Around Town: Z's Martial Arts of Huntley golden at national kickboxing event

Z’s Martial Arts in Huntley took four competitors to the USA National Kickboxing Championships on Sept. 18 to 20 in Las Vegas and brought home four gold medals.

Myranda Anderson, a freshman at Huntley, and Meryl Swidler won in the junior girls novice division – Anderson in the 140.1-to-148-pound class and Swidler in 112.1-to-119.0. Kyle Huffman (140.1-148.0) of Woodstock won in the men’s novice division, and Amanda Ginski (132.1-143.0) of Carpentersville won in the women’s open division.

The event was sponsored by the World Association of Kickboxing Organizations. Z’s coach Rob Zbilski said WAKO is well-known internationally but is just starting to get a foothold in the United States. Most of the foreign teams are government funded, he said. Zbilski is president of WAKO Team USA.

“It’s kind of an important tournament,” Zbilski said. “Unfortunately, here we have to build it up ourselves. It's kind of tough.”

All four from Z's fought in the low kick division, which gives free rein to kick at a competitor's legs above and below the knee.

“It’s a little harder because it wears your legs out,” Zbilski said. “A couple kicks to the legs can put you right on your butt.”

Swidler, who competed at the karate world championships in Italy about a year ago, said moving to kickboxing was a mental as much as physical adjustment.

“I’m so used to making things look pretty,” Swidler said. “You’ve got to make them count."

Unlike in karate, Swidler said she doesn’t like to leave the decision up to the judges.

“Whenever it goes to scorecards everyone is a little nervous,” Swidler said. “With kickboxing it’s all full contact. You are trying to knock them out.”

Another big change was moving from a mat to a boxing ring.

“[Swidler has] dominated the mat sports,” Zbilski said. “Her technique was able to transfer over to the boxing ring.”

Huffman is the head instructor at Z’s and got the team off to a good start, scoring a head kick knockout in the first match of the tournament.

“It set the whole pace for our team,” Zbilski said.

Ginski brings a lot of experience to kickboxing, where she has compiled a 14-1 record. She is a two-time golden gloves boxing champion and a North American kickboxing champion and is hoping to compete in the Pan American games next summer.

“She’s just starting now to fight consistently,” Zbilski said. “Our goal is to turn her pro and fight at a world-class level.”

Anderson also transferred over from traditional martial arts, where she has her junior black belt.

“I like kickboxing a little more,” Anderson said. “I’ve always liked the fighting part of karate.”

She was in the novice class, and the term fit.

“I’ve never fought before this,” Anderson said. “It was stressful but a lot of fun.”

• Rob Smith is a sports writer for the Northwest Herald. Write to him at rsmith@shawmedia.com.