Gloves On, Doubts Off

In this engaging interview, Jamie Droeske, head of SACA Kickboxing, shares her journey from BMX racing to becoming a kickboxing instructor and competitor. Discover the differences between kickboxing and karate, the discipline required for fighting, and insights into organizing fights and training effectively.


Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Kickboxing and Personal Journey
03:03 The Differences Between Martial Arts
05:54 The Impact of Kickboxing on Youth
09:07 Competition and the Fight Experience
11:42 Training Regimens and Fight Preparation

In the world of martial arts, kickboxing stands out not just for its physical benefits, but for its ability to instill confidence and discipline in practitioners. When I sat down with Jamie Droeske, head of SACA Kickboxing, she shared her inspiring journey from childhood BMX racing to becoming a mentor for young athletes. In this post, we’ll explore the transformative power of kickboxing and what it takes to succeed in this dynamic sport.

Jamie started training at SACA Kickboxing and quickly became enamored with the sport's intensity and community. She often observed the kids’ classes, which sparked her interest in coaching.
Despite being told it was her responsibility, she took the leap to create classes for younger children, showcasing her leadership and commitment to fostering a love for kickboxing.
Over time, Jamie expanded her role, helping with older kids and eventually adults, demonstrating her versatility and dedication to the sport.

Kickboxing isn’t just about fighting; it’s about personal development. Jamie explains that martial arts can significantly benefit children in several ways:
The structured nature of kickboxing teaches kids about rules, respect, and responsibility.

As they learn new skills and progress, children gain self-esteem, which carries over into their daily lives.
Being part of a kickboxing team fosters camaraderie and support among students, creating lifelong friendships. 

key  topics

Difference between kickboxing and karate
Training journey and competition experience
Organizing fights and event logistics
Discipline and mental preparation in fighting
Youth involvement and making a difference through sport

Kickboxing is more than just a sport; it’s a pathway to personal growth and empowerment, especially for young people. Jamie Droeske’s journey from a kickboxing novice to a dedicated coach highlights the profound impact martial arts can have on individuals. As she continues to inspire the next generation, her story reminds us all of the importance of discipline, community, and the courage to take a leap into the unknown.

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Transcript

0:00

Hey, this is Brian again. And I'd like to ask you to do a favor. We can't do this work without people like you. So if you can, please. Like, share, subscribe, tell your friends about. Bring back the porch. You know what it's like to go through school. And you have your crummy years. And you have your really hard years and everything else. And to know that you could be somebody that a kid could look up to. To me, that that is such a good feeling. This episode of Bring Back the Porch, brought to you by Bernie Leahy, River Street Realty. Let's get you home. All right. Welcome to Bring Back the Porch. I'm here with Jamie Droeske head of SACA kickboxing. And so my first question for you is, how did you even get in to kick it? Is it a long like since you're a child? No, no, no, not at all. Okay, so I just did a podcast the other week and that was a question like, why? How did you get involved in this? And I had to think about it because I spent a ton of years racing BMX. That was my childhood sport, and both my brother and I were in it. My parents ran the track when it was down in King Coulee. For many, many years. And and then, you know, you move on and and then I had nothing for a number of years, and I was never into volleyball or basketball or any of those organized sports. Tried out for badminton one time, and it was traumatizing. And I never tried out for another school sport again. So I so then mid-twenties, I, I was dating somebody and they were involved in kickboxing. And so then I got involved in kickboxing. Things went out there, I stayed, he left, and the rest is history. There's. Yeah, it seems like, like it caught more on because of me. Yes. But it felt like when I was younger it was just like karate. That's all you knew about. Yeah. Karate. Taekwondo. Yeah. That was it. And so what's, what would you say to somebody who doesn't know what's the, the main difference between kickboxing. So karate and like taekwondo they do a lot of like the caddies and the standing and punching in the air and point to point sparring where kickboxing, it's like more combat. Yeah. More contact. And I think that's the biggest difference. Yeah. So if you're it does have a like a belt system like so we do hand wrap colors and not every gym does that. And so that's kind of what our because the creator of SACA kickboxing he came from a karate background. And so then he just incorporated hand wrap colors just like belt colors. So so people can test for different colors and move up and rank and stuff like that. So. Okay. Yeah. And so how long did you train on your own before you thought I think I could do my own thing here. So I started at, at SACA Yeah. And then I just, I fell in love with it. I think I fell in love with the opportunity to, To be able to make a change in somebody's life. And that's been always been something that's a passion for me is making a difference. Yeah. And it's like, there's kids classes. That's cool. And so I really wanted to I, my coach was a bit of a yes strict yes a hard but yeah. And and so I went and I sat on the bench, I snuck in, I'm like, oh, I'm going to watch the kids class because I think it's so cool. I love kids and sport and and then I got kicked out because I wasn't supposed to be there. I'm like, okay. So then I went back into the change room, waited for my class to start, and and then I as the time went on, I just loved it so much. I wanted to help with everything. And so I started helping with the kids classes, and I loved that so much. And I'm like, well, why don't we have age 4 to 9? And he's like, if you want to do that, go ahead, but it's yours. Like I am having nothing to do with that. I'm like, okay, I'll take that. And so I started age 4 to 9 and and just continued on from there and would help out with the kids, older kids class. And then eventually, I helped with the adult class. And, you know, he coached me on, like, he would watch how I would run in class and, and I just eventually graduated into helping with all the classes and, and then competing myself. Okay. And like you said, you love kids in sport. Like, that's going to be a good mix of discipline and, self-confidence. Huge. And I think that, well, I don't have kids myself because I consider all of them my kids. And so I have tons of kids. And so it and it fills my bucket like, because when you know, you know what it's like to go through school and you have your crummy years and you have your really hard years and everything else, and to know that you could be somebody that a kid could look up to, to me, that that is such a good feeling, like such a good feeling because I had a lot of people I looked up to and I'm like, I could be that for somebody. I could be the reason that they, you know, who knows what. And so I'm like, this is great. And I've never looked back and must be some of the best relationships, especially when they stick with it from a young age going up. And you see how they progress. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so when did you start competing? Not long after I started, I got into tournaments. And so those are like lighter contact and like full gear, everything. I did quite a few of those, you know, of course I always had to travel for those. So it was Calgary, Calgary Lethbridge Airdrie. And so that's where it started. And then my coach started he had it's called a smoker. And so you've got your tournament level, you've got a smoker, which is gives you a taste of what the ring is like. So instead of two minute rounds or a minute and a half, instead of ten ounce gloves, they're 16 ounce gloves. And it doesn't count on your official fight record. And so he ran one of those. And so that was my first taste of like, real competition. And after that, then he ran Fists of Fury. And that is an annual event. And this is we're on our 21st year. Yeah. And so I participated in as many of those as I could. It was really hard for me to find opponents because I was heavy for a girl and there was no heavy fighters out there, and so I would have fight like monthly if I could have. But I was lucky if I got like a match a year. Oh really? It was really frustrating. What's it like the first time you're staring down an opponent and knowing. So there's a fight there. You're, you have nerves. Whether it's your first fight, your 10th fight, your 20th fight, you'll always have those nerves like because you've got somebody else on the other side. That's like looking to smash your face. And so, you know, it's like, okay, okay, are they going to, you know, you watch them warming up and you're like, oh my God. They can hit the pads really, really hard. And but that doesn't mean they're going to hit you very hard when you're punching them in the face. Right. Yeah. It changes everything. And so you just get used to that feeling. Like I there wasn't a match where I didn't have, like, my stomach turning. Felt like I had to run to the bathroom every five minutes. Tingles in my hands, lightheaded every once in a while, like it's every single time. Like the the first time you're sparring or in a match. The first time you get hit really hard in the face or anywhere. And maybe it's not as bad as you thought it might have ever been. You're just like, ring. Okay, then. Yeah. Well, and and I think the first time and this happens for most beginners, beginners are scarier than experienced people because beginners don't know how to control that emotion of when you take a hard shot and you're like, oh yeah, you want to go. And then you ramp it up, and then they ramp it up and you ramp it up, and then it gets a little crazy, right? So then eventually you learn. Yeah, okay, I'm telling you. And then eventually, You learn how to control it. The discipline. Yeah. That's right, the discipline. And on how to, kind of match their. Power and be able to bring it down when you need to. Or be able to say, hey, like, let's lighten it up. Like we're getting carried away here. You got you. And how many of the students participated in Officer Fury? Is it all students or is it. Oh, no. So I try and get all of my fighters so the ones that are ready, you think like there is about 5% of my students that compete. Okay. Super small amount. Yeah. And so I always try to get them on fists of Fury. This year we have nine. That's a good year. And so that's all adults. Yeah. Well there's 116 and 117 but the rest are adults. And so our kid competitive group is fairly big right now. I'd say probably 10 to 15. So but they don't do fights like this with Fury. Yeah. Yeah. Not yet. Not yet. And how far away do people travel from to So we've the furthest is Winnipeg. Oh, yeah. They come and, but it's usually Calgary. A lot from Calgary, Sherwood Park, Edmonton. Last bridge Brooks. Yeah. And is have it does it have its own like belt system, like, you know, heavyweight champion system I should say. And not really. It's not like how the UFC only has like this weight class. Okay. Like for the Fury we do within 5 pounds. Okay. So like, I could have a huge spread. I could have like from 100 pounds to 250 pounds. You just match up as close as you. Yeah that's right. With experience, age, height, weight. Yeah. And where's it being held this year at the cypress center. The cypress center. Yeah. It's been there every year. Yeah, yeah. And, it's usually a good turnout. Yeah. It's good. I'm still learning. Yeah, yeah. It's hard and it's crazy because this is the 21st year and there are tons of people out there that have no idea it even exists. And it's like, okay, how how do I get this out there? You know, like, so still learning there. Yeah. Yeah. Oh. How do people get tickets? On Eventbrite. Okay. Okay. Or down at the gym during class times. How much are tickets? Floor tickets are 40 bleacher. It's 35. First row 50. And I have about 4 or 5 ringside tables still available. And each of those table seats six. Okay. And, how many fights can people expect to watch? I try to book about 12. Ooh, 12, 13. But then you always get injuries. Training is hard. Yeah. And so then you get injuries, you try to find them a last minute match. It doesn't always work out. Doesn't which super super soft I've been on on the end of you've trained for like two months straight like hard training and then like a couple days before your opponent pulls out. It's the worst feeling ever. Is it okay? Is it harder to train leading up to a fight then than just regular training? Oh no. Okay, so this is my experience and it's a lot of experience for a lot of people is that when you have a fight booked, it's like a switch goes off. It's like, I need to eat clean. I need to do this training. I need to run three days a week. I need to get in the gym five, six days a week. And like, you can just lock it. But when there's nothing booked, it's really hard to to train that hard consistently. Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. Like, really hard because I am especially with diet, diet sucks. Yeah, yeah. Especially coming up to a fight, you know to be sure. Yeah. Strict diet. That's right. Because you have to be within what you agreed upon. Yeah. And it's not it's not hard to shift. Oh yeah. You know. Oh big time. Yeah. So yeah probably be pretty careful. Yeah. Yeah. Like every day I'd be done. Right. Yeah. Right. Right. I know it's terrible. I'd be second guessing every Costco sample. Yeah, yeah I know I can't have that. And I'm a junk food junkie. Like, I could eat chocolate multiple times a day, every day of the week, every day of the year. And. But that switch easy. Where you go, I can just stop. Yeah, that's the discipline of kickboxing. Yeah. But then you have to know discipline where, you know, you could be ready for a last minute fight, but you're not because you had to have chocolate every day. That was where I was. That's where I always see. Exactly. Yeah. All right, everybody, make sure to check out Fists of Fury. That's right. April 25th. April 25th. Right? Yeah. Still tickets available. So. Yeah. Thanks for coming in, Jamie. Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for having me.