Kickboxing Event Draws Hundreds to Cung Le's

While little league games were rained out on Saturday, a kickboxing event brought fans from all over the Bay Area to a hotspot in Milpitas.

Mixed martial arts celebrities like Cung Le, Caín Velásquez, Josh Thomson, Luke Rockhold and Daniel Cormier signed autographs and posed for photos with eager fans, and when it came time for the main event, all eyes were glued to the mat.   

The parents were the fans, of course, and the kids were the stars. This was the juniors portion of an event hosted by , which was open to any school or club. 

"I'm more nervous than him, I think," said Milpitas resident Michael Quintana of his 10-year-old grandson's first continuous sparring event.

Three short one-minute rounds later, it was over.

"I keep him very involved in sports," said Quintana, who said a few years ago, he enrolled his grandson Israel in Cung Le's AKA to keep him active between sports seasons.

Kickboxing teaches a lot of discipline, following instructions, team-building and athletics, said Ron Estioko, lead coach for the juniors. Events such as this one are a proper place to exhibit their sport.

It also teaches students respect for coaches and parents, Estioko added. Students say "yes, coach" when kickboxing, and at home, kids are expected to say "Yes, Mom" and "Yes, Dad." 

Saturday's event was the first tournament for seven-year-old Tobey Flores, a student at  in Milpitas. He lost his first match, but won the second.

"It's out of his comfort zone," said Joshua Baldovino, program director at West Coast. "I'm surprised he wanted to try it." He enrolled Tobey in the beginners' bracket for seven- and eight-year-olds.

"He showed a lot of heart and didn't give up," Baldovino said.

Tobey's mother said they played him a video of the activity, and he said he was interested in trying it.

"He's really hyper," said Flores of her son Tobey. "We just want to make sure we harness the energy and put it to a positive use."

Tobey trains six days a week. Even though the family moved to Mountain House, an extension of Tracy, they come back often for the classes "to maintain the discipline," she said. 

The continuous sparring tournament was also a first for Cung Le's as a new entity following a business merger with the American Kickboxing Academy. 

Le said he felt loyalty to his coach Javier Mendez, and as one company, they can share students. AKA now has a total of four facilities–Milpitas, San Jose, Sunnyvale, and Fresno–and one more on the way. The newest has a grand opening in Santa Teresa scheduled for April 3.

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