2016 MMC God of War World Fighting Championship Trapped Beast Fight 3v3 Unrestricted Stand-Up Fighting Match Won.
2016 mmc 3 v.s 3 win
2014 South Africa EFC34 MMA vs. Sidney Mokgolo (second round submission victory).
2014 efc 34 (vs sidney mokgolo) win (2nd round submission)
2013 Battle of the Dragons vs. Zingler (3-round decision).
2013 dragon battle (vs qing ge le) win (decision)
2013 Kunlun C3 Chengdu International Boxing Championship vs. Nurla won (first game KO).
2013 kunlun fight c3 (vs nu er la) win (1st round ko)
2012 Wu Lin Feng vs. Wang Hesong won (3rd game TKO).
2012 wu ling feng (vs wang he song) win (3rd round tko)
2012 Changchun Free Fighting Invitational Tournament vs. Ma Tielong won (three-round decision).
2012 changchun fight (vs ma tie long) win (decision)
2012 Shenzhen Sanda Boxing Championship 80kg final won (first game TKO).
2012 shenzhen sanda tournament 80+kg final win (1st round tko)
2012 Hainan National Sanda Wushu Championship Open Level Win (4th Game TKO).
2012 hainan national sanda tournament open weight (vs xie shang pan) win (4th round tko)
2011 Shenzhen Sanda Boxing Championship 80kg champion (second round TKO).
2011 shenzhen sanda tournament 80+kg final win (2nd round tko)
2010 Shenzhen Sanda Boxing Championship 80kg champion (3 rounds of decision).
2010 shenzhen sanda tournament 80+kg final (vs chen fei) win (decision)
2017 Pearl River Delta Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Open 75kg+ Gold Medal.
2017 pearl delta bjj open – 75kg+ gold
2016 Macau ONE Championship Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Challenge 75kg+ Silver Medal.
2016 macau one championship bjj no gi 75kg+ silver
2013 Shenzhen Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Open -88kg gold medal.
2013 shenzhen bjj open -88kg gold
2012 Hong Kong Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Open -88kg silver medal.
2012 hk de copa bjj open -88kg silver
What do they teach? Why is it taught? When is the best time to study?
Do you guys want to get to know your coach better? Now is our chance to take a look at the coaches we love and see how they have grown from beginners to the esteemed coaches and life coaches they are today.
First of all, we have Heinrich Potgieter, another name we are more familiar with in China - Woody Wudi, who is the head coach of the Fight Club and the first person to perform a bear climb with the background of the Mario brothers.
- So, Coach Wudi, what made you interested in martial arts in the first place?
When I was a kid, I loved watching kung fu movies and imitating the superstars of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), which later became WWF World Entertainment, and I was originally from South Africa, where it was normal to worship tough people and people who could fight. I have a ** teaching background and my father was a pastor, so my parents didn't like me too much learning to fight. I think they were also worried that I might be bullying my brother! However, my brother was allowed to learn martial arts, while I didn't, which really only made me more eager to learn and experience. My brother is 4 years older than me, but we grew up with very different personalities. He was always entrepreneurial and academic. I'm the wild man. When we fight, I will fight back even more, treating him the way he would do it, and using worse tricks against him. Looking back, I wish my parents had sent me to a good team, taught me discipline boundaries and self-control, and switched my impulses and energy.
I've been exercising, I'm actually an athlete. I have participated in several different projects at the provincial level, and the results have been very good. But martial arts always seem to be more ......Sheer. For me, it's not about wealth or social status, it's just you in the ring, and your opponents. I think I see it as the ultimate competitive sport. "
- When did you first get into martial arts?
When I was 15 or 16 years old, I finally convinced my dad to let me take a self-defense class, which was and is quite dangerous to live in South Africa, so I should know at least some of the basics and have the ability to protect myself, and I continued to practice this course for about two years.
When I was in China for the first time, I saw a guy in a taekwondo uniform on the street, so I walked over and asked him, "Are you training in **?" ”。It took me a minute to convey this message because I don't speak any Chinese. But eventually he told me: "See me here tomorrow at 6 p.m., I'll take you there." "Sales is still very old-fashioned, there is no WeChat, in fact, I didn't even have a mobile phone at the time!
From then on, I really started to get into the circle. ”
- From your point of view, what was your first achievement in martial arts?
This inquiry on the street introduced me to my first real coach, Master Sam. I started learning taekwondo with him, and a few years later, when I was about 24 years old, I won the 2007 Shenzhen Open. I have to say that this was my first real achievement. As soon as I started training, I fell in love with combat sports. Whenever and wherever I can, I train in competitive taekwondo, boxing, and extreme vacuum karate (full contact format) whenever and wherever I can.
In 2008, I went to Thailand for a long time, where I trained for more than three months, and I was completely addicted to the intense training every day, even living in the gym. Training with professional athletes has taken me to new heights and that's how my career began.
When I returned to China, I continued to practice taekwondo, but even more began to learn mixed martial arts and sanda, and I've always loved kickboxing. In 2010, I played my first professional bout (Chinese kickboxing) at the Shenzhen Sanda Open and won by TKO within a minute. In that qualifier, three or four matches were played over several weekends, and I came out on top to become the Open Champion without a beat. "
- What made you end up staying in China?
Although I, like most of my peers, chose to have a "gap year" in the UK simply because it was closer to my home country of South Africa. But China is a lot more opportunities for me, and I often went home during the first few years of settling in China. Spend a few months in China and then a few months in South Africa. During my time in South Africa, I mainly trained in kickboxing and extreme karate. ”
The wise man is not confused|The brave are fearless|The benevolent are invincible.
- How did you decide to become a coach?
I had a successful career, and by the time I retired, I had 23 professional fights, five of which were losses, and I never got knocked out. Most of my fights have been finished by KO and TKO. I started my career a little late, and although I was in good shape without any serious injuries, I didn't qualify for the world's top tournaments at an advanced age (at the age of 31) and my career came to an end in the EFC (Africa's premier martial arts organization).
After I decided to retire, I entered the business circle. I worked as an entrepreneur for a year and a half and managed to make money, but I hated the state of being at that time. It's a very unhealthy way of life, dealing with people I don't like or don't respect. The worst part is that it doesn't motivate me, it doesn't make me happy, it doesn't satisfy me. So, I decided to start coaching; I'd rather make less money and do what I love than lose myself in money. ”
Focus and determination. The goal is clear.
- What do you enjoy most about coaching?
What I really love about this job is that I can feel able to see a person's self-development. How they change and grow. How they began to believe in themselves, how their faith began to redefine themselves. I received text messages from students, comments about me, they achieved dreams and goals that were unimaginable before, and all kinds of occasions brought me indescribable joy (tears of relief from my old father), which is an indescribable spiritual feedback!
I love the culture of our venue, the impact of Fight Club is always positive, it helps members to face everything in life with a better mindset and attitude. Knowing that I have a positive impact on people's lives every day is what I want. We come into this world naked, with nothing, leaving behind the value we have created, and everything will return to dust. In my lifetime, I hope that this world will be a better place for me because of my brief stay. "
- What advice would you give to someone who wants to start training or whose ultimate goal is to compete professionally?
The best advice I can give is for everyone to start from scratch and keep that in mind. Don't tell yourself to wait until you're "ready" to start training, because the truth is, there's really no chance waiting for you and you'll end up regretting that you didn't start sooner.
Decide what you want to achieve and start with your heart while trying to move from the beginning to the end by doing what you love. When you embrace all the ordeal and enjoy the process of training, you are more likely to continue to persevere and make it a part of your life. Only by persevering can you achieve anything worthwhile. ”
Speaking of regrets, have you ever had any regrets?
I do have one. I wish I could spend more time practicing BJJ and I could spend more time on my own training to improve myself. Hopefully, our coaching team will continue to expand, and our senior coaches will be able to return to China after the pandemic is no longer affected, so that I can wear my uniform to train regularly. This is my weakest link in mixed martial arts knowledge. There's still a lot of technology to learn, and I'm always excited to learn and improve, and even when I started coaching, I'm always curious if there's something in my life that can change, and I wish I could spend more time on the mat. "
- Finally, what do you think are the most important aspects of martial arts that can have an impact on your life?
I think it's an improvement in the mind, body, and spirit. It sounds a bit of a cliché, but I'm convinced of it. Your mental toughness will grow with the challenges you face in your training life, while the difficulties and problems that arise in the real world may seem less important or insurmountable. When you're beaten, ravaged, or locked unconscious in a stadium three days a week, the assault has become less painful than someone speaking ill of you on the street, because you can often bear more inside. You'll feel like you're better able to handle stress at work because you're used to adjusting your mindset in training.
Your body becomes stronger, healthier, more balanced, and stronger. If you learn to understand the relationship between your body and movement, you will develop a better spatial awareness and become more aware of how your body functions, so you will be able to improve your motor response mechanisms and better understand and control your body.
Finally, your mental resilience is strengthened by the challenges you are constantly experiencing, and you believe in yourself and in being able to withstand life's difficulties and challenges, which can make you two very different lives. That's the positive impact that I feel martial arts can have on me, and that's the impact that martial arts can bring to anyone for life. ”