Sai Kung’s 14-year-old fighter, Brindy Mason, winner of the New Zealand ju-jitsu championship, has set her sights on a world title. On her way to winning in Auckland last month, Brindy beat the current world champion in the semi-final. In the fight Brindy found herself under her opponent, but applied a choke hold. Arms crossed, each fist grasping the collar of the other girl’s gi uniform, Brindy throttled the world champion, cutting off the arteries in her neck. The girl had a choice: tap the mat to surrender or pass out. She tapped the mat. Brindy had won.
In the final of the New Zealand National Grappling Championships, Brindy said her opponent put up a good fight but she won on points. Brindy topped her age group, under 16s, in Brazilian-style ju-jitsu. It is full-contact fighting without punching and kicking.
Why does this pretty, deceptively fragile looking teenager, who lives with her dad, Vaughan, at Nai Chung Old Village, like martial arts so much? “I love it. I can be myself when I am fighting. I am so much happier at the gym, rather than going out with friends.” Brindy has been Hong Kong ju-jitsu champion in her age group for two years, beating boys as well as girls. She trains up to three hours a day five days a week at a Central gym called Espada headed by Professor Rodrigo Caporal. At home she works out in the gym expensively outfitted by her Kiwi golf professional father. It was Vaughan’s influence that got her into martial arts. He is a keen ju-jitsu fighter, boxer and former rugby player.
Brindy, who studies at Wong Kam Fai Secondary School, has been approached by the New Zealand ju-jitsu team. A NZ passport holder, Brindy hopes she can fight for the national team (Hong Kong does not have a ju-jitsu team) and compete in the world championships in California next April. She is aiming for no less than a world title. And she might just do it, having beaten a world champion last month.
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