Girl power wins respect of boys

When 16-year-old Chrissy Jamieson steps into the kickboxing ring tomorrow, she won't be fighting for respect.
Jamieson makes her competitive debut at the sixth Bash at the Beach promotion at the Queen Elizabeth Youth Centre in Tauranga and, while kickboxing remains a male bastion, Jamieson has already made the guys take notice.
Fellow kickboxer Shannon Spurr, fighting tomorrow in the male novice division, is impressed by his female training partner.
"Kickboxing shouldn't be limited to guys - it's a good challenge sparring with the girls," Spurr, who will be supporting her ringside tomorrow night, said.
"Kickboxing isn't just about strength, it's more about technique and the girls are way more flexible. Girls can make guys cry too."
Jamieson trains at Tauranga's Dark Angels gym with 26-year-old Haylee Aitken, who is also aiming to kick butt tomorrow with two novice fights already under her belt.
Their coach, Bash at the Beach organiser Brian Twomey, is a big fan of his female students, having found that women make better students than men.
"Where guys let their egos and testosterone take over, girls come in asking how to fight and are more willing to be taught," Twomey said.
"Their advantage comes from lighter speed so bulking up is not an advantage - women tend to be more technical fighters."
While both lack experience fighting in the ring this is not indicative of the time spent training.
Jamieson, a Year 12 student at Tauranga Girls' College, has been kickboxing for the past two years, encouraged to get into the sport by her parents.
But her father Neil Jamieson said he was still trying to get his head around the fact his daughter would be climbing into the ring tomorrow.
"The idea was she would just be kickboxing to help her fitness and teach her self-defence skills and having spoken to people who have broken bones competing, that's always in the back of our mind," Jamieson said. "It's her choice though and we will be there tomorrow night supporting her."
Like Jamieson, fitness and self-defence were motivating factors for Aitken.
She became involved 18 months ago, after starting karate with her (now five-year-old) son.
Aitken finds the two martial arts disciplines compliment each other while still being different.
"Karate is structured with more focus on technique and requires more discipline, whereas I find kickboxing more open, with room to improvise."
As well as being a mother, Aitken also works as a bar manager at World End Sports Cafe and admits to finding it a struggle to get out running.
Twomey believes Aitken is now ready to step up and fight "without training wheels".
"With novice fights the coaches help control it. They are a stepping-stone level so you want both camps to get in there in a controlled environment and have a go without losing confidence."
Twomey has been involved in martial arts for 25 years, now concentrating on coaching at the Dark Angels Gym he started in 1991.
He organised the first Bash at the Beach Promotion in March 2001 and they are now held bianually - May and November. Tomorrow's Bash features three New Zealand title fights.
Interest in women's kickboxing has rapidly increased since the early 90s, with Julie Woods from Auckland currently holding a world title.
With a strong female following in Tauranga, Aitken and Jamieson have no problem with lack of competition and, even without money up for grabs, fighting for pride is enough of a reason to put bodies on the line.
Aitken has given a nervous Jamieson some calming words: "You don't notice the crowd once you're in the ring - everything just blocks out and all you hear is your coach."