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Christine is rightly proud of her Black Belt status
When Christine Davies received notification of her elevation to Black Belt status in kick boxing, no-one could have been more delighted than the Haverfordwest mother of three and grandmother because it was reward for five years of total dedication to her chosen sport in the Merlins Bridge Club run by Graham and Gill Brockway.
Christine’s is an amazing story and proof positive that there is a sport out there for most people because she had not taken part in any sports since she left school – and only turned up at Merlins Bridge Club because son Jacob, who was 11 at the time, fancied taking up a martial art. Christine duly took him along, saw what was going on, thought she would like to give it a try – and after starting out with a white belt wrapped around her waist can now use the coveted Black Belt, First Dan. It is proof of her considerable achievement and remarkably she is only 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs in at just 8 stone 4 lbs.
Surprise start and hard work
Like a lot of girls, Christine played hockey and netball in school but wanted to play football and rugby with the boys, but simply wasn’t allowed, as was the case at the boxing club in those days. Then Jade, Brogan and Jacob came along and Christine had to focus her energy on bringing them up, until that fateful day when Jacob (now 16) asked to go to the Merlins Bridge Club and she liked what she saw there.
She approached Graham, who was very encouraging from the outset, as was Gill, and Christine became well and truly hooked on her new-found activity. She certainly makes the effort because in her average week she attends Gill’s taibo and aerobic classes at least twice alongside the twice-weekly sessions of kick boxing and boxing training. Add regular running sessions during her lunch hours from work, swimming in the early mornings, sessions of spinning (very tough sessions on static cycles at the leisure centre in Haverfordwest) and anything else that will improve her fitness and stamina like ‘Body Attack’, which is high-tempo aerobics.
Gradings success after real graft
Her first grading session saw her miss out the yellow belt as she was promoted immediately to orange belt as a real boost. Then she moved on to green and purple belts before the real challenging stuff began as she attained her blue belt and first section of the brown belt in 2007. The next year saw Christine gain success in the other two brown belt grading sessions and so set up the chance for her to be awarded the coveted Black Belt First Dan if she could maintain her momentum.
This she did well and the day finally dawned for the four-hour session alongside fellow candidates Cheryl Stott, David Round and Darren Thomas under the watchful eye of Graham Brockway, who is renowned for pushing those taking part all the way as he seeks out any weakness. For example, he thought that Christine was not keen on doing an exercise called ‘burpees’ and she had loads of them to complete in the 1,000 or so spins, jumps and kicks she had to do as part of the bag work, pad work and sparring she had to do.
‘Torture’ pays off
Ask Christine about her feelings and she is very candid:
“It was almost like torture and at times I felt sick or a little disorientated. But I had already decided that I would complete the four hour session and I was delighted when Graham finished the session – although he wouldn’t give me any pointers as to how I had done!”
That all took place in September and it was late in November that she finally received notification of her success and her certificate to announce that Christine Davies was now a fully-fledged Black Belt, First Dan, in kick boxing.
Support praised
Christine is also quick to praise the support she has received in her quest to achieve her status.
“Graham and Gill Brockway have been great and I also received help early on as instructors from Jonathan Barnfield and a friend called Hayley, I think my children are quite proud of me, although they don’t say too much about it – and I know my sister Linda is very proud and shows it too!”
She aims to continue her training and might well look at trying to achieve Second Dan status at some time in the future.
“Graham Brockway is going to put on a show at Haverfordwest in kick boxing and cage fighting and I haven’t ruled out the prospect of taking part in a bout, but we will have to see about that a little nearer the time.”
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