MARTIAL ARTS: Bashful Bevan breaks barriers

ANENDRA SINGH
Natasha Bevan was the kind of girl that people picked on.
"I got picked on in school and I wasn't very good with people," the Napier mother of two told SportToday.
All that changed more than two years ago when she bumped into a friend, Hilary Wagner, who invited her to train at the Zero Tolerance gym, in Napier.
Bevan, 27, is still softly spoken but don't let that calm exterior fool you.
Under the guidance of muay thai instructor and schoolteacher, Dion Crouch, she has undergone a transformation from a bashful Bevan to someone who's not shy to climb into a ring for a little biffo, as she will do tonight.
"I lost weight and I have a lot more confidence now. I find myself more appealing. I've changed from someone who was a reserved person to someone who's more sociable now," says Bevan, who moved to Hawke's Bay from Auckland several years ago with her mother.
Bevan paid Crouch the ultimate tribute for his contribution to a change in lifestyle that she has tattooed the club's emblem - a three-pointed image that Crouch created to symbolise the values of mind, spirit and body - on her shoulder.
A circle around the three-pointed image, Crouch's wife, Miriam, tells SportToday, drives home the holistic message that the club's fighters need to embrace the three autonomous values as a family would.
Crouch has also given Bevan a fighting name in Thai - Chee Wit Chee Waa - which means "lively".
"Tash just goes non-stop when she's in the ring. She's like that Energiser bunny in the battery advertisement," says Miriam, who claims Bevan has a bubbly personality outside the ring that adds to the name.
With the help of family members looking after five-year-old Trinity and four-year-old Jayden, Bevan has graduated to instructing hour-long mixed classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays after helping Wagner in women-only classes.
"I went to Thailand in July last year for training where I picked up tips from some of the top muay thai instructors." Andrew Banham, of the Jackals Kickboxing club, and the Muay Thai Council are co-ordinating tonight's promotion at the Pettigrew-Green Arena in Taradale.
Last night, after SportToday's publication deadline, names of fighters were matched from a "blind draw" depending on their weight.
The competition features the top fighters from around the country with the winners from each section heading off to Thailand for the world amateur games in November.
More than 100 fighters are expected at tonight's event and organisers are hoping to get at least 1000 spectators.
Preliminary fights will be held from 10am to 3.30pm and the finals will be held from 6pm to 10pm.
Competitors range from 15-year-olds to those in their mid-30s. The rules kick up a gear into full muay thai rules with elbow hits included.
Bevan, who has a six win-five loss fight record, is likely to face Hamiltonian Anna Sisson in four two-minute rounds in an undercard bout in the women's 53kg division at the arena.
A runner-up in the division in the nationals last year, both Bevan and Sisson have lost to current national champion Anthea Morrison, of Wellington.
"Not many people get to fight for a New Zealand title. I did with three fights under my belt and Anthea had 22, so it's a good achievement for me," said Bevan.
The major drawcard is likely to be K1 fighters Hirawa Tirangi, of Invercargill, and Sio "Smooth" Vitale, of Auckland.