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Kickboxing
Kaylyn Hornbeak: Toledo’s World Champion      

By Betty Valentine, The Truth Contributor

Toledo has long been known for the number of star athletes emanating from the city.  We have had leaders in the fields of boxing, football, baseball, basketball and hockey and now emerges a new star in the combat sport of kickboxing.

During a recent conversation with friends, I heard a young man excitedly describing the skills of a young Toledo student who was a world champion in the field of kickboxing.  Having not seen or heard of this person before, I took the opportunity to attend one of her sparing sessions at the American Martial Arts Center on Heatherdowns Boulevard.  The Center was crowded with both participants and spectators (many were parents of the students).
 

Kaylyn Hornbeak

As I settled in to watch some of the matches in progress, I heard a loud scream and a young man quickly leaving the sparing area holding his nose which was bleeding profusely.  A young lady was accompanying him as they left the center sparing area.  I soon learned that the young lady I had come to see was the person who had injured her sparing partner and was accompanying him to the rear area to receive medical attention.  Then came the myriad comments about the skills and power of that young lady. 

Her name is Kaylyn Hornbeak and she is a 5’1” sophomore at Springfield High School.

After making sure that her sparring partner was not seriously injured, she returned to the sparing floor to continue training.

Not really knowing a lot about kickboxing at the time, I was surprised to see a young girl sparing with a much older and physically larger male opponent, but to my surprise she handled the adults as formidably as she would an opponent of her own age and size.  After the session ended, her sparring partner, McKantz Archer, came over and elaborated on the young girl’s skills.  “She’s very good,” he said.   He continued praising her for several minutes before returning to the sparring floor.

At the end of her session I had the opportunity to speak with Kaylyn and her mother, Chervonne Curry.  I learned that Kaylyn began her career in kickboxing when she was in the third grade at Wildwood Environmental Elementary School.  At that time they didn’t have a gymnasium so they provided karate lessons for the students.  The Sensei [Japanese name for teacher] contacted Kaylyn’s Mom asking that she consider kickboxing for Kaylyn as she showed a great potential for future success as a kickboxer.

   
   


Copyright © 2018 by [The Sojourner's Truth]. All rights reserved.
Revised: 08/16/18 14:12:10 -0700.


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