Jax eyeing professional Muay Thai debut

Jax first started mucking around with a bit of self-defence and fighting when she joined Wickham’s Martial Arts Centre in Echuca back in 2019.

“I started with my daughter Hope, who was six at the time,” Jax said.

“She didn’t want to do dance or netball, she wanted something different. I sat on the sidelines watching her and then I decided to give jiu-jitsu a try.”

Jax said she loved jiu-jitsu but an injury in 2022 put her on the sidelines for four months.

“My arm was fully locked and I couldn’t work and I couldn’t do jiu-jitsu,” she said.

“I decided to give Muay Thai a go because I could kick and then punch with my good arm and that was it, I fell in love with the sport.

“I really don’t know where the urge to fight comes from. I like to challenge myself and I am not afraid to get in there and have a go.

“I have watched other girls in the ring and I thought to myself there is no reason why I can’t do the same.”

In 2022 Jax had her first fight, despite a less-than-ideal lead-up, with her coach Kiw Eikkasit and manager Tracey Sinclair temporarily moving away due to the intense flooding at the time.

“We were in fight camp and training with bags we had hung in the front yard,” Jax said.

“My partner would hold the pads for me, and the kids, and we just tried to do the best we could with what we had. We were also in touch with Kiw regularly.”

Fight camp consists of a minimum 5km run and combination of 800 different kicks, six days a week on top of strength training three days a week.

Kiw returned two weeks before the debut fight.

On the day, Jax joined four other amateur fighters and her daughter Hope in the ring, scoring a win fighting under the name ‘Chucky’.

“For my first fight I was completely geared up with shin and elbow guards, gloves and head gear (fighters aged under 18 also wear chest plates for additional protection),” she said.

“It was such a great fight and from then on I knew my goal would be to one day turn professional.”

Jax’s last fight, her fourth bout, was in Albury in December last year.

“It was by far the most challenging, with no shin guards,” she said.

“My opponent was a lot taller than me and came out very aggressive hammering me with her big punches.

“I had to dig pretty deep but I have got a pretty big tank and I kept the pressure on, and by the last round she was struggling to get back up.

“We also won fight of the night.”

Jax said it is amazing to see Muay Thai grow as a sport, especially amongst female competitors.

“Last year they held a four-women eliminator event which was amazing,” she said.

“They have been running male events like that for a long time so it is a real progression for women in this sport.

“I have my name down for a fight in February and hopefully there is an opponent out there ready at the same time.”

Jax said while it was not always easy to get the balance right, she said it was certainly worth the effort.

“As a mum you have a lot of challenges including mum guilt, but I truly believe you can’t give your kids 100 per cent and yourself nothing, every mum needs to find something they love doing no matter what it is,” she said.

“Training can be draining physically, emotionally, and some days it absolutely sucks, but you get to a fight and it is absolutely worth every little bit of blood, sweat and tears.

“I am also lucky three of my four kids love the sport so far and it is something we can do together. Once my youngest is six he will be in the ring fighting as well.”

Jax said she was hoping to turn professional next year and that means fighting with gloves only.

“I think it will be pretty cool to say I gave my chosen sport 110 per cent and I just want to show my kids the importance of committing to something and seeing it out to the end,” she said.

“I had my first fight with my daughter Hope and my plan is to retire when my son Cornlek debuts when he is 18, but who knows how the next eight years will fall.

“Hopefully I stay injury-free and get to live out my dream.”