By Duke Saunders
Staff Writer
Although fighting on Costa’s campus leads to grounds for expulsion, senior Landon Duckers takes his passion for martial arts off-campus and into the studio to practice the art of Muay Thai and amateur boxing.
Before his high school career, Duckers participated in both martial art forms at the Mixed Martial Arts gymnasium in Redondo Beach. As a Costa freshman, he momentarily put his passion for boxing and Muay Thai aside to participate on the wrestling team. Within the last two years, Duckers has re-entered the world of martial arts.
“I am simply a fanatic,” Duckers said. “I’m strongly interested in the world of martial arts. My inspiration to train in this sport came from watching my godfather train in Muay Thai while I was growing up.”
During his freshman and sophomore years, Duckers worked to train in the unique martial art form known as Krav Maga and Jiu Jitsu. His favorite technique is the roundhouse kick, a tactic in which the attacker kicks his leg in a semicircular way at his opponent.
“Through the years of training for various martial art forms, I have gained a new outlook on violence as the art has taught me to respect my abilities and only use them for self-defense purposes,” Duckers said.
Although Duckers does not currently compete, he has attained the level of a kenpo black belt, the highest level of mastery in the Muay Thai world. Muay Thai is a cultural martial art that originated in Thailand and other Southeast-Asian countries. It utilizes all body parts as weapons to strike the opponent.
“Going through four years at Costa with him, I had no idea that he had such a talent and strong dedication to this art form,” senior Jessica Arruda said.
According to Duckers, fellow members of his fighting studio call him “The Red Bull,” like the energy drink, because he displays his passion for the sport through the deep red color of his face while training and fighting with focus and energy.
“I strongly believe that it is students like Landon that make the Costa community what it is, in that we all push each other out of our comfort zones to find what we love and pursue it extensively,” Arruda said.
In hopes to continue honing his Muay Thai skills further, Duckers’ future goals include competing in amateur tournaments in order to keep the skills he has attained over the years up to par. He also hopes to open and establish a Muay Thai martial arts studio and give lessons to people as a way of giving back to the Muay Thai community and culture he has always loved.
“I think that everyone should find a passion and stick to it no matter how unordinary and bizarre it may seem,” Duckers said. “It is these passions that will give us the drive to change and contribute positively to the world.”
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