FOURTEEN-year-old Kai Gilding, of White Lotus Martial Arts in Parkend in the Forest of Dean, has won the World Kickboxing Organisation British Ringsports title in under 87kg category - and now has his eyes set on the World Championships next month. 

John Kyrle High School student Kai reached the final after catching his opponent with a strong right hand, forcing a second-round stoppage. Kai expressed concern that this knockout was so emphatic that the judges could have deemed it excessive contact. However, the knockout was legitimate, and he had defeated his older opponent.  

Sensei and chief instructor of White Lotus, Michelle Gardiner, said: “This was a challenging fight, the lad was quite fast and had the edge on Kai to start with. But the power came through eventually.” 

The final set Kai up against the younger and less experienced Arley Berridge of Warriors Kickboxing. Using his experience, Kai outmanoeuvred Berridge and focused on a very technical fight to secure the title on a points decision. 

The fight against an inexperienced opponent was an energy-draining one for Kai as he had to control the fight from start to finish.  

Kai said: “I was throwing most of the shots as he was more nervous, so I was doing a lot more than him. I was exhausted, I was thinking, ‘Come, beat me up, I need to chill for a second’.” 

On top of his success in kickboxing, Kai also reached a final in the boxing where he faced an older and significantly more experienced fighter in Triston Greenlees. Greenlees held five grand champion titles last year and has a reputation on the circuit for being one of the toughest fighters. 

The boxing final went the distance and despite the points decision going the way of Greenlees, Ms Gardiner was proud of Kai’s performance. She said: “Kai was brave enough to get in there, and actually, it was a very good fight, and it was a lot closer than we would have expected.” 

Kai was positive about his experience fighting someone as talented as Greenlees and added: “He's quite big. He does a lot of full contact stuff. He had six fights that day. He's a very technical fighter and a nice guy. I had a couple of conversations with him before our fight. 

“It was quite a chill fight; he just went for the points. Then, in the third round, he came out a lot harder, and I thought, oh, that's a bit weird. So, I just hardened it up. 

“I think that was him trying to make sure I knew what the level for ring is, though, because I've never fought ring before. But yes, I held my ground with him.” 

After this impressive showing, Kai and Ms Gardiner now have their sights set on the World Championships in August. This event, being held in Barnsley, attracts martial artists from across the globe, including fighters from America, South Africa and Eastern Europe. 

A rematch is on the cards in the boxing as Kai looks set to take on Greenlees again. Kai didn’t want to get carried away at the prospect of a revenge victory, but Ms Gardiner seemed to possess a quiet confidence, when asked she simply said: “You never know.” 

The White Lotus gym was first founded in 2000 by Ms Gardiner and acts as a community-orientated club that focuses on the students without restriction from administrative and financial aspects.  

“I think it's really important to point out that what these kids would be doing, if they didn’t do this, it’s good work that is happening here and it stops them creating havoc somewhere else,” she added. 

“We rely on community support so success stories like Kai’s really help highlight the work that goes on here.”