.Credit to Zoey Mason for taking the fight&having great heart throughout the fight."

"Helene Garnett- who i have never seen fight before was for me the best fighter on the show, she was an absolute treat to watch, i would however like to give Zoe Mason from touch gloves some credit for her gutsy performance, im sure even helene will agree that give Zoe more experience and a bit more power and she will be a real force to content with for the future, she showed some guts and some real quality"

Rachael Clements also represented Wicker Camp at the show and put in a valiant effort in her first adult fight against a more experienced fighter and we hope to see her in the ring again soon.

Next Generation Thai Boxing Show

Next Generation Thai Boxing Show

DATE : SUNDAY 24^TH FEBRUARY

VENUE: SHEFFIELD THAI-BOXING GYM, EFFINGHAM ROAD, SHEFFIELD, S4 7YS.

DETAILS: Weigh-in 11am, Medical 11.30am, doors open 12 noon, 1^st bout 1pm.

Tickets Adults = £10. / Under 16 = £6. available from the gym. Telephone ticket hotline - 0114 2795470/ 07801 273 124 / 0774 359 6420.

All Instructors receive ticket commission on tickets they sell + travel expenses.

All fighters receive big quality trophy + hot Thai meal voucher.

Featuring Wicker Camp's next generation of adult fighters vs the rest. Plus other exciting fighters from around the UK.

PLEASE NOTE : THIS IS NOT AN INTERCLUB. Fighters do not pay to compete.

Contact mick@wickercamp.co.uk for further details.

Image vs Substance

It is through language, imagery and participation that we learn. We choose our values and make our judgements from the things we see, hear and experience.
Today there seems to be a disturbing trend that is affecting the values we choose and the judgements we make. Some of us are more concerned with image and how something “appears” to be (how it looks), they live in the moment without any thought for substance or deeper meaning.

We see this preoccupation with image all the time. Politicians that spin their true intentions to sensationally steal a vote, vacuous media “celebrities” that fail to contribute anything except to display their beauty, wealth and bad habits. Virtually ALL advertising has this vulgar obsession with image and lifestyle that affects every choice we make. We see it too in music, the cinema and sport. Let’s not get too excited by flashy demo’s and spinning kicks or by individuals that are so image conscious they believe they are more important than the rest of us, and make little or no contribution to our community unless it benefits them.

The current success of MMA and the UFC is a great example of this. These new breed of fighters bad mouth and slag each other off, peer into the camera grimacing and snarling in an attempt to intimidate their future opponents. I find it ridiculous that anyone would be intimidated by this superficial and theatrical act of arrogance; - just because someone says they are the best or the most dangerous, doesn’t make it true. It is propaganda, it is marketing, it is spin. It is not the truth but an illusion that grabs our attention for the wrong reasons. What seems to be more important is hitting the sunbeds and getting ripped, having just the right tattoo’s or that special haircut to become the fighter that everyone’s talking about (it happens in Thai-Boxing too).

Just because a fighter appears in the Martial Arts magazines all the time, doesn’t mean that much and doesn’t necessarily make them any better than you or I. Look beyond the surface image at who people really are. Take away all the sensationalism and look at what fighters really do and the skills they actually use. Image conscious individuals would rather spend time on things that will impress others. Focus your time on developing real skills that take time and are hard to come by. Do things properly and don’t rush just to get to some ideal standard. Never be frightened of failure, it is an important ingredient to becoming great. Making mistakes and getting things wrong is an essential part of learning. Image conscious people are afraid to explore, they don’t like to make mistakes for fear of looking bad.

Remember, whatever you focus on becomes your idea of reality. If you focus your attention on image without regard for substance, you are measuring your self worth by what is on the outside. YOU decide what is on the inside by holding yourself to a higher standard. You have the power right now to control how you think, how you feel and what you do. Standing up for what you believe, focusing on what you are deeply committed to will give you a healthy self worth that will help create your destiny – You are not defined by what you say or how you look..., but by what you do. One of the most important things I want you to realise is that you have absolute control over your own internal world – you decide what things mean and what to do about them.

A Very Special Message for Mick and Trix

Well what a year, our anniversary and probably the best year we have ever had. The fighters have been absolutely amazing and its been a fantastic privilege for me to be in the corner with Mick and Trix to witness so many wicker camp victories. How many champions have we got now?, that many I have lost count a long time ago (something to do with getting smacked in the head a lot lol) having so many champions and good fighters that keep winning to me means only one thing that Mick Mullaney is without doubt the No.1 Thai boxing trainer in the country and has been for a good few years now (round about 30 to be precise) but as they say behind every good Thai boxing trainer is a bloody good female Thai boxing trainer and Trix March fits that bill superbly having trained thousands and thousands of juniors to the very highest standard in the world and many of them have gone on to be adult champions i.e. Imran Khan, Chilli, Thomas and of course many junior champions too.

Not only are they fantastic trainers, but they are also fantastic friends to anyone who pops there head round the door and joins the wicker camp. I’m sure you will agree with me when you join wicker camp you join a very special family the atmosphere and friendliness down at the gym is second to nowhere else. I have been there for a lot of years now and Mick and Trix have done so much for me and hundreds of other students way above and beyond just being instructors, it's awesome. So I guess what I’m trying to say is Mick and Trix I love and respect you and would like to take this opportunity to say thank you for the last 30 years of wicker camp and look forward to the next 30. Wow we are going to have some amazing champions to come.

If like me you are proud and humble to be a member of the very best Thai boxing club in the world please take this opportunity to leave a few words to two of the best people I know .Also i would like to to say thanks to all the instructors that also do loads for the gym cheers love you all; West, Dan, Lee ,Daz ,Helene, Ali ,Sam ,Imran, Paul

lots of love mick trix n roo

Kru Pete Mccormick

MUAYTHAI SUPERFIGHTS 2007.

The MuayThai Superfights show at Wolverhampton Civic Hall hosted the must see fight of 2007. The showdown between our very own Haji Imran Khan and the number 1 in the UK, Richard Cadden; and what an amazing fight it turned out to be. Also from Wicker Camp was up and coming star Thomas McCormick who proved he is a force to be reckoned with.
Thomas stepped into the ring 1st to face the experienced Yogendra Parekh. Yogi is a superb fighter, but we felt he wasn't in the best shape for this fight (thankfully)had he been, Thomas would have had a much tougher fight. Tom used his reach to keep him at distance, working to Yogi's body and legs with his strong teep, landing some solid leg kicks and showing very good skill in the clinch. Mick wanted to see Thomas use a range of different skills in this fight to develop his timing in the clinch and test his defence against a very strong puncher. Thomas won every round easily on points over 5 x 2 min rounds. Good exposure for Tom on a big show.
Imran was very nervous. I think he felt the pressure was on to prove what everyone at Wicker Camp expected, that he would beat Richard easily. In the changing rooms he paced nervously, doubting his ability and his preparation. The truth is, Imran was in the best shape of his life. Private tuition twice per day with Mick for the past 8 weeks (even during Ramadam), ensured that he was extremely well prepared.

The fight didn't start that slowly, both fighters were eager to stamp their own aggressive intentions. Not many realise that Imran is a consummate master of defence, it is very hard to hit him. Cadden tried but Imran's blocks were up like lightening. His hand speed is awesome, his power surprising and his knees and elbows are absolutely devastating. It was no surprise to us when Imran cut him early in the 1st round and dropped him with another sharp powerful elbow that forced the Doctor to stop the fight. John Blackledge the Referee, as ever the experienced Pro, stepped in and insisted the Doctor examine the cut.

A final word about Richie Cadden - I know he was disappointed, who wouldn't be. He is still the great fighter he was before this. I don't think he's past it or over the hill, I don't think that he is lacking in skill or any of the things critics may think to say about him. This fight was all about style, a matching of different styles. Richard is such a nice lad. He is also a noble ambassador for our sport, always a gentleman, proud in his many great victories and gracious in this one defeat.