Hone Milnes-Win and Cody Martin, of Invercargill Fight Centre, will be among 1000 fighters from across the world who will compete in the international Brazilian Jujitsu federation event held in June.
The journey towards becoming New Zealand representatives couldn’t be more different for the Southland-based tāne.
For 29-year-old, Taranaki-born Milnes-Win, taking up mixed martial arts was a way of keeping him on the right path.
"MMA means everything to me.
I would have been in trouble if it wasn't for this.
"I was mentored by my coach Karl Webber at 15 then had my first fight in the cage at 16," he said.
Milne's-Win’s success in the ring and on the mat inspired him to start his own gym and from there the Invercargill Fight Centre birthed into life.
Milnes-Win will be competing in the purple belt, middleweight, division.
Cody Martin’s reason for taking up mixed martial arts stemmed from his interest in attaining mental resilience.
"I started off my interest by listening to the Joe Rogan podcast.
"He pushed how jujitsu changed people not just physically but also mentally," Martin said.
The 21-year-old was originally from Dunedin, then moved to Invercargill as a child; and grew up around seeing his father take part in box.
"My dad was involved in the kids fight for charity events so boxing has always been at the forefront of my mind," he said.
"I’ll be competing in the blue belt heavyweight division for the over 18s."
Milnes-Win and Martin recently returned from taking part in a mixed martial arts tournament in Christchurch where head instructors of Tsunami Brazilian jujitsu from New Zealand and overseas were present.
"In jujitsu circles we refer to those head instructors as professors and Cody and I were given approval from them to go and compete in the Asian jujitsu competition," Milnes-Win said.
Martin appreciated the training he was given and credits Milnes-Win for welcoming him into his gym.
"When I first started out with Hone, I loved the whānau part of it. With me not being Maori they just accepted me," he said.
Milnes-Win runs his gym "like a marae" and focuses on providing a safe space.
"It’s about whanaungatanga.
"I got my papers in te reo Māori so I use a lot of Māori words when I teach my classes.
The parents really liked that their kids got to learn Māori as well as martial arts, Milnes-Win said.
He found parents were initially wary that it was a dangerous bloodsport but the more they got to see what their kids were learning; they found out that there were more positive values learnt behind the scenes.
For Martin, mixed martial arts was a form of mental therapy for him.
"I like it for the mental aspect.
"It’s like playing a physical form of chess."
By Nina Tapu
