2023 WAKO, Portugal

Written by Ryan M Cevola, DC, ICSC  

I was excited to have been selected for the World Kickboxing Championships in Albufeira, Portugal, a small town on the southern coast. It was only a 4-hour drive from where I currently work in the south of Spain. At around 22° C, the weather was great for the end of November, and I mainly wore a short-sleeved shirt and shorts. The arena where the competitions took place was just a 5-minute walk from the hotel. We arrived the day before and discussed our options of where to set up our tables and work on the athletes. Normally, at FICS events, we set up in the warm-up areas where we can take care of athletes before or after their matches. However, this time, the warm-up area was a floor down in a crowded dark room. Instead, we sat up on the floor right next to the competition.

We soon began to question our decision as we became overwhelmed with athletes. With the perfect location, we immediately began and didn’t stop the whole day. There are always those who come right away, and then there are those who don’t know what chiropractic is or may have never visited one before. Sometimes I felt like more people were watching us than the matches. I don’t know how many pictures and videos were taken of us working on athletes. In the end, it proved to be the best location. In 5 full days, we saw nearly 700 people surpassing the old record set by Jon and Cristian which was a mere 600 visits. They also teased us all week to see if we could see as many athletes as they did the previous year. Better luck next time, boys. What a great experience. Not every day you see people with neck pain because they got kicked in the head. Treating trauma is much different than chronic low back pain I see in my everyday practice. It is exciting and makes you think about the best solution. Can I fix this problem or refer to the medical team? All in all, this may have been my favourite event.

If you haven’t done a fighting sport, try one. They are very exciting, I promise.