My Account
Danielle Teixeira and Crystal Cook present an image of strength and confidence as they pull on their gloves and train in their chosen kickboxing disciplines.
Getting to this point has been a difficult journey for Danielle, who is in her mid-thirties, and Crystal, aged 13, and each has their own mental, emotional and physical challenges. Both have reached the point where they can compete on the international stage.
For Danielle, every day is a one on one battle with Borderline Personality Disorder.
She was diagnosed with this mental illness at the age of 21 – she says she was in a bad place and needed help.
Overweight and unfit, she applied to be one of Dynamic Martial Arts first Fight Girls – which provided the opportunity to learn, free of charge, and take part in a competitive fight.
Dynamic head coach Dave Sawyer says taking her on was touch and go. “When she first came in, I had money on her quitting in three weeks,” he says. “Her weight was an obvious physical challenge and her mental health issues were something we, as coaches, had no experience with.”
His approach was to observe Danielle closely and not to panic, or pander, when she had a panic attack. Eventually, she earned the right to compete and was one of Fight Girls biggest success stories. “Something clicked when I won my first fight. I raised my trophy above my head and thought ‘wow’,” she says.
Two months ago she earned her club/provisional black belt and at the end of October she heads to the Unified World Championships in Spain to compete for her country.
“It was a huge risk to take her on in Fight Girls, but it paid off,” Dave says. “Likewise, if she loses the plot at Worlds, it’s a problem for our club. But she’s part of the family. Why should having a mental illness stop her going to the event? She’s earned it.”
Turning up to learn kickboxing was a huge step for Danielle and one she took because of abusive relationships.
“People with my illness attract bullies. I was tired of being a victim. I wanted to fight back against the idea that I was useless and can’t do things by myself, or for myself,” she says. “Not many people mess with me now.”
Danielle says kickboxing doesn’t fix your problems, but it has changed the way she thinks and copes, how she expresses herself and tells people what she needs. “I ask myself at the end of every day – who won, me or Borderline? And for the most part, these days, it’s me.”
World title just the beginning
When Crystal Cook of Whangaparaoa first took up Muay Thai kickboxing at the Hibiscus Coast MMA & Thai Kickboxing Gym four years ago it immediately felt right.
The 13-year-old struggles at school. Dyslexia, ADHD and anger issues continue to cause her problems but the bullying that she received “a lot” has fled in the face of her newfound confidence.
“Kick boxing helped with my anger,” she says. “Instead of getting in trouble I could go to the gym. I also learned to defend myself when people bullied me.”
As her fitness and skills improved, so did her confidence. She has had 11 wins out of 14 fights so far. The biggest was a world title won last month at the Muay Thai Championships in Thailand where she not only won a Gold medal, but also a trophy for Best Muay Thai kick boxer in her age group.
Along the way, Crystal says she found a supportive second ‘family’ at the gyms she belongs to. She trains every day except Sundays and has her sights set on next year’s Worlds in Sweden. “One day I’d love to have my own gym and give back to the people who have taught me,” she says.
