By Tara de Ryk
March 1, 2010

KENASTON-How does a girl born and raised in Kenaston end up being the world IFMA kickboxing champ?

It was a question Charmaine Tweet answered at Kenaston School as part of the school's Olympics Feb. 12.

She was a special guest, invited to talk of her experiences and in Tweet, the sport has an enthusiastic ambassador who regaled students of tales of fighting in the ring and then patiently gave kids a chance to try their hands and feet at kickboxing.

Competing at the international level in kickboxing may seem like a stretch for a girl born and raised in Kenaston, but Tweet credited her experiences at Kenaston School as laying the foundation for her love of the sport.

"It all began here-my love of competition and sport-in that gym," Tweet told students.

She played basketball, volleyball and baseball during her years in Kenaston. The experiences of being part of a close-knit team were positive. After graduating from Kenaston School in 1995, Tweet said she missed those team experiences she grew up with, tried other sports, but couldn't find one that suited.

"I needed something to get rid of my competitive drive," she said.

In 2000 she moved to Milwaukee Wisconsin and through her husband met Duke Roufus and took up Muay Thai boxing in 2001.

Muay Thai is a martial art, a form of kickboxing developed in Thailand and is that country's national sport.

At Roufus's gym Tweet found the sport she was searching for.

It took her two years to learn the skills and prepare to get into the ring.

Tweet says preparation is key.

"You have to be ready to defend yourself because the other person in the ring wants to hurt you."

Her first fight in November 2003 ended in a draw. She's had nine fights since then and has a record of seven wins, one loss and one draw.

Over the years she has met and trained with the K-1 and UFC professionals such as Rich Franklin, Tim Sylvia, Stephen Bonner, Patrick Barry and Duke and Rick Roufus.

She returned to Saskatchewan in 2005 and continued her training at Siam Kickboxing and Muay Thai in Regina.

Tweet says she's had few fights because of her size. She is tall and finding other women to fight in the light middleweight division (156-pounds) is difficult.

She found some competition in December when she competed at the (IFMA) International Federation of Muay Thai Amateur in Bangkok, Thailand and won gold.

"The first person I fought was an American and I beat her. She had a nice shiner. After that I fought a Russian and beat her and then I fought a girl from Finland," Tweet told the interested crowd of students.

"I broke my knuckle on the Finn's face," Tweet added.

While she has taken some punishment, she's also inflicted her fair share.

"I've broken a few girls' ribs and displaced their sternums," she says, answering a question about the worst injury an opponent has received.

Preparing for a fight takes much work.

Tweet's walking around weight is 170 pounds, but she fights at 156 pounds, so she puts in a lot of time in the gym training as well as running to get her body into fighting form.

Tweet says she hopes women's kickboxing becomes an Olympic sport and if it is approved in time for the 2012 Olympic Games, she'll just make the age cutoff.

It's giving her something to aim for. If kickboxing isn't approved, Tweet says she'll turn professional and may go into MMA (mixed martial arts) where female fighters can make a bit more money.

She trains in Regina, making time for her sport between working a full-time job and raising her two sons Josh, 13, and Christian, 10, who are also training in Muay Thai and have recently taken up Brazilian jujitsu.

Josh and Christian were at Kenaston School helping their mom demonstrate punching and kicking techniques. It was obvious they are proud and a little in awe of their mother, after all, how many adolescent boys get the chance to spar with their moms?

The leaderonline is a division of The Davidson Leader, Davidson, Saskatchewan, Canada.