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Leech, who had already completed 40-man and 60-man kumites as part of his preparation, raised over $7000 for disadvantaged youth by doing 100 rounds of full-contact sparring. His opponents consisted of other fighters from various disciplines, including taekwondo, karate and boxing, who fought Leech on rotation. Rounds were 90 seconds long, with 30 seconds’ rest in between.
Leech trained for the challenge for around nine months, doing regular sessions at Prahran Taekwondo and Evolve Thaiboxing, which he thanked for “teaching me how to take a leg-kick”.
He described the event — which was introduced by priest and Triple J radio presenter Father Bob Maguire — as a big success and thanked those involved .
“Everyone involved put in an A-plus effort,” he said. “The fighters stepped up and really gave it to me, my stunning fiancé worked her butt off behind the scenes to make sure the night ran smoothly, and my friends and family stuck around for the whole four hours to give their support. I seriously cannot thank everyone enough for the amount of support they have given — it means a lot to me.”
Leech told Blitz the toughest point in the 100 rounds came after round 60, as he’d never done more than 60 rounds in training. “I felt invincible for the first 60 rounds,” he said. “Taking hits didn’t bother me and I would counter all the time. But when I made it past round 60 I felt a big energy drain; I remember thinking I was entering new territory.
“It’s easy for those negative thoughts to creep in when you’ve taken a beating and there’s still about two hours of it to go! I kept thinking, if I could make it to round 80 I would be able to finish it off. When I got to round 80 I seemed to come alive again and pushed through to the end.”
Check out Leech’s kumite video online at www.blitzmag.net
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