Tennessee Randall: Kickboxing world champion biding her time in lockdown

World champion kickboxer Tennessee Randall should be gearing up for her next fight in the peak of the season.

However, like the rest of the world the 22-year-old is adapting to lockdown life because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We had a lot of plans to attend a lot of different tournaments," said Randall.

"The last time I fought now was in the World Championships back in November of last year, so its been really frustrating not being able to compete and fight because I've been training really hard."

Randall became the second woman to be crowned a full-contact world kickboxing champion for Great Britain last year, when she triumphed at the World Association of Kickboxing Organisation's (WAKO) World Championships.

She was named best female ring fighter from 50 champions at different weights after winning the -56kg category.

The European and World championships alternate each year, and this October it is the European Championships being held in Antalya in Turkey.

"A lot of tournaments have been cancelled and postponed, I should have been going to the University Games in July in Serbia but that's been postponed to next year," said Randall.

"I'll be fighting to retain my European title as well, so once this is over it will be all guns blazing for that."

Olympics dreams

Kickboxing is not currently in the Olympic games, however WAKO is the only governing body within kickboxing which has received Olympic recognition from the International Olympic Committee, something that Randall says is a huge step forward in getting the sport into the games.

"I'm hoping in my time it would get into the Olympics because that would be the absolute dream for me," said Randall.

"Until then I'm just going to keep on going and get as much experience as I can.

"That's the thing with being a fighter, you're never the perfect fighter, there's always something to work on, so I'll just keep on practicing and just add as many skills to my fight game that I can."

Randall says it is a sport that would sit well within the Olympics because it is a great spectacle sport.

"It's got massive potential, I think not just as a sport but as a spectacle for people outside the sport, its not complicated to understand and I feel like it's really exciting for people to watch.

"It's very exciting and really does deserve to be in the Olympics and with full contact."

Tennessee Randall has amassed an impressive collection of silverware including her World Champion trophy

Randall has been using a makeshift gym in her garage to keep up her training, as well as doing sessions with her family.

"It has been quite challenging with my usual training routine," she said.

"Usually I'd be back and forth up to Port Talbot twice a week and I'd be teaching in my own club three times a week, so it is definitely a weird situation. I've tried to adapt to it the best I can.

"I call it 'Boot Camp Randall', we've been on a bit of a fitness mission trying to build healthy habits. My mam and me have probably been training twice a day together and getting my dad into some running as well.

"It's been great because a lot of the training I typically do is on my own, so its been a nice change to have some company and all exercise together."

As well as maintaining her kickboxing training under lockdown, she is also studying for her master's degree in clinical and abnormal psychology at Swansea University.

"There has been a lot of uncertainty as to how its going to affect our grades, I've actually had to change my dissertation topic altogether which has been a little bit disruptive," Randall said.

"Once my exams are finished I'll just be focusing on that, which I'm really looking forward to beginning because I'm basing it on how people manage to feed themselves and their eating habits during coronavirus."

Zoom sessions

As well as finishing her masters, Randall is continuing her kickboxing classes via video chats. Normally she would be teaching at the club in Llanelli alongside her father but, like most non-essential businesses, the club has been shut because of the pandemic.

"At first it was really strange because normally when I teach I'm used to interacting with students and being able to actually see them in front of me," she said.

"Now I'm just in my living room standing in front of my phone but I can still see my students on the screen. Admittedly it's not the same as actually teaching but it's been a really good compromise.

"It's allowing them to carry on their training, because they've been working so hard in class and it would be a shame for their skills to suffer because of the virus and not being able to have that regular practice."

Randall is a self-funded athlete and admits it has been tough not having the club open.

"It has been difficult having to self-fund," she admitted. "One of my main incomes is from teaching kickboxing, I'm a fulltime student and I'm not actually working, so having our kickboxing club closed has been really difficult.

"It has been tough and we're just trying to cope the best way we can and hopefully just get back to somewhat normality when the restrictions are lifted."