A16 THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 2011 CHILLIWACK TIMES
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Local mixed martial arts fighter Jamie Siraj says he is much happier since he chose the sport.
T
h i s Sa t u rd a y, Jamie Siraj will slip between the ropes of the squared ring at the Tz e a c h t e n C o m m u n i t y Centre and try to slam his fist into his opponent while dodging kicks aimed at his head. Siraj is just 16. This will be his third fight. Mixed martial arts is a brutal sport that not infrequently results in blood or knockouts. One way to end a fight is to put an opponent in a “submission,” a hold that is either so painful or potentially injurious that the submitted fighter taps surrender. Siraj lost his last fight because his opponent put him into a “guillotine chokehold” from which he could not escape. Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, Siraj’s parents weren’t exactly thrilled by his choice of sport. “At the beginning they hated it, they didn’t want me fighting at all,” said Siraj. His step-mom Kelly says she and her husband were supportive “with a cautious eye” and were neither for n o r a g a i n s t t h e i r s o n’s chosen sport. But they were definitely wary. Siraj had been getting into trouble and “going down the wrong path fast,” according t o K e l l y. H e n e e d e d something to channel his anger. Mixed martial arts
certainly fit the bill, but Kelly was afraid that he might learn a little too much about fighting. Two years later and Kelly is adamant that she will not watch Siraj fight live. “I think it’s crazy,” she said of MMA. But she credits the sport, and the trainers and other fighters at Revolution Martial Arts, for turning Siraj’s life around.
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“Revolution and this fighting has given this kid something that I haven’t seen in half the teenagers out there.” Kelly Siraj “He’s come a long way,” she said. “Revolution and this fighting has given this kid something that I haven’t seen in half the teenagers out there. It’s incredible and it’s really done wonders for him.” Siraj points to his ability to survive and win his first fight as a turning point in how his parents viewed the sport. “After I won my first fight I think it calmed their nerves down a little bit,” he said. “I explained to them it’s just a competition. It’s the same thing as if I were to do soccer See MMA, Page 18
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BY TYLER OLSEN tolsen@chilliwacktimes.com
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