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Interview with Mark Hampton |
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What other hobbies / sports have you done? Apart from Muay Thai I did Tae Kwon Do for about three and a half years, archery for twelve years and pool (played a couple of tournaments and was ranked 42nd in NZ in 2005). I have done some boxing since I started training to improve my hand skills. When did you start and what was your first session like? I started on July 3, 1991. I remember my first training - it was hard! We just kicked and kicked and kicked. I was wearing the old sweat track pants and every kick twisted them around my leg. After ten kicks I had to stop, unwind them and then it was into it again. The next day my shins were bruised and sore but Ia felt fantastic. On my second session, I was put with Mark Norton for sparring and got hammered. I remember being told to keep my hands up and I thought they were, but I still got hit in the head a fair few times. On the third session I did grappling for the first time for 2 hours (again with Mark Norton as he had a fight coming up) and the next day I couldn’t hold my head up in class at uni – I ended up going home early to bed. Why do you train / still train? I still really enjoy training and have a lot of fun coaching and training others. It is a real buzz to see people grow, learn and develop. It is also great to train people to fight and testing your skills in the ring takes a lot of courage. Although many people only have a few fights to prove to them selves that they can do it the ones that carry on to titles are very satisfying as well. The self belief and confidence that you gain from testing yourself in Muay Thai can give you strength and it is great to be able to help people.. What is your favourite thing about training / VUW? The best thing about VUW is the friendly atmosphere. Everyone trains hard but works as a team and supports each other. I always remember Tan telling me that we are a family. One day in 1991 when we were running a tournament he asked me to look after Jason Suttie and make him feel welcome and at home. I have remembered this ever since and want to carry this on with the club. What is your biggest achievement? Seeing people grow and develop. It is also quite cool when people get titles after working really hard for them. Akanes fight against Wendy was fantastic and although Akane didn’t win she showed that she was world class and what self belief can achieve. The funniest fight I remember was Mike Cope winning the NZ title from Ethan Shepp. Mike kept on landing hard leg kicks and then Ethan would grapple and stop Mike from kneeing or hitting his leg. In the end while they were in the grapple Mike decided to punch Ethan’s leg – after two punches Ethan was on the floor. The only time I have ever heard of a leg punch winning a fight! I also really enjoy training in Thailand. Having the ability to dedicate yourself to training without interruptions and with really experienced fighters and trainers is a great way to learn more. What is the best thing that happened to you since you started training? I learnt a lot from my handful of fights, I learnt to back myself against any challenge – this is something I have carried with me in other aspects of my life. I have also become part of a larger family and made some amazing friends all over the world. I have grown a lot as a person and helped others as well. What are your goals at VUW? I think we have a great team here at VUW and a really good family atmosphere – and with Tans input I am learning more all the time. I want to continue the family atmosphere at VUW and to add more classes, including kids classes, women’s classes, and championship team classes (for people who have decided to focus on winning a title). Getting a boxing trainer is something that we are looking at as well. From a fight perspective I want to increase the amount of titles that the club holds and build towards a world title fight on one of our shows by the end of the year, or early next year. I also want to grow the promotions side and move to MMA later in the year and keep on pushing the frontiers to keep the crowds and help grow the sport. Is there anything else you would like to add? Continue to learn from Master Tan and have fun and I know that the club will continue to grow and get better. On a personal note, I want to keep on challenging myself and growing. In the past we have done the 100km run and 24 hours of kicking. My next goal is to run the South Island next year from bottom to top – at 1100 Km it will be a heck of a test!
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