Proudly sponsored by Discount Drain
Kaleb Boyle, a born and raised Londoner, is a 10-year-old junior blackbelt in karate. How dedicated to the sport is Boyle? Despite COVID-19 shutting down the youth sports world, with practices and competitions canceled daily, Kaleb has actually flourished as an athlete during this time, improving his skills and advancing his status in the sport.
Boyle simply didn’t accept that a shutdown meant not participating in the sport that he loves. He saw an opportunity to work even harder, knowing that his competition would likely take their ‘foot off the gas’ with their own training, etc. But with the use of virtual meeting platforms and virtual tournaments, both live and pre-recorded, Kaleb has actually competed MORE during the pandemic.
“With COVID-19 crushing the 2020 season, most organizers jumped to virtual platforms, which is perfect for us,” said Kaleb’s father, Steve Boyle. “No cost to fly around the world, no hotels, no being away from home 10 days a month … and the level of competition has increased dramatically because all countries can be together online, so it’s truly an international field of competitors now.”
Kaleb has single-handedly put himself on the map in the martial art during COVID-19. He has trained full-time with Sifu Julian Shamuon of Hotshot Athletics in Cambridge and Julian’s father, Sibok Tom Shamuon, of Generation Martial Arts in Waterloo.
“When you want to compete at the highest level in karate, you have to seek out the greatest instructors – and we found them an hour’s drive away from home,” said Boyle.
Kaleb typically trains five days per week, and he competes all over the world. In just the first half of 2020 alone, the young athlete had entered 50 tournaments and won 100 medals (41 gold, 44 silver, 15 bronze). He participated in championships in 12 countries, including Austria, South Africa, Costa Rica, Mexico and Argentina, to name a few.
Nicknamed ‘The Hype,’ Kaleb won four silver medals and a bronze at the 2020 Virtual World Championships. He received the Grace Connolly Leadership Award for Sports Excellence, and he was runner-up for the Under-17 Ironman Challenge (at just 10 years old). After starting 2020 ranked 54th worldwide in kata league (out of 150 competitors from more than 50 countries), the Londoner has impressively climbed to the #2-ranked position.
Follow Kaleb’s karate journey on Instagram!
@kaleb_the_hype_boyle
Contributions by Steve Boyle
