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Alpha Pack Territorial Kickboxing is sending a team to the WAKO (World Association of Kickboxing Organizations) Canadian national kickboxing tournament. The tourney takes place March 30-April 2 in Niagara Falls at the Convention Centre.

Alpha Pack leader James Albert said it鈥檚 the first time his fighters will be going to the tournament.

鈥淲hat it鈥檚 really all about is getting the athletes somewhere to compete. I couldn鈥檛 imagine doing all this practice and having nowhere to compete. The athletes are putting in a lot of work here.

鈥淲e are one of the only places where it is still illegal to have competitions, like, bouts. They consider it prize fighting.

鈥淭here鈥檚 been several martial artists and myself that have been reaching out to the government about amending this law. Pretty much every other province and territory has. That way we don鈥檛 have to go all the way to Nationals on the biggest stage of them all. And, you know, try out our skills. We can practice here more, grow a better society of competitive martial artists. Because that鈥檚 a big side of martial arts. It鈥檚 more than just kicking pads and kicking a bag.鈥�

Albert said that鈥檚 why this came about for him.

鈥淢ost of the martial arts organizations around here don鈥檛 have competitive, combative sports insurance, so they can鈥檛 even spar, they can鈥檛 practice. So how are we going to send somebody to a tournament?鈥�

Albert had a mentor for his martial arts training, Grant Campbell.

鈥淗e guided me into WAKO and I got involved in WAKO. I took my first coaching course for kickboxing through him. I passed and I started reaching out to different gyms.

鈥淚 started to see a trend. Okay, coaches are looking at You Tube five minutes before their class coming up with a bunch of different combinations inside the pocket. Then just running three, four or five of those in the class. So the athlete really isn鈥檛 retaining anything because true martial arts is 1000 reps per technique.鈥�

Albert said there鈥檚 no real structure to the 鈥淵ou Tube鈥� coaching technique.

鈥淚 found structure in WAKO, and I brought it back here and eventually I ranked myself all the way up through everything and I got my level two coaching certification now and it鈥檚 good anywhere WAKO is.鈥�

According to Albert, WAKO is worldwide, meaning he can teach anywhere he wants to set up a dojo.

Three athletes will be going to the nationals with Albert.

They include Giaus (鈥淭he Lion Cub鈥�) Lowe, 11, Kevin (鈥淭he Hammer鈥�) Hoy, 21, and Kyle (鈥淭he Cobra鈥�) Couch, 32.

鈥淜yle is only going on a year in kickboxing with me and he鈥檚 almost ready for his green belt just because of all the hours and reps that he鈥檚 put in. He鈥檚 come that far in that short amount of time.鈥� Couch currently has an orange belt.

鈥淜evin, he is a trooper, he鈥檚 been with me for four months. And this is the most consistent he鈥檚 been at a martial art and it鈥檚 only been four months but he鈥檚 come a long way too.鈥� Hoy hasn鈥檛 been graded for a belt yet. 鈥淗e鈥檒l probably be able to grade up to an orange belt pretty quick,鈥� said Albert.

鈥淎nd Giaus has been doing it since he was six.鈥� Lowe has a green belt.

As for how they鈥檒l do, Albert is looking at this as a learning experience.

鈥淲hen you go to these tournaments, there鈥檚 more than just stepping in the ring and fighting.鈥�

Athletes can compete in forms competitions, weapons鈥� displays, K1, low kick, light kick, and full contact.

鈥淭here鈥檚 all different kinds of things to compete in,鈥� related Albert.

鈥淚 told the guys when we were registering, 鈥楽ign up for as much of it as you can. Take it in as an educational experience.鈥� But I told them the only thing I expect, win or lose, doesn鈥檛 matter to me, is that you guys give full effort and you make sure that your opponent knows that he was in a fight. Give 100 per cent effort and see where we end up.鈥�

Albert was also going to compete, but injuries have kiboshed that plan.

He added they have more athletes in training to possibly compete in an upcoming tournament in B.C.

鈥淏eing part of WAKO, we have access to all these other tournaments because we鈥檙e covered under the same insurance.鈥�

They include two female fighters, Skye Hanson, who鈥檚 training for forms competition, and Montana Kains-Beaudoin.

Albert said when you compete in kickboxing, you get what鈥檚 known as a passport.

鈥淚t tracks your bouts, so you get 10 for a beginner level amateur. And then after you get those 10 bouts you go to amateur advanced. And then once those 20 bouts are in, if you鈥檙e comfortable enough, you can apply for professional athlete鈥檚 status.

鈥淵ou can move on to bigger things like Glory (Kickboxing).鈥�

Classes run not so bright, but early from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. daily.

鈥淲e鈥檙e doing more between 4 and 6 a.m. than the average adult does in the entire day with the workouts that we do,鈥� said Albert.

鈥淢onday to Friday, we do athletic development, performance development, building your techniques through your strikes.

鈥淎nd then on the weekends, it鈥檚 fight science. That鈥檚 where we learn to control the ring, how to push your opponent 鈥撯�搃nto your power side, or into whatever technique you have lined up and how to keep the pace, push, and how to own the centre of the ring.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 the most important part. The cage, the ring or whatever you鈥檙e on, the mats, you鈥檝e got to own that centre. That way you鈥檙e not controlled, your back isn鈥檛 up against the ropes. You鈥檙e not being pushed around.鈥�

Alpha Pack has been in operation for about one year.

Anyone wanting to become an Alpha Pack member can leave their name and information for Albert at Better Bodies.