Brothers in Battle: The Kildare siblings hunting Kickboxing glory

Naas Kickboxing has the Brizinskas brothers on their books and the boys from Sallins are going from strength to strength under the tutelage of four-time Irish K-1 kickboxing champion Dawid Blaszke.

Older brother Rafy is leading the way by bringing a Cadet Irish ISKA Kickboxing title back to Kildare last month. The 16 year-old would have struggled to envisage that fact after joining Naas Kickboxing for fitness just two years ago.

“I started here as a big boy,” Rafy laughed. “Dawid got me into losing the weight and then later into fighting. I only joined here for fitness and he gave me the idea to start fighting. Ever since then things have been great and I am really enjoying fighting.

“It’s great training with Dawid, he is probably the best coach in Ireland. He gives you incredible advice, not only for the physical side of things but mentally too. He gets you ready in all aspects to be the best you can be. He is so good to have in your corner too. Dawid is always there for me anytime I need help.”

Rafy hailed the gym’s role in building his confidence as a young man and praised Dawid for his preparation for his recent ISKA title win.

He explained, “It went great and it went as we thought it would. I had trained really hard. The game-plan was to chop low and put pressure on and it worked exceptionally well. I stopped the guy in the third round.

“I just want to build more experience and keep fighting. Maybe there will be a European title or World title one day.”

Rafy’s greatest strength and perhaps also greatest weakness is his brother Fabian (Fabi). The pair are buoyed by one another’s support, but Rafy admits he struggles to see his younger brother in combat.

“Oh my God it is way worse than fighting myself. Sometimes I feel like I am more nervous than he is,” Rafy smiled.

“I am really glad that I have him with me for this, it feels amazing. “We are here six days a week. Not everyone has their little brother with them and they don’t have that kind of support. Some people go to the events alone and they don’t get to feel as connected as we do, but with me and him it’s so much better because we have someone to talk to about things. Even after training, we go home and talk to each other and motivate each other. Push each other on runs and without my brother I wouldn’t be able to push as hard as I do.”

14 year-old Fabi has a World Kickboxing Organisation (WKO) world title fight on April 12 in the UK andi has been training with his brothers for as long as he can remember.

“I have been training since I was about four years old. My brother has been training since I was really young so I got into this through him. 

“We only started here (Naas Kickboxing) two years ago. We were looking for clubs and we found Dawid here and really enjoyed it.”

While Rafy can reflect on a job well done, Fabi is still analysing his opponent, European K1 Champion Nate Bershal, ahead of their upcoming title fight.

Fabi explained, “He is a southpaw, he has a good back leg and he likes to swing hooks, but I am an in and out fighter.”

“It is great to be fighting for a world title. It’s really exciting and I am a bit nervous too.”

The Brizinskas family will be travelling to the Civic Hall in Essex to support Fabi as he bids for a WKO world title on the next step of their brilliant journey together.

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